Dr.Hab., Professor L.B. Andryushchenko¹
G.B. Kondrakov¹
A.G. Rostevanov¹
E.Y. Vnukova¹
Postgraduate A. Burov^1
1Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Moscow

Keywords: higher education, physical culture and sport, modernization, new technologies.

Background. Practical operational experience accumulated at the physical education departments in the Russian academic education system shows that presently the system urgently needs a consistent and highly efficient departmental management model since the relevant Ministry of Education Order is largely ineffective, and another regulatory provision for the system is lacking. Therefore, at this juncture the Physical Education Department gives a high priority to the departmental operation optimisation models and new avenues for the operations.

Objective of the study was to analyse the best national and international experiences that may be applied to upgrade and improve the Physical Education Department operations.

Methods and structure of the study. For the purposes of the study, we performed a comprehensive analysis of proceedings of the 2015-16 Russian Research and Practical Conference at G.V. Plekhanov’s Russian University of Economics, sessions of the Physical Education Council under the Ministry of Education; studied the existing legal and regulatory framework regulating the academic activities in the physical education and sports domain; overviewed the Physical Education Department experience and its sport club history; and offered new projects to improve the Departmental staffing provisions, education and research processes and relevant commercial services. An experimental work under the study was performed in the period of 2014-17.

Study results and discussion. In the year of 2017, G.V. Plekhanov’s Russian University of Economics comes to its 110 anniversary, and this date is an excellent opportunity to analyse its history in search of some important facts or events that could help us in the ongoing efforts to upgrade and advance the academic physical education and sports and give them a new impetus.

The Physical Education Department in its every development stage has implemented the governmental policies in the national physical education and sports sector to cultivate healthy lifestyles in the academic specialists trained for every sector of the national economy. The first formal mentioning of the physical training and sports session at former Moscow Commercial Institute (now G.V. Plekhanov’s RUE) was made in the Board Logbook back in 1916. It was in 1929 that the Government of the USSR ordered to introduce an academic Physical Education discipline at every university of the country and mandated the physical education departments being established in the academic education system. In 1964, the Government of the USSR provided additional financing for mass sport projects in the national academic education system. It was the time when Moscow Commercial Institute established its first sport club and provided a sound institutional and management basis for the annual Sports Contests of the Institute and mass sport events in the track and field sports, cross country skiing, tourism and sport rallies. Since then the picked team of the Institute has many times been among the winners and runner-ups of Moscow Sport Contests in rhythmic gymnastics (coached by V.I. Nikolaeva and T.V. Pomoschnikova), women’s volleyball (coached by Y.V. Negaev, Honorary Coach of the RF), freestyle wrestling (coached by N.N. Ryadinskiy) and some other sport disciplines. In 1992, however, the budgetary financing of the mass university sports on the whole and RUE sports in particular was cancelled and the sport club was closed. And it was only eight years ago, in 2010, that the university management found the way to establish a new sport club under G.V. Plekhanov’s RUE, with G.B. Kondrakov appointed to manage the club activity. Since then the sport infrastructure of the University has been actively rebuilt and developed.

As provided by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science Order #185 of 10.03.2015 “On Reform of G.V. Plekhanov’s Russian University of Economics and Moscow University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics”, two Physical Education Departments were established. Each of the Departments has made progress and accumulated valuable and versatile project experience. It was via the project design and management activity that the Physical Education Department operations have been seriously revised and upgraded.

Now the Physical Education Department gives a top priority to the educational, research and cultural activities geared to improve the students and faculty’s health standards, with its health strategy based on the following key provisions and projects:

1. Physical Health Monitoring Laboratory was established at the University.
2. The University procured a testing ESTECK System Complex that makes it possible to diagnose different bodily functional disorders with a high confidence level (76-98%); trace the health variations and motivate for new health improvement goals; with the tests taking only 10 minutes.
3. The University reports success in the RUE Health Week Project, with its 15 master classes per week provided by the Department educators; with the GTO Complex tests passed by the students and faculty; and its closing Sport Science Conference of students with contributions from the Department partners including Dr. Looder Company, one of the leading companies on the Russian market of sport and health services.
4. The obligatory academic Physical Education discipline includes 14 lectures; students’ education and research activity (every department holds conference lectures four times a year followed by a university conference lecture, with the event winners and runner-ups being qualified for Russian and international forums); project research activity (with the projects making an emphasis on the juncture research fields in different physical education and training domains including commercial projects, students’ grant applications etc.). More than 3000 first-year students are participating in the research project activity. Now the first-to-third year students are free to opt for elective physical education and sport disciplines on their own or based on the test results.
5. The University has implemented the local electronic information and education (EIE) system at the Physical Education Department that offers a special innovative environment to the students including a networking electronic journal that ensures communication of the academic sport facilities, offers a mobile application and health express test systems.
6. The University has developed the relevant commercial education programs including Pilates; Functional Training; Aerobics; Ballroom Dances; Zumba-2; Perfect Plastic Body; Health and Competitive Swimming; and Water Aerobics programs.
7. The new projects are presented at the relevant national and international conferences and publicised in the leading research journals listed in the Russian Attestation Commission list and in the major international citation bases.

