Openness in prevention of corruption in university during a transition from paid to free education

Damm Irina Alexandrovna PhD in Law Director of the Center for Corruption Prevention and Legal Expertise, Head of the department of Delictology and Criminology, Siberian Federal University 660075, Russia, Krasnoyarskii krai, g. Krasnoyarsk, ul. Maerchaka, 6, aud. 1-22 idamm@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Shishko Irina Viktorovna Doctor of Law Director at Law Institute of the Siberian Federal University 660075, Russia, Krasnoyarskii krai, g. Krasnoyarsk, ul. Maerchaka, 6, aud. 3-08 ishishko@sfu-kras.ru Other publications by this author

The Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes guarantees of equality of human and civil rights and freedoms regardless of gender, race, nationality, language, origin, property and official status, etc. (part 2 of article 19). In turn, The Federal law "on education in the Russian Federation" refers to the main principles of state policy and legal regulation of relations in the field of education as ensuring the right of everyone to education and the inadmissibility of discrimination in the field of education (paragraph 2 of part 1 of article 3). Accordingly, equal access and full scope of information provided to students on the transition from paid to free education ensures the implementation of the guarantees enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as industry legislation.

Corruption abuse in the procedure of transition from paid training on free committed by authorized employees of the educational organization of mercenary or other personal interest, violate the constitutionally guaranteed right of each on a competitive basis to receive free higher education in state or municipal educational institutions and enterprises (paragraph 3 article 43). In essence, the transition from paid to free education is a competition for obtaining a "budget place"in an educational organization of higher education ^{[1, p. 24]}. In this regard, ensuring the openness of such a procedure in the aspect of preventing corruption is particularly relevant.

The UN Convention against corruption ^[2] stipulates that each state party shall take appropriate measures to promote active public participation in preventing and combating corruption, including enhancing transparency and promoting public involvement in decision-making processes (article 13, part 1), as well as ensuring effective public access to information (article 13, part 1).

One of the anti-corruption principles in article 3 of Federal law No. 273-FZ of 25.12.2008 On anti-corruption ^[3] is the publicity and openness of the activities of state and local government bodies. This principle is closely related to the implementation of measures aimed at information openness of the activities of government bodies and involving the participation of civil society in their activities through the implementation of mechanisms of public expertise, public consultations and public monitoring at the early stages of preparation and decision-making, as well as ensuring the publicity of decisions ^{[4, p. 55]}. It is the publicity and openness of the government that correspond to the idea of a full-fledged state administration, which assumes that the government is controlled by society. States where the mechanism of information openness of the government is formed are less corrupt ^{[5, p. 24]}.

Despite the fact that this principle does not refer to organizations, it should be noted that there are positive trends in ensuring the openness and availability of information in relation to educational organizations.

It should be pointed out that the conceptual and categorical apparatus of openness in science is at the stage of formation. The authors Express different approaches to the relationship of such concepts as "openness", "information openness", "transparency", "publicity", "accessibility", etc. [6– 16]. In our opinion, the position is justified, according to which the General concept regarding the named is "openness" ^{[17, p. 236]}.

Based on the studied doctrinal and normative sources, taking into account the above judgments, it is possible to distinguish the following forms of openness of public administration:

- information openness , i.e. the ability of citizens to access socially significant information about public decisions made;

- procedural openness this means that citizens can monitor the process of preparing and making public decisions;

- participatory openness , i.e. the possibility of direct participation of citizens in the process of making public decisions ^{[18, p. 57 – 58]}.

Openness of educational organizations, transparency of management decisions, as well as accessibility of educational services are important in preventing corruption. Currently, in education as a socially important sphere of public services, measures to ensure openness in various forms are being consistently introduced.

Information openness of educational organizations various types are provided by the requirements of the Federal law "on education in the Russian Federation" ^[19] (hereinafter - the law on education). Article 29 "Information openness of an educational organization" stipulates the obligation of educational organizations to form open and publicly accessible information resources containing information about their activities, and to provide access to such resources by placing them in information and telecommunications networks, including on the official website of the educational organization on the Internet. In turn, the procedure for posting and updating information on the official website of an educational organization is regulated by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 10.07.2013 No. 582 "on approval of the Rules for posting on the official website of an educational organization in the information and telecommunications network "Internet" and updating information about the educational organization " ^[20]. These Rules contain special requirements that ensure the availability of information. Thus, the technological and software tools used for the functioning of the official site must provide access to information posted on the official site without using software, the installation of which on the technical means of the information user requires the conclusion of a license or other agreement with the software rightholder, which provides for charging the information user a fee (clause 10 of the Rules).

