For the first time, Inna Shevchenko was appointed to this position by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 728 dated March 25, 2020.

On July 17, 2025, by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1913, Inna Shevchenko was again appointed rector of the Southern Federal University for five years. The document was signed by the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin.

The University has radically revised its development strategy, starting to position itself as a university of research leadership. New areas of training have emerged, and many training programs have been modernized to meet the demands of the labor market in the region and the country as a whole, especially in engineering, chemistry, biotechnology, IT, AI, and other fields. The volume of research and development work in 2024 exceeded 3 billion rubles for the first time. The university's budget has grown to 8.4 billion rubles. As part of the Priority 2030 program, SFedU rose from the second group to the first in 2024, taking eighth place in the ranking of participants and receiving a billion rubles for research in the interests of the country's technological leadership. SFedU also became a member of the first group of the Advanced Engineering Schools project.

During the implementation of the Priority 2030 program (2021-2024), the University has improved its performance in all areas of activity. As part of the participation in the Priority 2030 program, the SFedU created the SFedU Center for High-Tech Instrumentation, developed a robotic platform for soil analysis and greenhouse gas monitoring, and a technology for creating artificial fertile soil. — an architectural solution based on the matrix organization of artificial soil from highly dispersed, superstable nanostructured and carbon materials, humic substances and a consortium of microorganisms, a biohybrid software and hardware complex for detecting vapors of target substances in ultra-low concentrations in the air, seven new frontier youth research laboratories, including in the field of intelligent materials, agro-climatology (genetics, environmental and food security), social programming and much more.

Also in 2025, it became the site of the first group of the AES project. During the three years of the project, the university's infrastructure has significantly improved. The classroom fund has been updated, multifunctional spaces have been created for meetups and leisure for students, five special scientific and educational spaces have been launched: an experimental laboratory for creating devices based on bodyless microwave ICS, a laboratory for "Group technologies for agricultural UAV applications", a laboratory for intelligent technology support, a laboratory for sonar systems of marine robotic complexes, and a Smart FactoryAdvanced microelectronics and photonics technologies". Rostec Group of Companies, JSC NCPP Vostok, Okeanpribor and others are among the key partners of the SFedU.

The University pays special attention to international cooperation. SFedU trains more than 3,100 international students from 89 countries (15% of the total number), and in the master's program this figure reaches 18%. 223 agreements have been signed with 176 foreign universities and research centers from 39 countries.

The University, led by Inna Shevchenko, intends not only to strengthen its position as one of the leading scientific and educational centers in Russia, but also to contribute to solving strategic tasks of the country's technological development and ensuring its national security, including the shortage of personnel in high-tech production, the need to adapt to the rapid development of artificial intelligent systems, as well as the modernization of the educational model in accordance with the tasks of technological leadership.