Presently the academic community is highly interested in a few innovative sport projects developed by the RUE students. Most popular are the Russian GTO Students and University Sport Staffing Reserve Projects that are both highly reputed as the innovative and topical initiatives of the RUE specialists and students geared to advance youth sports. Thus the GTO Students Project is designed to advance and promote habitual physical training and sports in the academic communities; and the University Sport Staffing Reserve Project is designed to popularise and advance the academic sports, with both of the Projects having both the national and international dimensions. Only in 2015 more than 1500 students joined the Projects. The geographical coverage of the Projects is indicative of their growing popularity. Presently participating in the University Sport Staffing Reserve Project are 10 cities in many federal districts of Russia including Magnitogorsk, Orel, Maikop, Rostov-on-Don, Anapa, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Yakutsk, and Moscow. The GTO Students Project is being implemented in the following 10 cities: Yekaterinburg, Vladimir, Grozny, Arkhangelsk, Barnaul, Blagoveshchensk, Rostov-on-Don, Pskov, Moscow and Tomsk. Contributing to the Projects implementation initiatives are the leading specialists having great practical experiences in the academic sports and physical education within the national academic education system and formal student sport leagues. 

Conclusion. Presently the Physical Education Department is being formed as a research and education centre to implement the Federal State Higher Education Standards (FSHES); develop and offer new fitness technologies; provide commercial health management services; while its sport club will be in control of the academic sports. The projects presented herein give a top priority to the health management and imaging idea.

References

1. Kondrakov G.B., Stepyko D.G., Olkhovskiy R.M., Kuzmin M.A. Sportivnye kluby v sovremennom obrazovatelnom prostranstve [Sports clubs in modern educational space]. Pedagogicheskoe masterstvo i pedagogicheskie tekhnologii, 2016, no. 3 (9), pp. 175-178.
2. Puti povysheniya effektivnosti form i metodov organizatsii fizicheskogo vospitaniya studentov [Ways to improve effectiveness of forms and methods of academic physical education process]. Izvestiya Tulskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Fizicheskaya kultura. Sport, 2016, no. 4, pp. 15-21.
3. Stolyar K.E., Vit'ko S.Y., Pikhaev R.R., Kondrakova I.V. Organizatsionno-metodicheskie podkhody k kompleksnoy otsenke fizicheskoy podgotovlennosti studentov [New institutional and practical system for students' integrated physical fitness rating]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2016, no. 9, pp. 9-11.
4. Shutova T.N., Kuz'min M.A., Kondrakov G.B., Mamonova O.V. Model integratsii traditsionnykh vidov sporta i fitnesa v fizicheskom vospitanii studentov [Traditional sports and fitness integration model for academic physical education]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2016, no. 9, pp. 19-21.
5. Shutova T.N., Andryushchenko L.B. Fitnes-tekhnologii dlya povysheniya dvigatelnoy aktivnosti molodezhi na osnove globalnogo podkhoda [Young people's motor activity encouraging fitness technologies based on global approach]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2017, no. 3, pp. 54-56.
6. Haff G.G., Haff E.E. Training integration and periodization. NSCA’s program design. National Strength and Conditioning Association; ed. by J.R. Hoffman. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2012, 325 p.

Corresponding author: andryushenko-lil@mail.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to analyse the key progress stages in the history of the Physical Education Department of G.V. Plekhanov’s Russian University of Economics and its sport club, the current situation of the core activity fields, and the promising ways of its redesign and improvement in the process of the ongoing institutional and economic reforms at the University.

The study includes an analysis of the existing legal and regulatory framework for operations of the University departments in the physical education and sports domain; overview of the Physical Education Department and its sport club history; and offers new projects to improve the staffing provisions, education and research processes and commercial services.

We believe that presently the Physical Education Department is being formed as a research and education centre to implement the Federal State Higher Education Standards (FSHES); develop and offer new fitness technologies; provide commercial health management services; while its sport club will be in control of the academic sports. The projects presented herein give a top priority to the health management and imaging idea.