VCU news

By Brian McNeill

Virginia Commonwealth University is hosting a delegation of academics and government officials from Ukraine this week, providing them with an opportunity to learn about government and politics in Virginia and the United States.

The delegation of six Ukrainians is visiting Richmond as part of the Open World program, an exchange program for countries of the post-Soviet era that has brought more than 24,000 current and future leaders of those countries to meaningfully engage and interact with U.S. government officials.

VCU has hosted an Open World delegation for six consecutive years, having previously hosted groups from Ukraine in 2012 and 2013, from Russia in 2011 and 2014 and from the Republic of Georgia in 2015.

The hosting is a collaboration between VCU’s Global Education Office, the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs and the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture in the College of Humanities and Sciences.

The program is valuable because everyone – both the Ukrainians and the Americans – learn from the experience, said hosting committee member Jeff South, an associate professor of journalism and director of undergraduate studies at the Robertson School.

I learn about other models of government and that there are many things we could do to improve our democracy in Virginia and the rest of America.

“The visiting delegates learn about our government – how it works, and sometimes not very well,” he said. “They learn about how citizens, the news media, businesses and organizations influence public policy. And they learn about transparency in formulating public policy – how anyone can go to the General Assembly or City Hall and see governmental bodies make decisions.”

“At the same time, as a member of the hosting committee, I personally learn more than I teach from the Open World visitors,” he said. “I learn about other models of government and that there are many things we could do to improve our democracy in Virginia and the rest of America. We also see the many things we have in common with people in Eastern Europe – a commitment to an open government that truly serves the people.”

During their visit, the Ukrainians are visiting the General Assembly, a variety of government agencies and public policy organizations, cultural sites such as the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Colonial Williamsburg, and a local TV news station covering the Super Tuesday presidential primary elections.

“They will have a chance to see the Virginia General Assembly in action during the next-to-last week of the legislative session,” South said. “That should be exciting, as lawmakers decide which bills to pass and as they adopt a state budget for the next two years.”

Several members of the delegation said they are particularly interested in learning more about education in Virginia and the U.S.

“I’m running a few initiatives regarding education and science at the local level in Ukraine but also at the state level, and that’s why I kind of expect this trip will give me an opportunity to learn more about the specific, successful practices in the United States, and particularly in Virginia,” said Yurii Khalavka, an assistant professor, Ph.D. student and deputy director of the institute, Yurii Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University.

Iryna Dehtiarova, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Law and European Integration at the National Academy of Public Administration under the Office of the President of Ukraine, said she is interested in learning about higher education governance in Virginia and the U.S.

“My field of activities is primarily research governance, particularly governance in higher education,” she said. “In Ukraine there is now a huge reforming of higher education, and the American experience of American universities’ governance, funding of universities, research and then functioning of community colleges and school systems, is being positioned as a benchmark, as an ideal. That’s why I think that it should be discovered in the field and maybe [we will find] a lot of common features.”

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