Pre-reformed university in charge of colleges in the first half of the XIX century

The purpose of the article is to explore, based on the case study of local examples, the model of organization and management inherent to provincial colleges of the early XIX century. At that time, the pre-reform university acted as a pivot of the model in focus. Employment of the new factual material helped to reconstruct the University’s everyday administrative practices, and, in general, to appreciate effectiveness of the reforms introduced in the early XIX century. The mentioned reforms defined the model of the Russian higher and secondary schools’ development for the next 100 years. The authors’ conclusions are based on the results of the comprehensive analysis of the little-known materials found in provincial archives (directorates’ funds of the schools in Olonets, Arkhangelsk, Vologda, and other provinces), as well as in the funds of St. Petersburg University, Main Pedagogical Institute, the Office of the trustee of St. Petersburg school district, and the Department of Public Education. In addition, we studied available published laws and regulations, which specified the status of schools and order of their management, clerical materials, and memoirs. We tried to reconstruct the model of college management in provinces, which developed in 1800-1830-ies. The core of the model was the university. We also gave special consideration to the specifics of the influence exerted by the St. Petersburg University and its immediate predecessor - Pedagogical Institute of St. Petersburg.