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The university is considered as a “living” organism in a changing non-linear social space. This point of view opposes the mechanistic approach, where firms were considered as certain mechanisms. The understanding of social systems-environments as phenomena of the highest complexity, capable of selforganization and further increasing complexity, is applied. Universities are analyzed as established and stable entities that have a significant duration of their social life in a non-linear, constantly changing environment. The key factors that characterize the university as a living organism are considered: the persistence of existence in harmony with the environment; cohesion as the awareness of each team member’s involvement in the general organism; openness to innovation; caution in the use of funds. It is noted that universities as living companies are non-linear, influence themselves, make decisions in a changing environment, and thus change themselves, learn

The attractiveness of the university lies in the synergistic interaction of its internal and external resources, including the physical capital (e. g. the buildings, equipment, site location of the university), the financial capital (e. g. the student fees, government money, research funding, charity), network capital (organizations and individuals in the environment of the university), and the human capital consisting of the academic staff, administrative staff, and students. The latter is regarded to be an important resource of the university that can influence the other resources of the university, thus improving its capacity. The lecture room becomes a true learning facility, where both the students and the teachers develop. The student is also a resource while doing research and working on a master thesis with good supervisors and converting the results into a scientific journal article or presenting them at conferences, in newspapers, or media, thus creating attractiveness through the reputation process. The students will always be a resource for the university by being its ambassador either while studying or having an internship in an organization, or after getting the diploma and making a career. If the student or a former student makes a very positive impression, the organization would probably support the university with other resources, it could be prone to look for other students from the university, thus improving the demand of the university’s students and increasing the attractiveness of the university for both the students and the organizations. However, it should be noted that the student as a resource is a factor in a causal spiral, where good and satisfied students will be part of a positive spiral attracting and creating more resources, while bad and negative students will be part of a negative spiral. A university has reasons to attract good students, and develop them during the study period, so they become satisfied and well-performing students which becomes a positive part of the reputation production, thus increasing the attractiveness of the university.

The authors revealed the essence and peculiarities of using the concept of “attractiveness” to ensure the stability of the functioning and development of the university in crisis conditions. The role of social communications, directions, and problems of informational and communicative provision of the university’s attractiveness in crisis situations are defined. It has been proven necessary for the university’s attractiveness to use the arsenal of crisis communications and the possibilities and advantages of crisis management. It is proposed to increase the attractiveness of the university at the expense of the triad: 1) determining the attractiveness factors of the university for the subjects of its internal environment (teachers, students, applicants) and external (stakeholders); 2) elucidation of the parameters of identification and evaluation of the university’s attractiveness (construction of the university’s attractiveness index); 3) interpretation of the evaluation of the attractiveness of the university, its comparison with the past, with successful universities, average indicators in the educational field, etc. as an information base for making management decisions regarding the strategy and tactics of the university’s development. The potential of using communication technologies to ensure the university’s attractiveness in crisis conditions is outlined (lobbying, PR activities, marketing communications).

The university is considered as a “living” organism in a changing non-linear social space. This point of view opposes the mechanistic approach, where firms were considered as certain mechanisms. The understanding of social systems-environments as phenomena of the highest complexity, capable of selforganization and further increasing complexity, is applied. Universities are analyzed as established and stable entities that have a significant duration of their social life in a non-linear, constantly changing environment. The key factors that characterize the university as a living organism are considered: the persistence of existence in harmony with the environment; cohesion as the awareness of each team member’s involvement in the general organism; openness to innovation; caution in the use of funds. It is noted that universities as living companies are non-linear, influence themselves, make decisions in a changing environment, and thus change themselves, learn

The authors revealed the essence and peculiarities of using the concept of “attractiveness” to ensure the stability of the functioning and development of the university in crisis conditions. The role of social communications, directions, and problems of informational and communicative provision of the university’s attractiveness in crisis situations are defined. It has been proven necessary for the university’s attractiveness to use the arsenal of crisis communications and the possibilities and advantages of crisis management. It is proposed to increase the attractiveness of the university at the expense of the triad: 1) determining the attractiveness factors of the university for the subjects of its internal environment (teachers, students, applicants) and external (stakeholders); 2) elucidation of the parameters of identification and evaluation of the university’s attractiveness (construction of the university’s attractiveness index); 3) interpretation of the evaluation of the attractiveness of the university, its comparison with the past, with successful universities, average indicators in the educational field, etc. as an information base for making management decisions regarding the strategy and tactics of the university’s development. The potential of using communication technologies to ensure the university’s attractiveness in crisis conditions is outlined (lobbying, PR activities, marketing communications).