Khmelnytskyi National University continues to actively implement the best international management and development practices. Vice-Rector for Scientific and Pedagogical Work, Professor Kateryna Skyba, who is also a trainer-mentor for the THEA Ukraine Lead (Training for Higher Education Administrators and Leaders in Ukraine) project, participated in the Kick-Off Workshop 2025 of the THEA Ukraine Lead project, held online from October 29 to 31, 2025.
The DAAD-funded THEA Ukraine Lead project aims to support Ukrainian higher education institutions (HEIs) in overcoming war-related crises and supporting post-war reconstruction. It serves to build capacity in management, leadership, and internationalisation at Ukrainian HEIs. The workshop was organised by FH Münster University of Applied Sciences (Germany) in cooperation with partners, including Sumy State University.
The Kick-Off workshop program was intensive and included three thematic days:
- Strategic Management (October 29)
After welcoming remarks and an introduction to the project's goals and the THEA Ukraine Lead mentoring concept, participants worked on the basics of strategic management. Speaker Prof. Dr. Frank Ziegele (CHE) covered the following topics:
- What strategies and strategic management should be in higher education institutions?
- Effective approaches to strategic university management.
- Challenges and limitations of strategic management in the Ukrainian context.
- Leadership and personal values (October 30)
The second day was devoted to leadership issues. Dr. Kai Gandel (HWM Osnabrück) presented the concepts of situational and lateral leadership. Attention was also paid to the relationship between personal values and self-leadership. Importantly, on this day, a meeting of project groups with mentors took place, during which Vice-Rector Kateryna Skyba, acting as a mentor, provided guidance on the concept and implementation of their projects.
- Crisis Management and Scenario Planning (October 31)
The final day focused on the work of higher education institutions in emergency situations. Kateryna Suprun (University of Tampere) shared insights from humanitarian practice, particularly regarding financing and crisis communication. A key element was scenario planning for sustainability (future-proof scenario development): participants developed institutional scenarios for multiple future conditions, accounting for the uncertainty associated with war (from protracted conflict to rapid post-war reconstruction). Crisis management cases were also considered using the example of Sumy State University.
Participation in the THEA Ukraine Lead workshop deepened our knowledge of strategic management, crisis planning, and international cooperation, which are critical to ensuring the sustainability and further modernisation of the university.
We are sincerely grateful to the organisers of the THEA Ukraine Lead project for the opportunity to join such an important initiative aimed at supporting the development of leadership and management practices in higher education in Ukraine.