The socioeconomic situation of Tomsk State University in the 1990s (based on the newspaper Alma mater)

The article explores the socioeconomic situation of Tomsk State University (TSU) in the 1990s based on the periodical Alma mater. The authors distinguish the following problems addressed by the newspaper during the period under review: the university's overhead costs, the interaction between the university and regional and central administrations, the advocating for the rights of the employees, and the work of the administration to improve the situation of the university. In the field of the university's overhead costs, the main topics for almost the entire decade were the repair and reconstruction of the university's academic buildings, as well as utility bills (mainly heat and electricity). Alma mater published letters, appeals and resolutions of TSU's rector, academic council and trade union addressed to senior officials; the purpose of the letters was to “reach out” to the regional administration and, broader, to the “Centre”. Alma mater published notes on the daily life in research facilities, scientific laboratories, faculties and departments of the university, which formed a view of the socioeconomic status of the university in those years. Alma mater also published all kinds of program, statistical and analytical reports, such as interviews with rectors (Yu.S. Makushkin, M.K. Sviridov, G.V. Mayer) and vice-rectors (A.S. Revushkin, V.I. Zinchenko, G.E. Dunaevsky, A.G. Timoshenko, and others), in which the university's problems and ways to solve them were discussed; annual reports by the university's rectors and vice-rectors, summarizing the past year and providing goals for the next; various practical steps to improve the financial situation of the university. Based on the results of the study, the authors conclude that the newspaper Alma mater in the 1990s was one of the main platforms for discussing TSU's socioeconomic problems and ways to solve them.

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