Supporting Reform at Tbilisi State University – Faculty of Social and Political Sciences

CSS aided TSU in adapting to the new requirements of university administration and management via trainings and provision of technical expertise in terms of overall University governance and administration as well as more specifically in terms of establishing clear and effective administrative structures at the level of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences. Ultimately, technical expertise provided by CSS laid the foundation of the new University structure, including the formation of the fewer but more coherent new Schools (those of Social and Political Sciences, Humanities, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Economy and Business, Law, and Medicine) instead of traditional narrowly oriented and more numerous 22 Faculties.

After formally creating the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Tbilisi State University, CSS, in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (Germany) arranged a summer school in Shekvetili, West Georgia on Institutional Management and Development of Curriculum of Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Tbilisi State University for the heads of departments of Social Sciences that have been included in the new Faculty – those of Political Science, International Relations, Psychology, Sociology, Journalism, and Human Geography. Leading administrators of Tbilisi State University also attended the summer school. For five working days, based on CSS suggestions and guidelines, the Faculty members have agreed to the new basic administrative structure of the new Faculty as well as about overall quality assurance procedures, unified curriculum for the first-year students, cooperation with local universities in Georgia and set deadlines for future development of the Faculty. A memorandum stating all achieved agreements was signed by the participants of the summer school, thus laying the foundation for future joint work.

In 2006 two special schools were held for the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences of TSU. The sessions were dedicated to discussion, revision and development of Master level programs’ curriculums at the Faculty of Social and Political Sicences. Issues of research component integration in the study process as well as the internationaziation of academic programs and quality assurance were laso addressed.

Curriculum Development

Since January 2004, CSS has implemented up to 22 new and revised peer-reviewed graduate teaching courses as well as 6 graduate research workshops. These courses and workshops have been funded from the CSS budget and now are being implemented at the FSPS as part of the core curriculum. Moreover, for the first time at TSU, CSS introduced the practice of optional courses, which significantly improved student mobility between the department of Social Sciences as well as student’s planning of their degree. By CSS initiative academic writing has been included in the core curriculum in Social Sciences at TSU.

ECTS Implementation

A distinctive credits system was formally introduced at TSU in 2001, but only CSS started using credits as a basis of degree structuring. The credits system of CSS included both independent as well as contact hours, while that of TSU centered on exclusively contact hours. This innovative step was important in terms of introducing the requirements of the Bologna process to Georgian higher education system. Also, the new credits system implemented by CSS implied the distribution of students’ workload in terms of classroom attendance, volume of reading materials both in Georgian as well as foreign languages, preparation for exams, various types of assignments, exams, and graduate thesis preparation. Now the ECTS system is expanded to the FSPS and the rest of TSU.

Teaching Methodology

CSS introduced and implemented new teaching methodology and made new teaching methods mandatory both for professors as well as students. Apart from traditional lecture series, seminars and colloquiums became a necessary part of the teaching process. Syllabi became a necessary part of the teaching process as a teaching strategy and a contract between the teachers and students, along with the written feedback on students’ performance, innovative approaches to students’ examination techniques such as presentations, group projects, and independent research assignments. Assessment as the cumulative character of the assessment (not only final exams but also students’ attendance, participation and contribution was continuously assessed during the whole year).

Prof. Barry Parsonson's visit to the Faculty of Social and Political Studies at TSU

In April - May 2005 by support of the Center for Social Sciences, Prof. Barry Parsonson Dean Emeritus from School of Social Sciences, University of Waikato, New Zealand visited the Faculty of Social and Political Studies at TSU. Prof. Parsonson worked on on-going reform issues and the institutional development of the Faculty of Social and Political Studies.

Following documentations were elaborated for TSU and the Faculty of Social and Political Studies:

A Model for the Academic Registry at TSU

Proposal for the Structure of the Bachelor of Social Sciences Degree at TSU

Faculty Dean's Office Staffing

Director Quality, Postgraduate Research and Academic Projects

A Proposed Model of a Social Work Degree for TSU

Researching and Writing a Master's Thesis