University of Primorska Evaluation Report
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UNIVERSITY OF PRIMORSKA EVALUATION REPORT December 2010 Team: Maria Helena NAZARÉ, chair Philippe ROUSSEAU Erdal EMEL Sime VISIC James P GOSLING, team coordinator Institutional Evaluation Programme/University of Primorska/December 2010 Contents 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................3 1.1 Institutional Evaluation Programme....................................................................3 1.2 University of Primorska and the national context ...............................................3 1.3 The evaluation team (later Team) .......................................................................5 1.4 The Self Evaluation process ................................................................................5 1.5 The evaluation visits ...........................................................................................6 1.6 The context of this Report ..................................................................................6 The international context relevant to UP.......................................................6 The present situation of UP ...........................................................................7 2. The University and its future ..........................................................................................8 2.1 Ambitious objectives .........................................................................................8 2.2 Governance and centralisation ..........................................................................9 2.3 Planning ............................................................................................................9 2.4 Quality and performance ................................................................................. 10 2.5 Internationalisation ......................................................................................... 11 2.6 Research .......................................................................................................... 11 3. Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 12 4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 14 2 Institutional Evaluation Programme/University of Primorska/December 2010 1 Introduction This report is the result of an evaluation of the University of Primorska (UP), Koper, Slovenia. The evaluation took place in 2010 with visits by the Evaluation team on 2–4 June and 8–10 November. 1.1 Institutional Evaluation Programme The Institutional Evaluation Programme (IEP) is an independent membership service of the European University Association (EUA) that offers evaluations to support the participating institutions in the continuing development of their strategic management and internal quality culture. The distinctive features of the Institutional Evaluation Programme are: A strong emphasis on the self-evaluation phase A European and international perspective A peer-review approach A support to improvement The focus of the IEP is the institution as a whole and not the individual study programmes or units. It focuses upon: Decision-making processes and institutional structures and effectiveness of strategic management Relevance of internal quality processes and the degree to which their outcomes are used in decision making and strategic management as well as perceived gaps in these internal mechanisms. The evaluation is guided by four key questions, which are based on a ‘fitness for (and of) purpose’ approach: What is the institution trying to do? How is the institution trying to do it? How does it know it works? How does the institution change in order to improve? 1.2 University of Primorska and the national context Established in 2003, the University of Primorska (UP) is the third public university in Slovenia after the University of Ljubljana (established after the First World War) and the University of Maribor (established in 1975). The central administration of UP and much of its facilities are located in Koper with some member ‘faculties’ in Izola and Portorož, all seaports located on the short Adriatic coast of the Slovenian littoral Region of Primorska. The new university was (and is) seen as a major project in the Region and grew from relevant facilities established in the period between the country’s independence in 1991 and 2002. Most were established 3 Institutional Evaluation Programme/University of Primorska/December 2010 with the intention that they would be members of a new university. There were seven founder institutions, three faculties, two university colleges and two research institutes. As an indication of the close connections that are characteristics of all small countries, the present (second) Rector of UP, then a minister in government, was associated with the early initiatives to establish research and higher education in the Primorska Region, and the first rector, also as a minister, was associated with the legislation leading to UP’s establishment in 2003. UP has five faculties, Education; Humanities; Management; and Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Information Technologies and Tourism Studies Portorož – Turistica, and one college, the College of Health Care Izola. There are two separate research institutes, the Science and Research Centre of Koper and the Primorska Institute for Natural Sciences and Technology (also located in central Koper). Although with just 6800 students spread across its six ‘faculties’, the overall administrative structure of UP has evolved to correspond broadly with the highly decentralised structures of the large Universities in Ljubljana (64,000 students) and Maribor (26,000 students). The fourth, smallest and newest university in Slovenia is the University of Nova Gorica, which is a ‘non-state founded university institution’, and also in the Primorska Region. There are also recognised private professional colleges and arts academies that provide additional competition for the falling numbers of high school graduates. Traditionally, the basic unit in Slovenian higher education has been, in many important respects, a faculty, academy or university college that may be a member institution of a larger conglomerate such as one of the universities. This system is a legacy of the Yugoslav federation and legally, it is still the member institutions that provide study programmes. In addition, most research was located in institutes separate from the universities, but as the universities themselves became more research-active in the last 20 years, research centres were established in faculties. UP has been different in this respect from its foundation, as most research is located in separate research ‘centres’ that are also members of UP; although now there are also research groups in some faculties. Therefore, many of the distinguishing characteristics of the organisational structures of UP were inherited indirectly from socialist Yugoslavia. Strong independent faculties, especially in the larger universities, have been committed to their independence and have been able to influence successive national governments. The result is that national legislation governing universities and their study programmes is still complicated and constraining, especially for the emerging ‘university of the littoral’. In addition, university managements may be much more reluctant to test or ‘stretch to the limit’ legal provisions that their equivalents in countries with longer liberal legacies might have found ways to neutralise. However, the real solution may be the approval and implementation of already drafted, but much delayed, key reforms of higher education in Slovenia. Although changes in the provisions of these reforms are still possible, their key features are known and may be taken into account in making plans for future developments. Hopefully these reforms will also increase flexibility in the management of human resources. 4 Institutional Evaluation Programme/University of Primorska/December 2010 While due to relatively wise government and regulation, Slovenia has avoided the worst excesses of the global crisis economic crisis exhibited in some countries, negative consequences have inevitably occurred, making for uncertainty in future higher education funding. 1.3 The evaluation team (later Team) The IEP Evaluation Team consisted of: Professor Maria Helena NAZARÉ, former Rector of the University of Aveiro, Portugal (Team Chair) Professor Philippe ROUSSEAU, former Rector of the Charles de Gaulle University – Lille, France Professor Erdal EMEL, former Vice Rector for Student Affairs, Accreditation, International Affairs and Computing Services, Uludağ University, Bursa, Turkey Mr Sime VIŠIĆ, former President of University Student Council, University of Zagreb Professor James P GOSLING, former Director of Quality, National University of Ireland – Galway, Ireland (Team Coordinator). 1.4 The Self Evaluation Process The Self-evaluation report (ISER) of UP along with appendices was sent to the Evaluation Team on 11 May 2010. The self-evaluation process was undertaken by a 15-person workgroup coordinated by Assistant Professor Dr Ernest ŽENKO. The group included both vice rectors, the head of Quality Assurance, the Rector’s cabinet advisor, representatives of the faculties and research centres, and two members of the Student Council. The workgroup, which sometimes met as two specialist groups