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University Reform in Finland

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Title: University Reform in Finland


1
University Reform in Finland
  • 10th Baltic Seminar of University Administrators
  • 14 May 2009
  • Ilkka Turunen
  • Special Government Advisor
  • Ministry of Education, Finland

2
Priorities in Finnish Higher Education, Research
and Innovation Policies
  • Structural development of HEIs
  • Action Plan on Structural Development adopted in
    February 2008
  • Aalto University in the field of technology,
    business and art and design private foundation
    (foundation capital public 500 Meuro private
    donations 200 Meuro)
  • New Universities Act
  • National infrastructure policy
  • Strategic Centres of Excellence in STI (Energy
    and Environment, Forest Cluster, the Metals and
    Engineering Cluster, the Information and
    Communication Industry and Health and Well-being
    )
  • Research career system
  • Internationalisation of HEIs
  • Reform of sectoral research
  • National innovation strategy

3
Structural development of higher education
  • According to the Government Programme, structural
    development will continue
  • The reform forms part of the European higher
    education reform
  • Communication of the European Commission
    "Delivering on the Modernisation Agenda for
    Universities Education, Research, Innovation" of
    May 2006
  • Development targets for higher education
    recommended in the thematic OECD review
  • Internationalisation, clearer institutional
    missions and positions, and diversification of
    the funding structure

4
Structural development of HEIs- main objectives
  • Enhance the HE network in order to create more
    prominent institutions with higher standards
  • Ensure the quality and effectiveness of HEIs
    research and teaching
  • Allocate resources to top-level research and
    strategic priority areas
  • Strengthen the role of HEIs within the innovation
    system
  • Improve the prerequisites of HEIs to cooperate
    with foreign partners and to compete for
    international research and other funding
  • Strengthen the adult education function of HEIs
  • Safeguard the availability of skilled workforce
    in changing operating environment
  • Improve the position of HEIs in the international
    education markets
  • Diversify the funding base of HEIs
  • Improve HEIs attractiveness as a competitive
    employer in order to recruit the best personnel

5
The Finnish HE system
  • An extensive network of institutions covering the
    whole country
  • all institutions internationally oriented with
    special regional features
  • University sector
  • 20 research universities, including Universities
    of Arts
  • Student enrollment 170 000
  • all institutions are run by the state
  • Polytechnic sector (established in the mid 1990s)
  • 26 institutions
  • Student enrollment 110 000
  • Regional development tasks
  • Bachelor degrees (vocational and professional
    degrees)
  • (Professional) Masters degrees
  • The whole HE system provides study places for
    65-70 of a age group
  • Tuition free system

6
Vision 2020
  • No more than 18 polytechnics
  • Intake in youth education 22,500
  • Flexible and profiled higher education units and
    structures
  • Strong and dynamic interaction with the region
    and with the world of work
  • Well-established, high-quality RD in priority
    areas
  • No more than 15 universities
  • Intake 17 500
  • Strong units and profiles clear priorities in
    research
  • Internationalisation and world-class research
  • Four to five strategic university-polytechnic
    alliances
  • Secured access to education and diverse education
    provision in the area
  • Joint RD and stronger (regional) impact

7
The Finnish university network
8
Polytechnics
9
Universities Bill
10
Aims of the university reform
  • In order to give the universities a stronger
    financial and administrative status, they will be
    made independent legal persons and supplied with
    sufficient capital.
  • As legal persons, the universities will be better
    equipped to respond to their own needs and to the
    expectations of society than as State accounting
    offices.
  • As legal persons, the universities will be better
    able to operate with the surrounding society.
  • Universities will be able to pursue their own
    human resources policies, geared to their
    specific features, independently of government
    human resources policy.

11
Means - status as legal persons
  • The universities are legal persons separate from
    the State, either as corporations under public
    law or foundations under the Foundations Act.
  • Corporation under public law (public university)
  • A legal person under the Universities Act whose
    organs and their functions are laid down in
    legislation.
  • Foundation under private law (foundation
    university)
  • A legal person under the Foundations Act which is
    assigned the university mission in the
    Universities Act.

12
University organs - public university
  • The statutory organs of a university under public
    law are the board, rector and university
    collegiate body.
  • The board decides on the main aims of the
    activities, the strategy and the principles
    governing the steering of operations and adopts
    the university regulations governing the
    organisation of the university.
  • The board is responsible for the finances of the
    university.
  • Half of the board members are elected from
    amongst three different groups in the university
  • professors,
  • other teaching and research staff and other
    personnel, and
  • students
  • Half of the board members must be persons
    external to the university elected by the
    university collegiate body. The chairperson of
    the board is elected from amongst the external
    members.

