22.02.2013  NovSU is already 20 years old, although it might celebrate its 40th anniversarily

In 2013, the Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University celebrates its 20th anniversary. But there is a strong possibility that not everyone knows that the idea of creation the University was proclaimed for the first time in 1974.

The History and Archival Science Department lecturers have studied the history of higher education in Veliky Novgorod for many years. Renata Makeykina, the associate professor of the Archival Science Department while writing her research book in the funds of State Archive of Contemporary History has revealed an outstanding document – a letter of Prof. Mikhail Kulikov, the Rector of Novgorod State Pedagogical Institute (NSPI), to the Novgorod Oblast Communist Party Committee from June 20^th, 1974.

In his letter Mikhail Kulikov says, “In our region, it would be much more efficient to train the top-level specialists by the means of centralized university education system”. His proposal was to establish a university instead of having several small higher education institutions. To prove the validity of his idea, prof. Kulikov says: 1) “The system of university education has proved to be the one with the highest theoretical and scientific specialist’s training ability”; 2) “University will be able to provide the theoretical and scientific basis in no time”; 3) “University would look more attractive in the eyes of high quality specialists – doctors and professors”; 4) “With the help of university education system we will be able to refuse of previous boundaries, and share specialists among various industries”. 

Prof. Mikhail Kulikov offered a stage creation of the University – First, to build a new building and canteen for the Pedagogical Institute; second, to improve premises of the Agriculture Institute; third, to create Institute of Medical Education, etc. Only after executing those stages, prof. Kulikov was determined to set up a new university.

It is still unknown what effect the proposal of NSPI rector has had on the Novgorod Region leaders. It is quite possible that while studying the archival documents, some new facts will manifest themselves. 

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