Most of the graduates in spring 2009 came from Murmansk Humanities Institute and Pomor State University in Arkhangelsk, doing the BCS degree program as a second degree. Consequently, graduation ceremonoies were organised at both universities. The first one was held at MHI in May 26th, and the other at the Norwegian- Pomor University Centre, located at Pomor State University, in June 18th. Some of the graduates from Arkhangelsk included also students from Arkhangelsk State Technical University. Both of these universities are being served by the director of the centre, Marina Kalinina, who is functioning as the local site coordinator for the BCS students in Arkhangelsk.
BCS graduates from Arkhangelsk
From the left: Alexander Saburov, Ksenia Karelskaya, Olga Muravina, Bjørn K. Sagdahl, assoc. prof. Marit Sundet, Alena Uglova, Oksana Gaiduk and Elena Cherepanova.
Of the nine graduating students in Arkhangelsk, Polina Bylugina (ASTU), Tatyana Schipkova (PSU) and Natalia Shavrina (PSU) were prevented from taking part at the ceremony. At MHI all of the six graduates were present; Elvira Zaytseva, Olga Kuzoleva, Anastasia Nesterenko, Julia Smirnova, Maria Shits and Maksim Titov. Bodø University was represented at both of the ceremonies by Marit Sundet and Bjørn K. Sagdahl, who also represented University of the Arctic as Assoc. Dean of the Nordic-Barents Regional Office of Undergraduate Studies.
The third group of students was mostly Norwegians, but included also a Russian graduate from Krasnoyarsk, Elena Knyazeva, Colette de Roo and Nikolas Selheim from Berlin, Germany and a US citizen, Nisa McVay Bartnes, living in Norway. The Norwegian graduates were Maria Morsund, Tore Hongset, Monica Olsen and Haavard Bjørsvik. Three of these graduates, Olsen, Sellheim and Knyazeva, had taken the advanced emphasis part at the University of Lapland, Finnland, which is offering a one semester program on Arctic Governance.