II Conference of academic staff, employers and students of Penza State University took place on 26 November, Tuesday.

The agenda included only one global issue: election of University Rector.

239 conference delegates started to gather long before the voting procedure.

After the registration everybody was offered to examine the ideas of the candidates’ programmes to make an informed choice. To be sure, the programmes had been available before on the official website of the University and in printed editions.

The voting procedure was preceded by the speeches of the candidates themselves, University representatives and honorary guests.

Aleksandr Gulyakov and Igor Averin one more time presented their programmes concentrating their attention on what they are planning to do for University development.

Some of the conference delegates made their speeches: President of University Vladimir Volchikhin, Head of Department “General Physics and Methods of Teaching Physics” Aleksey Kazakov and a post-graduate student Svetlana Pavlova.

Head of Government of the Penza Region Yuri Krivov and Head of Manufacturers’ Association of the region, CEO of the joint stock company “Penzadizelmash” Nikolay Simonov also gave a speech supporting Aleksandr Gulyakov.

The Rector was elected by secret ballot procedure for a period of five years. The delegates voted in a specially equipped polling-booth and then put the bulletins into a ballot box.

After the secret ballot procedure the counting board selected at the conference started the vote counting.

Chairman of the counting board, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administration, announced the results.

The total number of voters was 231 people. Seven bulletins were declared invalid. The voting was as follows: 12 votes were given to Igor Averin, 212 to Aleksandr Gulyakov.

In conclusion A.Gulyakov thanked the delegates for the confidence and expressed his desire for collaborative effective work.