Chapter II 1

Chapter II 1. State Universities Budapesti University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration BUDAPEST UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMIC SCIENCES AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION BUDAPESTI KÖZGAZDASÁGTUDOMÁNYI ÉS ÁLLAMIGAZGATÁSI EGYETEM BRIEF HISTORY The earliest predecessor of the university was the Commercial Section of the Budapest Technical University, which was set up there in 1857. The Economic Section of the Technical University was formed out of this school in 1912. Another forerunner of the Budapest University of Economics was the Economics Faculty of the Pázmány Péter University, dating from 1920. In 1934 this became a faculty of the József Nádor University of Technology and Economics and operated within the framework of the Technical University until 1948. In 1948 the government separated the faculty from the Technical University and it became the independent University of Economic Sciences and was named after Karl Marx in 1953. In the second half of the 1960s, parallel with the introduction of market-oriented economic reforms, the importance of modern economic science increased at the University, and other social sciences were also introduced. The University came to play a more important part in disseminating modern economic knowledge, researching into the real state of the Hungarian economy and Hungarian society, developing proposals for market-oriented reforms and initiat- THE CENTRAL BUILDING OF THE UNIVERSITY ing the process of democratisa- tion. In the 1980s the University played a vital part in providing scientific underpinning for the transition from a centrally-planned economy based on state ownership to a market economy based on private ownership. In 1991 the University changed its name to the Budapest University of Economic Sciences (BUES). Due to the 1999 government decision on higher education, BUES was integrated with the College of Public Administration. The Faculty of Public Administration forms an integral part of the University. In Hungary it is the basic institution that teaches specialists for public administration. The former College of Public Administration, founded in 1977, transcending the century-old tradi- tion of bifurcation in the formation of lawyers, provides general administrative education. In attain- ing both theoretical and practical knowledge, as well as professional skills, the graduates are quali- fied to work at a high level in the organisation, management, direction, supervision and control of local and regional autonomies, state administrative organs, companies, banks and in the private sector. The new name of the institution is the Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public v 37 v Budapesti University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration Administration. Today the University strives to become an internationally recognised educational institution where economics, business and management, and other social sciences are taught. PROFILE AND EDUCATIONAL CHARACTER The training of full-time students in the field of economics and business consists of two levels. After a two-year foundational education (basics in micro- and macroeconomics, mathematics, computer science, and introduction to social sciences) the students can choose their specialization. The five- year study programs offer Masters degrees in Economics, Business Administration, Finance, Sociology and Political Science. Degree programs are offered in International Studies and Business Information Technology, too. The Faculty of Public Administration gives a Bachelors Degree to its students after three years. Five Doctoral Schools have been established at the University, the number of Ph.D. students is more than 200. The university has 48 departments. The four faculties are as follows: Faculty of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics, Faculty of Social Science, Faculty of Public Administration. The university has almost six thousand full-time students and a teaching staff of 500 (including 70 language teachers). We have an other 6,000 students in our evening and part-time courses. Besides those courses, a variety of other forms of education colours the system of training. The Budapest Institute for Graduate International and Diplomatic Studies (BIGIS) is the first postgraduate institution for foreign studies in Hungary, the aim of which is the high-level training and continuing education of experts in the field of International Relations. There are also MBA (Master of Business Administration) courses in several fields of study in German, English, French and Hungarian. In many special fields postgraduate training of economists is also provided. There is also a long tradi- tion of postgraduate training of engineers and lawyers. Training in Foreign Languages Degree programmes are offered in English at the International Studies Centre: B.Sc. in Business Administration and in International Economics M.Sc. in International Business and Economics, in Business Administration, in European Studies, in Sociology and in Political Science Courses are also delivered in German and in French for Hungarian students and for exchange students, as well. v 38 v Budapesti University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Since the late 1980s, BUES has been a leading institution in Hungary participating in national and international university co-operation. It has been continuously strengthening its links and co-operation with the industrial sector and national as well as international commercial companies. In addi- tion, the Budapest University of Economic Sciences has been involved in numerous research programmes. The Faculty of Public Administration has developed extensive professional relations with fellow European higher educational institutions, and also participates in international projects aiming to renew educational development. The university has over 120 partners and more than 60 bilateral agreements with European and overseas (mainly American) universities, which support student and staff exchanges, operate joint research programmes and improve information exchange. The university is in intensive co-operation with German, Dutch, British, French and Austrian universities. Overseas it has active links with universities in the USA, Japan and in Africa with the University of Pretoria. Since 1990 BUES has start- ed to rebuild some of its formal connections and created new ones with East Central European universities. Visiting lecturers are invited and the professors of the University are regular visitors at foreign universities, where they travel to teach, carry out research or exchange experience. BUES has joined international programmes such as Tempus, Erasmus, CEEPUS, Leonardo and Lingua, and is always in the front line of application submission. The College of Public Administration has also been involved in Tempus and other international projects. The Faculty of Business Administration rep- resents the University in the Community of European Management Schools (CEMS). Each year 23- 25% of the students spend a semester or a whole academic year abroad. STUDENT ORGANISATIONS & FACILITIES The Students Union is chiefly involved in the protection of students interests. Its most important duty is to participate actively in the meetings of the University Council and the Faculty Councils. The Students Union collects and disseminates important information that affects the students, such as news about scholarships, bursary competitions and university events. The University Students Welfare Committee is responsible for distributing state grants among the students. Two student organisations, namely AIESEC and AEGEE, are concerned with arranging student exchanges, con- ferences and internships abroad. The Special Colleges are important workshops for students further professional development, where the members can perform more advanced studies in the fields of theoretical and applied economics and sociology. The Student Academic Council is the governing body of the Universitys specialised, independent student organisations (Special Colleges, clubs). The Studium Generale organises and conducts the demanding preparatory course for the future students. The Central Library In Hungary with the largest collection in the field of economics the Central Library serves not only as a university (academic) library but also fulfils the functions of a national information centre. This is a public library, which means that any Hungarian or foreign citizen aged 18 or above may become v 39 v Budapesti University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration a member and make use of the Library services. Aiming to make its collection as complete as pos- sible, the Central Library collects all the literature on economics published in Hungary and also selects from the relevant foreign publications. At present nearly half a million volumes of books, approximately 1000 different kinds of current periodicals and various non-traditional appliances storing information (microfiches, video-recordings, CD-ROM, etc.) are available for readers. The online catalogue called OLIB contains the bibliographic data and subject descriptor of all the doc- uments that have arrived in the library since 1990. Searches can be carried out in Hungarian and in English as well. The Computer Centre The most important systems of computer facilities of the University that are located in the Computer Centre are as follows: SUN6000 central computer, 25 NOVELL and Windows NT network to which about 200 workstations

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