An earlier study of official websites of Federal universities of the Russian Federation allows to draw a conclusion that universities comply with the General requirements on information transparency (studied official sites of the Baltic Federal University. I. Kant (Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University), far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), Kazan (Volga region) Federal University (KFU), the Crimean Federal University. V. I. Vernadsky (Krfu), Northern (Arctic) Federal University. M. V. Lomonosov (NARFU), North-Eastern Federal University. M. K. Ammosov (NEFU), North-Caucasus Federal University (NCFU), Siberian Federal University (SFU), southern Federal University (SFEDU), Ural Federal University. the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin (Urfu)). For example, all Federal universities have posted admission rules and other mandatory information on their official websites in order to ensure that their activities are open to information. At the same time, the corresponding files are accessible to the user, i.e. they are freely opened and read. Thus, information openness of higher education institutions is generally ensured ^{[21, p. 68]}.

The informational openness of students ' transition from paid to free education, taking into account the increased corruption risks of this procedure, is of scientific and practical interest. Basics of legal regulation of respective relations enshrined in the Ministry of education of Russia 06.06.2013 № 443 “On approval of the Order and cases of transition of individuals enrolled in educational programs of secondary professional and higher education, with paid training on free” ^[22] (hereinafter-the Order).

The circle of persons entitled to the transition from paid training on free and an exhaustive list of alternative set out the terms of this law established Order (p. 6). Regarding the timing of filing of applications for studying the transition from paid training on free at presence of vacant budgetary places, as well as the composition, powers and order of activity of the Commission making the decision about the transition, they are an educational organization (p. 4 and 7 of the Procedure).

Further study of the official websites of Federal universities (hereinafter referred to as "universities") revealed that they have different levels of legal support, as well as information openness of the transition from paid to free education.

Local normative acts regulating the order of the transition, placed in free access, open and read (available) at all universities: Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, far Eastern Federal University, KFU, Crpu, UNIVERSITY, NEFU, SKFU, SFU, UFU, yufu. It should be noted that a number of universities have adopted separate local regulations governing the transition from paid to free education (FEFU ^[23], KFU ^[24], Krfu ^[25], SAFU ^[26], NEFU ^[27], SFU ^[28], Urfu ^[29], SFU ^[30]), in some cases the corresponding procedure is regulated in the General regulations on transfer within the University (BFU ^[31], NCFU ^[32]).

An in-depth study of the content of the pages of the official websites of universities has revealed that universities differently determine the amount of information posted, necessary both for the implementation of students ' right to switch from paid to free education, and for the protection of violated rights.

Information openness for students to exercise their right to switch from paid to free education involves placing information about the number of vacant budget places, the timing of receiving documents, the method and place of their submission in the free access of the educational organization. it Should be noted that the Federal Procedure establishes two basic guarantees of information openness of the procedure in question: the educational organization provides openness of information about the number of vacant budget places for switching from paid to free education, the timing of students ' applications for switching from paid to free education by placing this information in information and telecommunications networks, including on the official website of the educational organization on the Internet (paragraph 5 of the Order).

A study of official websites of universities for placing information on the number of vacant budget places, on deadline, as well as the method and place of filing has allowed to establish the following.

In some universities, the structure of official websites provides special sections with information about the transition from paid to free education (for example, BFU ^[33], SFU ^[34] and Urfu ^{[35; 36]}). In SFU, in a special section "Transition from paid training to free", there are: the relevant local normative act, which fixes the General terms for submitting applications for the University: "all materials necessary for the work of the Commission are submitted to the students personally to the Secretary of the Commission: at the end of the winter semester until February 15 – stage 1, until March 5 – stage 2; at the end of the summer semester until July 10 – stage 1, until October 10– stage 2 » (clause 3.5. of the Regulations). In addition, the Regulation contains an application form for the student. At the same time, information about deadlines is duplicated on the websites of the relevant institutions of the southern Federal University, as well as information about the official who accepts documents (including full name), his office number and phone number ^[37]. In addition, a special section on the official website of the SFU contains the minutes of all Commission meetings and up-to-date information on the number of vacant budget seats.

In Urfu, in addition to posting on the official website the required information about the transition from paid to free education, an online "hotline" is organized for students, through which you can ask a question and get an answer. It should be noted that all questions and answers are publicly available to all users of the site.

