Lev Kasso

In a move ostensibly made to train more professors and alleviate the serious problem of "vacant chairs," Kasso proposed, in November 1911, the opening of special seminars for selected graduate students in Berlin, Tübingen, and Paris.

Modeled on a similar scheme in the 1880s, Kasso's plan undermined the right of Russian professors to train their successors.

But even in the face of intensely hostile public opinion, the Council of Ministers approved Kasso's scheme, albeit with a marked lack of enthusiasm.

The shortage of qualified professors was one reason the minister of education cited for opposing requests from numerous zemstvos and cities for more universities.

On 20 January 1911, the Council of Ministers ordered Kasso to report on the future direction of the nation's higher-education policy.