FLAGSHIP European Flagship Universities: Balancing Academic Excellence and Socio-Economic Relevance
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FLAGSHIP European Flagship Universities: balancing academic excellence and socio-economic relevance UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI Institutional report by Timo Aarrevaara, [email protected] Department of Political and Economic Studies University of Helsinki and Sanja Mursu, [email protected] Aalto University Executive Education Table of Contents 1. National policy background .................................................................................................................................. 1 2. Institutional background ....................................................................................................................................... 2 2.1. A short outline of the history of the University of Helsinki ........................................................... 2 3. Organisational structure ........................................................................................................................................ 3 3.1. Governance structure ................................................................................................................................... 5 3.1.1. The University Collegium .................................................................................................................. 6 3.1.2. The University Board ........................................................................................................................... 6 3.1.3. Chancellor ................................................................................................................................................ 7 3.2. Administrative structure ............................................................................................................................. 7 3.3. Personnel policies........................................................................................................................................... 8 3.4. Budgets and allocation mechanisms ....................................................................................................... 8 3.5. University strategic planning and leadership .................................................................................. 10 3.6. The relationship between the university and the Ministry ........................................................ 10 References .......................................................................................................................................................................... 10 1. National policy background Finland has implemented a broad reform of its higher education system, and as a part of the reforms, university sector’s role has changed substantially from the beginning of 2010. The reform has seen universities ceasing to be part of the state administration, and their autonomous status has been strengthened. In the early 1990s, universities began to emphasise performance management, which has been a prominent instrument for creating universities’ autonomous status. Governance arrangements changed in several ways, and there are now two university models, because independent legal entities are either institutions subject to public law or foundations subject to private law. Two of the current 16 universities are foundations subject to private law. Higher education policy objectives with the implementation of change were presented devised at the beginning of 2008 when the Ministry published a structural development document which was an important background report on universities' financial autonomy and administrative status of the reform. The chain of reforms is documented in the 2005 Government Decision, the 2006 OECD Thematic Review of Tertiary Education on Finland (OECD 2006) recommendations for the development of the Finnish higher education system, and a committee proposed a draft Universities Act in 2007. These reports focused on the issues of procedural autonomy, neglecting the strengthening of substantive autonomy. This focus on structural development has had an impact on the entire university to implement the law vigorously, since the university reform is the first phase focused specifically on procedural questions. These include the governance arrangements of university administration and decision making, resource management and the ownership and management of university buildings. The Finnish Universities Act (558/2009) has strengthened the universities' financial and administrative autonomy and strengthened their role as they ceased to be treated as government accounting offices. The aspiration for the Universities Act by the Ministry of Education and Culture, was to improve universities’ capacity to: react to changes in the operational environment diversify their funding base compete for international research funding cooperate with foreign universities and research institutes allocate resources to top-level research and their strategic focus areas ensure the quality and effectiveness of their research and teaching strengthen their role within the innovation system 1 An evaluation of Universities Act (2009) commissioned by the Ministry of Education and Culture in 2012 indicated considerable dissatisfaction among university staff. The Act, however, has no direct capacity to influence practices in academic units. 2. Institutional background 2.1. A short outline of the history of the University of Helsinki The first stage in the history of the University of Helsinki spans from its founding in 1640 until the War of Finland in 1808. The University’s name was originally the Royal Academy of Turku, founded in Turku on 26 March 1640 as a Swedish national university. The Royal Academy of Turku had four faculties and the language of instruction was Latin. The students first attended the Faculty of Philosophy, after which they had the option of specialised studies in the Faculty of Theology, Law or Medicine. The academic community comprised 11 professors and 250 undergraduates. The primary purpose of the Academy was to train clergy, civil servants, physicians and officers to convey and utilise the best available knowledge. The University also engaged in research and published the results. International cooperation and partnership with other European universities were seen important within the Academy and the therefore the students and teachers of the Academy often travelled to other European universities to maintain their connections with the latest scholarly trends. The second stage of development covers the period from 1809 to 1917 when Finland was a Grand Duchy of Russia. In 1809, it was renamed the Imperial Academy of Turku, but in 1828 it was transferred to Helsinki and renamed the Imperial Alexander University in Finland. Helsinki was the new administrative heart of the Grand Duchy. Tsar Alexander I expanded the University and allocated substantial funds to it. In the capital the primary task of the University was to educate the Grand Duchy’s civil servants. The new statutes of the University enacted in 1828 defined the responsibility of the University as promoting the development of “the Sciences and Humanities within Finland and, furthermore, educating the youth for the service of the Tsar and the Fatherland”. The third stage as the University of the Finnish Republic began with Finland’s independence in 1917. The name was changed again in 1919, this time to the University of Helsinki. Once Finland gained its independence in 1917 the University was given a crucial role in building the nation state and welfare society. Members of the academic community promoted the international relations of the new state and the development of its economic life. Furthermore, they were involved in national politics and the struggle for equality. 2 In the 20th century, scholarly research at the University of Helsinki reached the level of the European elite in many disciplines. This was manifested, among other things, by the international recognition received by its professors, such as the Fields medal received by the mathematician L.V. Ahlfors in 1936, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry granted to Professor A.I. Virtanen in 1945 and the Nobel Prize in Medicine shared by Professor Ragnar Granit in 1967. After World War II, university research focused on improving Finnish living conditions and supporting major changes in the structure of society and business. The progress of scientific development created many new disciplines and faculties at the University of Helsinki. The fourth stage in the history of the University of Helsinki spans from the 1960’s to present. Only after the establishment of the number universities in 1960s and 1970 one can even speak of a national higher education system in Finland. At present the University comprises 11 faculties and has approximately 500 professors and almost 40,000 students. The University has established as its goal to be recognised as one of Europe’s top multidisciplinary research universities. 3. Organisational structure University of Helsinki follows a federal principle of grouping separate governing units around a core administrative organisation. In this regard, the faculty structure is an administrative unit responsible for academic performance including the granting of degrees . The University of Helsinki has 11 faculties plus the Swedish School of Social Science. The faculties are as follows: Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry( 4 departments) Faculty of Arts (4 departments) Faculty of Behavioral Sciences (2 departments) Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences (2 departments)