Some universities do not have special sections on their official websites. Students receive information about the start of receiving documents with varying degrees of detail in the categories "news" or "Ads". For example, FEFU has placed an ad in the main news feed of the University indicating the exact dates for accepting documents, including the date of the Commission meeting ^[38]. However, the relevant news does not contain information about who and where students need to submit documents. At the same time, the relevant local regulatory act of FEFU stipulates that it is the "Directors of schools (branches) who organize informing students about the work schedule of the Commission, the list of documents required for the transition from paid to free education, and the number of available places in the school (branch) and organize the reception of applications from students" (clause 2.3 of the FEFU Regulations). In turn, in the SAFU, in the category "ads", in addition to deadlines, the structural division to which documents must be submitted is specified ^[39]. The NEFU additionally publishes news about the time and place of the Commission meeting with the attachment of a list of students who submitted an application ^[40].

In some universities, the information transparency of the procedure under study is provided to a lesser extent: the necessary local regulations and information about the availability of vacant budget places (SFU, KFU) are posted.

The information openness of the decisions made by the relevant commissions on the transition from paid to free education for specific students is a guarantee of the protection of the academic right of students to switch from paid to free education. Thus, after reading the minutes of the Commission meeting, students who believe that their right has been violated can appeal against the relevant decisions. The requirement to publish the minutes of the Commission meeting in information and telecommunications networks, including on the official website of the educational organization on the Internet, is contained in paragraph 15 of the Order. This provision is reproduced in the vast majority of local regulations of universities. However, this provision is absent, for example, in the relevant FEFU act. Please note that there is no provision for the mandatory publication of the minutes of the Commission's meetings in the public domain, but the minutes of the meeting are in the public domain.

Procedural openness of the transition from paid to free education Order doesn't pay much attention. In particular, paragraph 7 States that the decision to transfer students from paid to free education is made by a specially created educational organization Commission. However, the determination of the composition, powers and procedure of such a Commission is within the competence of educational organizations. Right there is the only form of participation of employees and students educational organizations in the decision of the Commission – taking into account the views of the Council of students of educational organizations, and trade unions of students (if any) and the Council of parents (legal representatives) of underage students (in the presence of a juvenile enrolled). The procedure for recording opinions in the Order is not described.

In local regulations of universities, these requirements are generally met. Thus, a special Commission is created to decide on the transition from paid to free education in FEFU (clause 2.1 of the Regulations), in Urfu (clause 4.2.1 of the Regulations), CFU (clause 2.1 of the Regulations on the Commission to consider the transition of students from paid to free education in the Federal state Autonomous educational institution of higher professional education "Kazan (Volga) Federal University" ^[41]); SFU (clause 3.1 of the Regulations); Krfu (clause 3.1 of the Procedure) and others. However, not all universities specifically create a Commission to decide only on the transition from paid to free education. According to clause 3.6.1 of the NCFU Regulations, consideration of such a transition is assigned to the University's certification Commission, which considers issues and makes decisions on the restoration of students and (or) their transfer to NCFU from one educational program or from one form of study to another. Questions about the transition from paid to free education in the BFU are considered by the Commission for transfer and restoration (clause 1.2 of the Regulations); in the SFU – commissions consisting of members of the academic councils of institutes (Regulations of the Commission for reviewing applications of students to switch from paid to free education).

It is understandable that the decision to transfer students from paid to free education should be made by the existing bodies/commissions of an educational institution: in this case, there is no need to provide for the procedure for creating a new Commission, its composition, activities, etc. However, from the literal interpretation of paragraph 7 of the Procedure, it follows that the Commission must be created specifically to make these decisions. We believe that this is due to the importance of the issue of switching from paid to budget education in order to ensure this academic right of students, so it is highly undesirable to consider it along with many others.

Non-compliance with the established procedural openness we have identified in the local normative act of the Urfu. The relevant regulations of this University do not specify the composition of the Commission. However, it is established that the decision to switch is made by a Commission with the participation of a representative of the students ' trade Union organization (the Union of students) University» (clause 4.2.1). This version allows us to say that the University does not fully ensure procedural openness: according to paragraph 7 of the Order, the decision should be made taking into account the opinion of both, not the professional Union of students or the Council of students of the educational organization, but taking into account the views of both, and if there is a parent Council – and its opinion.

The NCFU Regulation establishes who is a member of the Commission and defines the procedure for taking into account the opinion of the primary trade Union organization of ncfu students and postgraduates. the Chairman of THIS organization takes part in the meeting of the certification Commission (clause 3.6.2). Of course, he does not participate in the decision-making process. The opinion of the representative of the student Council of the University is also taken into account, although it is not specified exactly how (it is not established in what form he takes part in the meeting of the Commission).

