For the UCU Business School, Big Start is not only the beginning of the academic year for new participants but also an opportunity to introduce them to the values, history, and vision of UCU and the UCU Business School. During the first day of studies, students had the chance to hear about the past, present, and future directly from the founders and leaders of UCU and the Business School.
The event featured Vice President of UCU Bohdan Prach, Rector Taras Dobko, Vice-Rector for Development and Communications Nataliya Klymovska, Founding Dean and Chair of the UCU Business School Supervisory Board Sophia Opatska, co-founder and benefactor of the Business School Yaroslav Rushchyshyn, and lawyer, UCU Philosophy Department lecturer, and member of the UCU Business School Supervisory Board Andriy Kostiuk. The discussion was moderated by the CEO of the UCU Business School, Yaryna Boychuk.
Sharing thoughts and inspiring stories from this meeting at Big Start 2024:
Why a business school at a Catholic university? Vice President of UCU Bohdan Prach explained:
“If we look at the tradition of Catholic universities worldwide, they aim to step out of their premises and engage with communities that create or aspire to create new perspectives. They seek contact with various environments, and the business environment is always creative and productive, offering new visions for life and societal development.
Our business community in Lviv at that time already understood the path that would allow progress.”
Rector Taras Dobko shared his thoughts on the contribution of the Business School to the development of UCU, the business community, and the country:
“When we create a new program, we always ask how it can change us. Over the past 16 years, we’ve learned much from the Business School: executive culture, result-oriented work, but perhaps the greatest achievement is the community of graduates that continues to improve the Business School and the university.
Currently, one of the key questions in the public educational space is the implementation of corporate governance elements in universities. At our university, we have a CFO rather than just a chief accountant, an investment council, a strong HR team, and two CIOs — a Chief Information Officer and a Chief Innovation Officer. These corporate governance elements are beneficial in building an effective structure capable of responding to unexpected challenges.
The motto of the Business School is ‘Growing a country by growing companies and people,’ which signifies transforming companies and the country through respect and care for individuals. Business is not just about money; it’s about people, common good, and added value. During the war, this is especially palpable.”
One of the first co-founders and benefactors of the UCU Business School, Yaroslav Rushchyshyn, shared how the idea of founding the Business School emerged:
“Our goal was to put Lviv on the world map, and we realized that we lacked business education in Lviv. We needed to academicize our activities and do so within a university framework. When we approached UCU with the proposal, they didn’t respond for half a year, but Bishop Borys managed to convince everyone,” Rushchyshyn recalled.
“It’s inspiring that during challenging times for our country, there are people motivated to develop their own businesses and work on implementing new projects. All this will strengthen us from within, and I’m glad that our Business School has the opportunity to be involved in creating a new generation,” he added.
Vice-Rector for Development and Communications, Nataliya Klymovska, added to this story from the perspective of the university’s vision at that time: the Business School wasn’t part of the university’s strategy, which is why the decision took so long.
“We launched programs no one else would, such as theology, which was banned in the Soviet Union and wasn’t even accredited in Ukraine, history, because for over 100 years, there were efforts to erase our history, and we needed to restore it, social work, because who else would do it if not us. In business, there were already successful projects.
But our strategy, like in business, had a small window of opportunity, and we used it. Now I believe the UCU Business School is a blessing for us because, as a fundraising university, it has become much easier for us to communicate with businesses. We found a common language.
Nataliya also told the new participants about UCU’s two main formulas: 3C — ‘Witness, Serve, Communicate’ and 2M — ‘Martyrs and Marginalized.’ She added:
“We are building a corporate culture centered on human dignity and mutual assistance. We don’t put obstacles in each other’s way; we strive for collective success. This is our model, which we want to pass on to graduates so they can understand its value and create such structures themselves.”
Sophia Opatska, Founding Dean of the UCU Business School, shared her memories. According to her, during the first five years, the Business School wasn’t taken seriously.
“It’s wonderful when you’re still a startup, and people ‘look at you like a small beer.’ This is actually not bad because you don’t bother anyone, no one opposes you, no one unites against you, and you have time to do what you need to. And that’s what we did.”
Sophia also talked about the Business School’s structure: Supervisory and Advisory Boards.
“There’s partnership among us. The Supervisory Board includes representatives from the university, business, and individuals we rely on. The more transparent your system for making strategic decisions is, the easier it is to move forward,” she added.
Andriy Kostiuk, as a philosopher on the one hand, and someone with extensive experience in the corporate world on the other, gave new participants advice:
“We measure life success by strategic indicators we aim to achieve. In business, success is measured in money, but life is broader and more complex. You can’t earn all the money in the world, but it’s essential to do something in life that gives meaning to the years lived.
Let everyone remember what they’ve changed in their own life, in the lives of those around them, and those who can’t help themselves for objective reasons.
The testimony of your success is when you can step aside and like the result of your work, not because it benefits you personally but because it makes the world better. Meetings within the walls of the Business School and the university will change you, and in turn, you will change the world around you because every environment changes us, and a good environment changes us for the better.”
