Parameters and models of autonomy of universities

The Article reveals the essence of autonomy of universities and proves the necessity of its activation in modern economic conditions. The main types of autonomy of universities are distinguished: financial, personnel, academic and organizational, the key indicators are systematized for the estimation of the level of each of them. The practice of realization of freedoms in some countries, its features and possibilities is analyzed. The assessment of the organizational autonomy of universities of European countries made it possible to rank them at the level of individual forms of manifestation of freedoms. The analysis of the level of academic autonomy of universities allowed identifying several models, depending on the ability to decide on the number of students and the level of standardization of education. The latter leads to the formation of a certain set of knowledge, skills and abilities that a Specialist must possess, but at the same time these standards may become a limit in the autonomy. Personnel autonomy concerns the freedom of personnel recruitment and the rules on recruitment, dismissal, incentive, punishment and remuneration. The rankings of European countries on the level of personnel autonomy have been carried out in the Article. Financial autonomy involves the freedom of the higher educational institution to use financial resources at its own discretion. The largest restrictions apply to public funding, which requires a large amount of accounting documentation, the availability of certain rules for using these funds, and performance criteria. Money received from business also has a predominantly intended purpose: personnel training, performing specific works, studying specific processes or phenomena. The assessment of the financial autonomy of European universities revealed the greatest differences in individual countries. The analysis of different types of autonomies made it possible to reveal the correlation of university freedoms in individual countries. In each case, the ratio of regulating mechanisms and freedoms can be significantly different, which forms a different level of autonomy of higher education institution. Accordingly, the following main models are identified: minimal, partial or full autonomy. The model of minimal autonomy involves the organization of budget educational institutions, fully subordinated to the owner's (founder's) tasks. In this model, there are minimum opportunities for institutions of higher education to make independent decisions in economic activity. In the framework of the model of partial autonomy, universities have certain autonomous powers in the financial sphere, but they have control mechanisms for the use of resources. A model of full autonomy involves the absence of organizational or property subordination. The analysis allowed identifying internal threats to the development of universities and their autonomy, as well as to propose separate solutions aimed at ensuring the sustainable development of universities in Ukraine.