The majority of universities have not just taken into account the opinions of organizations and structures provided for in clause 7 of the Order, but have provided participatory openness . The possibility of direct participation of students in the decision-making process of the Commission is stipulated in the local regulations of NCFU (NCFU Commission members include a representative of student self-government bodies (clause 2.2.3)). In FEFU to the Commission includes a representative of the United Council of students of the University and a representative of the student Union (2.1), and in NARFU in the composition of the Commission the Chairman of the primary trade Union organization of workers and students, as well as President of the student Council of the University (according to paragraph 2 of the Rules). In turn, the Krfu stipulates mandatory participation in the Commission of representatives of the primary trade Union organization and the Student Chamber of the Council of students (clause 3.1 of the Order), and the SFU includes students as members of the Commission. However, in the case of participatory openness, SFU does not provide the procedural openness established by the Procedure: it does not provide for taking into account the views of the Council of students of the University and the professional Union of students.

Despite the fact that the CFU Regulations state that the Commission's activities are based on transparency (clause 4.3), there are no rules that establish the procedure for taking into account the views of the Board of students of an educational organization and the professional Union of its students (either in the form of communicating a draft decision to them, or in the form of participation in meetings of the Commission). The Commission includes representatives of the "student asset", whose composition may not coincide with the composition of the University's student Council. Thus, it could be concluded that there is no procedural openness of the decision-making process established by paragraph 7 of the Procedure. Note That there is a rule in the regulations of the CFU that «Commission meetings are usually held openly… » (clause 5.7). Thus, as a General rule, the sessions are open to everyone, including students who have applied to switch from paid to free education. In this sense, the CFU has provided maximum procedural transparency. However, when holding closed meetings (this possibility is provided for by the same clause 5.7 of the… Regulation), procedural transparency is not provided. At the same time, in 2017, the KFU adopted the Regulations for the transfer of persons studying at the Federal state Autonomous educational institution of higher education "Kazan (Volga) Federal University", from paid to free education, which, like the above Provision, was approved by the rector of the KFU. According to clause 4.4 of this Regulation, the Commission consists of representatives of the primary trade Union organization of KFU students, the coordinating Council of student public organizations and associations of KFU, and the student asset of KFU. Thus, even in cases of a closed meeting, the opinion of all organizations and structures provided for in clause 7 of the Procedure is taken into account directly – their representatives participate in decision-making, i.e. the decision-making procedure ensures participatory openness.

In SFU, not only is there a participatory openness (the Commission includes a representative of the student government and the primary trade Union organization (however, it is not specified which organization: paragraph 7 of the Order establishes the need to take into account the views of a representative of the trade Union of students), but also the maximum procedural openness of decision-making by the Commission: meetings are held in an open form (paragraph 3.6) and all interested persons (representatives of structural divisions of the University) can be present when discussing transition issues.of the Advisory voice (clause 3.7).

The conducted research allows us to draw the following conclusions:

First, increased corruption risks in the procedure for switching from paid to free education arise primarily when higher education organizations do not meet the requirements of paragraph 5 of the Procedure for ensuring transparency of information, namely, providing information about the number of vacant budget places for switching from paid to free education, as well as about the timing of students ' applications for switching from paid to free education on the official website of the educational organization. Non-compliance or improper compliance with the relevant established requirements for information openness creates unjustified obstacles to the implementation of the right of students to switch from paid to free education, and therefore the risks of committing corruption offenses and even crimes.

Secondly, the analysis of information posted on the official websites of universities allows us to conclude that there is no uniformity in the ways and means of such placement. Universities with varying degrees of intensity are working to provide students with the necessary information about the transition from paid to free education.

Third, universities have developed different approaches to ensuring information transparency of the transition from paid to free education. The study of official websites allows us to conclude that in General, educational organizations of higher education provide their students with the necessary amount of information to implement the right to switch from paid to free education. However, the amount of such information, as well as its availability and ease of access, varies significantly.

Fourth, universities usually comply with the procedural openness provided for in clause 7 of the Federal Procedure for making a decision on the transition of a student from paid to free education. Moreover, most of them«went ahead » of the provision enshrined in this paragraph of the Order, providing for a participatory openness of decision-making on the transition. the Inclusion of representatives of the Council of students and the professional Union of students in the Commission is an additional anti-corruption measure and, therefore, an additional measure to protect the right of students to switch to free training.

Fifth, neither fixing the procedure for taking into account the opinions of these representatives, nor their membership in the Commission that decides on the transition of a student from paid to free education, does not preclude making a decision on such a transition in their absence (they were duly notified, but did not attend the meeting of the Commission). In this regard, the experience of universities that have provided for an open form of Commission meetings (procedural openness) deserves support. The probability of students who submitted an application for transition being present at the meeting is significantly higher, which also increases the level of objectivity of the decision on transition made by the Commission.

universities themselves should be interested in ensuring the openness of the transition from paid to free education, since the openness of such a transition increases their attractiveness, which in the conditions of competition for applicants becomes of particular importance.