By Ann M. Koenig, AACRAO International Education Services
Ukraine signed on to the Bologna process in 2005 and has been working to integrate features of the process into its higher education system since then. In the academic year 2006-07 some higher education institutions (HEIs) began to use ECTS grades on a pilot basis. Effective January 1, 2014, the “Diploma Supplement of European standard” or “European model” (DS) will become an official document of higher education, by resolution of the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers of September 4, 2013, which amends a 1997 resolution defining the official documents of higher education in the Republic of Ukraine.
The DS will be issued in Ukrainian and English, and given to all graduates of bachelor, master and specialist programs at Ukrainian HEIs beginning in 2014. Following government decisions in 2009 and 2010, which had approved the use of the DS as a supplementary document, some HEIs have been offering the DS by special request of the graduate. Beginning with the 2014 graduating cohort, it will be mandatory for all HEIs to issue every bachelor, master and specialist graduate a DS.
The Ukrainian terminology ╨┤╨╛╨┤╨░╤é╨╛╨║ ╨┤╨╛ ╨┤╨╕╨┐╨╗╨╛╨╝╨░ (dodatok do diploma), which can be translated as addition, annex, addendum, or supplement, to the diploma, is used for both the traditional and the new document. In Ukrainian, the acronym ╨'╨' (DD) is used to denote the European-standard document, in parallel to the acronym DS in English.
The Ukrainian DS format follows the template that was developed by the European Commission, Council of Europe and UNESCO/CEPES, as many of the Bologna signatory countries’ DS formats do. Links on the Web site of Euroosvita, the organization in Ukraine that is responsible for promoting and coordinating Bologna process-related activity, lead to the DS templates in Ukrainian, Russian and English.
Although not much information is available in English on the Euroosvita Web site, it provides extensive background information in Ukrainian on the Bologna process and on Bologna-related developments in Ukraine.
It should be noted that there is no standard format of documentation for an incomplete higher education program.
Source: “All Ukrainian universities' graduates to receive Diploma Supplement of European standard in 2014”, Government of Ukraine, official press release 09/06/13
Resources for information and credential evaluation:
AACRAO EDGE
The Educational System of Ukraine, AACRAO Annual Meeting presentation by Ann Koenig, AACRAO International Education Services, and Gunnar Vaht, Estonian ENIC, 2008
The Educational System of Ukraine, NORRIC (Nordic Recognition Network) 2008 study visit report, 2009
Higher Education in Ukraine, TEMPUS Report, 2012
Higher Education Institution Databases (in Ukrainian):
Ministry of Education and Science
OSVITA Education Portal
National Universities of Ukraine
The Bologna Process in Ukraine:
ECTS, European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System
Ukraine National Reports in Bologna Process, Higher Education Area, National Reports and Bologna Process Ukraine, 2007-2010
Bologna Process in Ukraine, Euroosvita