‘Professors sow goodness and the eternal in students’ souls’ – UCU awards stipends to professors

“Professors sow goodness and the eternal in students’ souls. Artificial intelligence can learn how to provide information, and it will be able to do very much work for us. But it will not be able to give you faith in yourself, love, and hope. So we take care of our professors, so that they will share these with their students.” So said Iryna Ivanchyk, co-founder of the charitable foundation Believe in Yourself and an UCU senator.

On October 16, the rector gave his annual report to Ukrainian Catholic University. Afterwards, stipends were awarded to professors. Friends and benefactors of UCU were invited to the event.

 

 

 

UCU Rector Taras Dobko thanked the professors for fruitful cooperation, devoted service, great support, and also for their contribution to resilience and future victory.

Iryna Ivanchyk, co-founder of the charitable foundation Believe in Yourself and an UCU senator, greeted the professors and emphasized: “We in the agriculture business sow and care for the earth and its bounty. For a good harvest, we need to be attentive every day. In this, our efforts are similar to the efforts of UCU’s professors, who sow goodness and the eternal in students’ souls. Artificial intelligence can learn how to provide information, and it will be able to do very much work for us. But it will not be able to give you faith in yourself, love, and hope. So we take care of our professors, so that they will share these with their students.”

 

For the first time, student scholarships were awarded from endowed funds named after Artem Dymyd, a graduate of the history program, and Oleh Vorobyov, a student of the UCU Business School, who both perished in the battle with the Russian occupiers. UCU Vice-Rector for Development and Communications Natalia Klymovska stated that in two years the university has created 10 endowed scholarship funds in memory of slain heroes from the UCU community. The first endowments, named after Artem Dymyd and Oleh Vorobyov, have already each collected $ 100 thousand. The capital of the endowment is invested, and part of the general profit from the investment is annually used for the education and formation of future generations.

The Artem Dymyd Scholarship was awarded to a student in the third year of the history program, Mykola Hnatyuk, by the hero’s parents, Ivanka Krypyakevych-Dymyd and Fr. Mykhaylo Dymyd. Mrs. Dymyd emphasized that the fact that it was possible to collect money for the fund was not so much thanks to the family as to Artem, who was a particularly outstanding person.

Yaryna Boychuk, CEO of the UCU Business School, awarded the Oleh Vorobyov Scholarship to Ella Plakhotna, a fourth-year student in the philology program.

The Bohdan Solchanyk Scholarship, named after an UCU professor who was killed by a security agent on the Maidan (Kyiv’s Independence Square) in 2014, was awarded to doctoral student Ihor Bukalo. Bohdan’s parents, Zinoviy and Oksana Solchanyk, presented the award. Mrs. Solchanyk emphasized that she knew how her son loved UCU: “This is a European-level university. It provides students with knowledge and practical skills so they are comparable to students abroad. I thank everyone who gives of their soul and strength for the people who study and work here.”

Andrii Gubar, assistant head of the UCU Development Department, emphasized that, for the university, both the professional competency and also the personal qualities of the professors chosen for the stipends are important. He thanked the benefactors who, through their support, provide our professors with possibilities for development and the realization of their potential.

Iryna Ivanchyk awarded stipends from the Believe in Yourself charitable fund to Dmytro Myronovych, assistant head of the Sociology Department, and Iryna Krynytska, assistant professor of the Department of Pedagogy and Social Work.

Yaroslav Lyubinets, co-owner and chairman of the Board of Directors of the company SoftServe, awarded the Lyubinets Family Stipend to

Oleksiy Ihnatenko, professor at the Department of Computer Science and Information Technologies.
Darnytsia Pharmaceutical Company awarded professors’ stipends to:
Maryana Mykolaychuk, assistant professor of the Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy
Viktoriya Babenko, assistant professor of the UCU School of Journalism and Communications
Nataliya Hrynko, assistant professor of the Department of Clinical Psychology
Mykhaylo Perun, assistant professor of the Theology Department
Mariya Balazh, assistant professor of the Department of Physical and Occupational Therapy

Iryna Hrytsaienko, director of the Zagoriy Foundation, presented the awards.

 

 

 

Stipends from the Dr. Alexander and Jaroslawa Gudziak Professors’ Fund were awarded to:

Dmytro Tsolin, professor of the Biblical Studies Department
Viktor Zhukovskyi, assistant head of the Theology Department
Orysya Bila, assistant head of the Philosophy Department
Nazar Duda, senior lecturer of the Department of Pastoral Theology
Fr. Mykhaylo Lesiv, assistant head of the Department of Pastoral Theology
Taras Shmanko, assistant head of the Department of Liturgical Studies

Vadym Adadurov, professor of the History Department, received a professors’ stipend from the Klymovyi family.

The following received professors’ stipends from the Kytsmey family:

Olena Dzhedzhora, senior lecturer of the History Department
Yuliya Kolodiy, senior professor of the Department of Applied Sciences and Statistics

Olesya Luchko, assistant at the Department of Clinical Psychology, received a professors’ stipend from the Denys family.

Yaryna Kolisnyk, assistant professor of the Department of Physical and Occupational Therapy, received the Orest Vovk Professors’ Stipend.