13
University organs - public university
  • The rector leads the day-to-day operations of the
    university, presents matters to the board, sees
    to the implementation of the board decisions and
    decides on the hiring of personnel.
  • The rector is elected by the board. The
    qualification requirements for the rector are a
    doctorate degree, competencies and professional
    skills required to discharge the duties and
    proven leadership skills.
  • The university collegiate body is an organ
    composed of the university community as a whole.
  • The university collegiate body determines the
    number of members in the board to be appointed
    and its term of office elects the external board
    members and approves the board members elected by
    the university community relieves a board member
    from his/her duties selects the university
    auditors approves the financial accounts of the
    university and decides on the board members' and
    the rector's freedom from liability.

14
University organs - public university
  • The units set up for research and teaching in a
    university under public law have multi-member
    administrative bodies, which have the
    representation of the university community
    groups.
  • In its regulations the public university
    determines independently its organisation, its
    organs dealing with academic matters and
    procedures.

15
New Universities Act will change
  • Autonomy will strengthen universities will have
    an independent legal status (corporations under
    public law or foundations under private law)
  • Universities will take the place of the State as
    employers civil-service employment relationships
    will become contractual employment relationships
  • Community relations will strengthen half of the
    university senate members (including the
    chairman) will be persons external to the
    university community (professors, other
    personnel, students) defined in the act
  • Greater latitude with finances donations, income
    from capital and business activities
  • New universities Aalto university (HUT, HSE,
    UIAH), University of Eastern Finland
    (universities of Kuopio Joensuu) and the new
    Turku University (University of Turku, TSE)
  • Performance agreement procedure will be lighter
  • Charging tuition fees on a trial basis for
    separate masters programmes from students from
    outside the EU/EEA

16
The proposal will not change
  • The freedom of research, art and education
  • Self-government and academic decision-making
  • Research and higher education remain as the main
    tasks of the universities
  • The State will guarantee core funding, taking
    into account the development of costs external
    financing will not decrease State funding
  • Education leading to a degree will continue to be
    free of charge
  • Students will continue to be regarded as full
    members of the university they are automatically
    members of the students union and are
    represented on the governing bodies.

17
Timetable of the university reform
  • The Government has submitted its Bill to
    Parliament in February 2009.
  • The reform is projected to take effect on 1
    August 2009.
  • After this, the public universities may organise
    and set up the new organs of the legal person.
  • The current operations of universities as state
    accounting offices will stop on 31 December 2009.
  • The personnel and students transfer to the new
    universities on 1 January 2010.

18
Innovation performance 2008
Colour coding matches the groups of countries
green are the innovation leaders, yellow are the
innovation followers, orange are the moderate
innovators, blue are the catching-up countries.
Average annual growth rates as calculated over a
five-year period. The dotted lines show EU
performance and growth.
19
Global Innovation Scoreboard 2008
  • Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, the US,
    Singapore and Israel are the global innovation
    leaders.
  • The group of next-best performers includes
    Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Canada, the UK,
    Republic of Korea, France, Iceland, Norway,
    Belgium, Australia, Austria, Ireland, Luxembourg
    and New Zealand.
  • The group of follower countries includes the Hong
    Kong, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Italy, Spain,
    Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary and
    Malta.
  • The group of lagging countries includes
    Lithuania, Greece, China, Slovakia, South Africa,
    Portugal, Bulgaria, Turkey, Brazil, Latvia,
    Mexico, Poland, Argentina, India, Cyprus and
    Romania.

20
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21
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22
Finnish innovation system/policy SWOT
  • STRENGTS
  • Education
  • Commitment continuity
  • Co-operation competition
  • Industry share of RD investments
  • Proactive and client-oriented public innovation
    services (funding, expert)
  • Public RD funding with strong incentives for
    co-operation and risk-taking
  • WEAKNESSES
  • Small absolute volumes in RD
  • (3,5 GDP 5,5 bn , lt 1 global RD)
  • Dependence on global developments
  • Low foreign direct investments
  • Low international researcher mobility
  • Small number of growth-oriented enterprises
  • Small venture capital volumes for start-up and
    early growth-phases
  • OPPORTUNITIES
  • More coherent and strategic national policies
    (foresight?insight?policy)
  • Stronger focusing of public RD resources
  • Going beyond industrial innovation Promotion
    of innovation in private and public services
  • Market-pulled innovation stimulation
  • Active participation in major EU RD programmes
    and platforms
  • Going beyond EU Active linkage with global
    innovation hotspots
  • THREATS
  • Dominance of one sector (ICT) and one company in
    business RD
  • Risk of declining business RD expenditure
  • Businesses increasingly move their operations
    abroad, including RD
  • Loosing focus Participation in too many projects
    with scarce resources

23
GOVERMENTS REPORT ON INNOVATION POLICY
  • Sent to Parliament in October 2008
  • Contains the views of the government as to the
    future development of (knowledge-based) broadly
    defined innovation activities
  • Focus on demand- and customer-driven innovations
  • Ministry of Employment and the Economy occupies a
    key role in preparing the implementation phase
  • The Science and Technology Policy Council was
    renewed to a Research and Innovation Council
  • The Parliament debated on the Report in March
  • Evaluation of the Finnish National Innovation
    System to be completed in autumn 2009.