Oleh Farenyuk, senior professor of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, received the Trinklo Professors’ Stipend.

 

 

 

Khrystyna Rutar, senior professor of the Department of Culture Studies, received the Bulchak Family Professors’ Stipend.

Svyatoslav Motren, senior professor of the Political Sciences Department, received a professors’ stipend from the DoNatsiya project.

Sister Ihnatiya Havrylyk, assistant professor of the Theology Department, received the Michael and Irene Boyko Fund Professors’ Stipend.

Petro Sabat, assistant professor in the Department of Liturgical Studies, received the Dr. Maria Fischer-Slysh Fund Professors’ Stipend.

Vira Orysya, a professor in the History Department, received a professors’ stipend from the Anastasia and Mykhaylo Lohush and Anna and Yosyf Kurlyk Fund.

Fr. Yuriy Martynyuk, senior professor in the Theology Department, received a professors’ stipend from the Dr. Rudolph Fischer Fund.

 

 

The following received the Adrian Slywotzky Professors’ Stipend:

Roman Kechur, assistant head of the Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy
Oleksandr Avramchuk, assistant head of the Department of Clinical Psychology of the Health Sciences Faculty
Maksym Kolyba, senior professor of the Department of the Theory of Law and Human Rights
Anastasiya Shyroka, assistant professor of the Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy
Nataliya Yakymets, senior professor of the Philosophy Department
Inha Kozlova, assistant professor of the Sociology Department
Fr. Taras Baytsar, assistant to the dean of the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy
Fr. Vasyl Rudeyko, assistant professor of the Department of Liturgical Studies
Iryna Semkiv, assistant professor of the Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy
Volodymyr Turchynovskyy, dean of the UCU Social Sciences Faculty and director of UCU’s International Institute for Ethics and Contemporary Issues

 

 

 

 

The following received awards for introducing the service-learning approach:

Sophia Opatska for the service-learning project “LeaveRussia, pressure through Wikipedia,” executed by students in the upper grades for the university elective “International business and global markets” in partnership with Wikimedia Ukraine and Business4Ukraine

Oksana Vasylytsya for the service-learning project “Invest in the community,” executed by fourth-year students of the bachelor’s program Ethics-Politics-Economics in partnership with the Velykoberezovytskyi territorial community, the community of the city of Zalishchyky, and the Berezhany territorial community

Maksym Kolyada for the service-learning project “Support of children in vulnerable categories,” executed by third-year students in the bachelor’s degree programs Information Technologies and Business Analytics in partnership with the communal institution Kindred Community and the Kindred charitable fund

 

 

Special thanks were given to the following for leadership in introducing significant educational and social initiatives through service-learning projects:

Olena Kuzmichova for the realization of the research project “Crisis of the use of Russian software for a number of enterprises (1С and BAS) in Ukraine”

Fr. Oleh Dutka for the realization of the project “Theology in action”

Ihor Medved for the realization of the project “Learn with Franko,” together with the Franko Home, the Classical Gymnasium at Ivan Franko National University in Lviv, Middle School №73, and the Plast Scouts Group Kosmach Guards, Plast Lviv

Nataliya Nazar for the realization of the project “Developing an ethical code for the communal institution Kindred Center of Social Support for Children and Families of the Lviv City Council

Oleksiy Datsiv for the realization of the project “Business Analysis in IT”

Larysa Buk and Ihor Blystiv for the realization of the project “Marketing Consulting Practices”

Service learning is known throughout the world as an innovative educational approach, the goal of which is to raise the civic involvement of students and professors to solve society’s problems and also to create positive social changes in the educational process. An approach like this encourages the development of teamwork, leadership, critical thinking, and inclusive education.

 

 

Svyatoslav Motren, senior professor of the Political Science Department, in 2022 volunteered to join the army, though, because of family circumstances he had to return to civilian life. The professor shared that, for him, the stipend was a recognition of his merits and a job well done.

“This is for me an indicator that they value my work. The stipend is a stimulus to do even better, to move forward, and to realize my potential. I feel that, as a professor I am in the right place. I strive to be of use to my students and to pass on to them pleasant emotions,” emphasized Sviatoslav Motren.

Roman Kechur, assistant head of the Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy, stated that the stipend, like any award, demonstrates that professors are not alone. There are people lobbying for them and helping them.

“To be a professor in time of war is much more difficult than in peacetime, because you feel a greater responsibility for people, and together you must overcome many difficulties. Studies, the educational process, need to be modified, so that they are relevant in wartime. We are all now, to a greater or lesser extent, under existential threat. And we need to seek responses to those challenges which we did not face in peacetime,” emphasized Roman Kechur.

Oksana Vasylytsya, assistant professor in the Public Administration Department, received an award for the realization of a service-learning project “Invest in the community,” in partnership with three territorial communities of the Ternopil Region. She stated that it was for her very valuable to receive this acknowledgement. “It was very interesting for me to work with the students on this project. It was also useful for them. They applied in practice the knowledge they received in the classroom and saw how the community works. It was useful for all: for me, for the students, and for the representatives of the community. This award acknowledges our work, for a service-learning course requires time and resources,” emphasized Oksana Vasylytsya.

We congratulate all of UCU’s professors! We thank them for their work and dedicated service.