24
National Innovation Strategy
  • a more extensive, broad based approach to
    innovation policy gt horizontality
  • non-technological and non-RD based innovations
    gt a shift of focus in the research agenda
    towards demand led and user driven innovation,
    service innovation, low tech innovations,
    learning by doing, using and interacting
  • open innovation environment

25
Finlands Innovation Strategy 2008
  • Drivers of change
  • Globalisation ? the most favourable operating
    conditions, competition for talent
  • Sustainable development ? climate chance, energy
    and raw materials
  • New technologies ? ICT, bio- and nanotechnology,
    huge potential
  • Aging of population ? Finland is one of the first
    countries to face reducing workforce volumes

26
Expanding innovation activities new interactions
between players and functions.
27
Finlands Innovation Strategy 2008Ten key sets
of measures
  • The central governments corporate steering will
    be renewed for the purpose of becoming a
    worldwide pioneer of systemic reforms.
  • Content-oriented and regional centres of
    innovation driving renewal will be formed in
    Finland.
  • The financing and service system promoting growth
    entrepreneurship will be renewed into a clear
    entity, operating with entrepreneur and investor
    orientation.
  • New competitive and market incentives activating
    enterprises and other communities in innovation
    on a broad basis will be created and exploited.
  • The national ensemble of expert and financing
    services will be updated to meet the needs of
    demand- and user-oriented innovation activity.
  • A learning environment motivating innovation on a
    broad basis will be developed for Finland.
  • Finnish research and higher education system will
    be developed into an internationally competitive
    development environment for expertise and
    innovations.
  • Personal taxation and other key factors
    essentially weakening Finlands attractiveness
    will be revised to a competitive level.
  • Finnish management training will be developed to
    meet international top standards.
  • The strategies and operations of parties
    implementing innovation policy will be adapted so
    as to be in line with the basic choices of the
    national innovation strategy.

28
Higher education institution internationalisation
strategy 2009-2015
  • Sets five primary aims for internationalisation
  • A genuinely international higher education
    community
  • Increasing the quality and attractiveness of
    higher education institutions
  • Promoting the export of competence
  • Supporting a multicultural society
  • Promoting global responsibility

29
Why now? (2007/2008/2009)
  • A need for a change/adaptation (Challenge of
    China and other emerging economies experiences
    from the recession in 1990s)
  • Universities as a part of public sector gtThe
    Finnish Competition State (New Public Management,
    budgeting by performance, assessment, managerial
    approach)
  • Continuity consolidation of profiles, structural
    development centres of excellence, graduate
    schools, strategic research, national innovation
    system, Corporate Steering ("valtiokonserni")
  • Consensus (further investment in education and
    RD, STPC resolution 2005, STPC Reviews 2006 and
    2008)
  • Comparisons rankings, league tables, "world
    class university", political peer pressure (MS,
    European Council, Commission)
  • New types of networks University rectors and
    civil servants (budget negotiations, steering)

30
Why now? (2007/2008)
  • Interim Review of the Lisbon Strategy reports
    (André Sapir 2003, Wim Kok 2004, Esko Aho 2006)
    gt Universities, ERC, EIT, JETs, Broad-based
    Innovation Policy
  • Commission's Communications on Universities 2003,
    2005, 2006
  • Erasmus gt Bologna gt Education and Training 2010
    and European Research Area
  • OECD work on tertiary education 2004-2008
    Finnish Country note 2006gt autonomy,
    internationalisation, broadening of financial
    base, private investments
  • Education/Science Patriotism ltgt competitiveness,
    self-confidence (benchmarks, Scoreboards,
    comparisons, PISA)
  • New "blue-green" government (departure from
    "old" market and customer driven innovation,
    creativity, excellence)
  • Stimulus Aalto repercussions of the idea and
    implementation of "private" innovation university
  • Resources increase in RD budget
  • Support of HEIs University rector's Red
    Manifests gains of autonomy

31
Thank you!
  • ilkka.turunen_at_minedu.fi
  • 358 40 5664716
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