Group 8: Funding and other resources

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Group 8Funding and other resources

• Tenho Takalo

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Funding and other resources

• How to organise the financing of the programme
  and the continuity of funding?
• Budgeting in an international setting?
• How to organise and resource support services for
  students and teachers?
• How to organise student guidance and councelling?
• Guaranteeing sufficient resources (e.g.
  libraries, facilities, equipment) for students
  and staff in all the participating institutions?
• Fees, scholarships and grants for students.

3
Restrictions

• How to get maximum profit from the work of our
  group?
• I have come to the conclusion that we should to
  certain extent understand different national
  viewpoints concerning our topics.
• The Finnish standpoint is most familiar to me.
• My knowledge of the Nordic countries regulations
  and principles is fragmentary. Even more so about
  the Baltic countries.
• In these issues you may help to get the most of
  this session

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What kind of degrees do we have or want?

• (National degree taught through English and
  organised by one HE institution)
• National degree taught through English and
  organised jointly by two Finnish universities
• Two (or more) national degrees (overlapping or
  supplementing each other), organised jointly
  (joint curriculum) according to the national
  regulations of at least two countries to lead to
  at least two national diplomas fulfilling the
  requirements of national legislation ( possible
  joint certificate)
• Is double degree (two national degree
  certificates) a solution? Yes, if your national
  legislation allows it.

5
Restrictions on cooperation

• Juridical differences in
• National HE legislation
• Universities Act
• Government Decree governing university degrees
• Regulations governing degrees (accepted by the
  University Board)
• Regulations and guidelines (accepted by Faculty
  Council)
• Curriculum-related restrictions (adopted by
  Department)
• Society at large
• Is our campus really international
• how willing we are to employ foreign graduates
• are we xenophobic

6
Funding of Joint Programmes

• The aim is
• to finance teaching, to guarantee sufficient
  resources for teachers, students and other
  personnel
• to support libraries, laboratories and computer
  classes where students prepare their essays,
  assignments and theses
• to resource students mobility and training

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Funding of Joint Programmes

• How to allocate on responsibilities and costs
  between partners?
• Be flexible moneywise, when the structures of
  financing and costs differ from institution to
  institution
• Not everything can be calculated in advance
• Cooperation should be based on friendly
  agreement
• Keep understandable, transparent bookkeeping
• Basic principles of cooperation should be clear
  and accepted by all parties

8
Funding options

• Permanent internal (university appropriation)
• Permanent external (MoE, EU, Nordic Council of
  Ministers, fees paid by students)
• Temporary internal (project money allocated by
  the University)
• Temporary external (public or private
  foundations)
• In the long run programmes produce money but only
  through degrees achieved by students
  (comparatively long time lag)

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Funding of Joint Programmes

• Even in case we have special (temporary) funding
  for programme we have questions
• Is the programme a financial burden on the
  departments involved in the implementation?
• Is the department really committed to the
  programme and ready to meet the possible
  (unexpected) costs?
• Are there any mechanisms to cover costs after
  temporary funding has ceased?
• When management by results is implemented in HE
  in all Baltic and Nordic countries, partners
  should agree on principles for admissions and
  admission criteria, allocation or division of
  resources and costs and finally programme results
  (which party benefits from the degrees taken).

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Budgeting in (inter)national setting

• Do the partners have mutual understanding
  covering the allocation of the programme-based
  running costs?
• How programme is financed now and in the future?
  Status of the programme in the departmental
  budget or University Budget or in the consortium
  budget.
• Situation today
• New Joint Masters programme absorbs resources,
  while the old Finnish programme (mother degree)
  continues to run.
• After a couple of years
• What if no more funding forthcoming.
• This generates undesirable financial competition
  within the department or faculty.

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How to organise and resource support services for
students and teachers?

• Jointly organised support services are needed
  especially in the following areas
• In information on the programme (both printed and
  electronic material so far unsatisfactory)
• Students need better language skills (also
  teachers?) in official programme languages.
• The importance of language skills must not be
  underestimated. If the programme language is
  English the students (and graduates) must have
  the right skills. This is a fundamental quality
  issue.
• Subject-based methodology needed
• Academic writing, Integrated research
  communication or Professional reporting needed

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How to organise student guidance and counselling?

• Additional personnel programme manager,
  amanuensis, study secretary.
• Personal Study Plan as a part of counselling,
  obligatory in Finland.
• Information should be more programme-based than
  general, available both in printed and electronic
  form
• Be aware of cultural differences, multicultural
  group needs extra councelling.
• On most programmes additional information is
  needed on
• 1) how to write essays, seminar papers and
  other assignments 2) how to answer in exams 3)
  how to write theses 4) how to organise training
  5) how to organise working-life contacts to
  ensure graduate employment 6) how to avoid
  plagiarism and 7) evaluation criteria

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Curricular questions

• Teaching and learning
• Curriculum should not be dead end regarding
  studies in the next cycle (e.g. doctoral studies)
• Curriculum should be more than a new combination
  of existing courses even if courses are offered
  by two universities.
• Teachers is the international network sufficient
  to run the programme properly?
• Same course can be part in several programmes,
  but if a course is given in English, no parallel
  course is given simultaneously in Finnish
  (internationalisation at home, economic
  necessity)

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Guaranteeing sufficient resources

• If we have two curricula leading to a Masters
  degree we must (to certain extent) also have
  extra resources to run the programmes
• Masters programme has specific professional and
  academic goals extra resources needed
• e.g. for libraries, facilities, equipment (for
  students and staff) in all the participating
  institutions
• Dedicated but temporary personnel in one
  department is simply not the answer.
• We should not run the programme with already
  existing resources.
• gtNew programmes require special funding

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What funding should cover (1)

• Running costs
• Salaries (and hourly-paid teaching, web-based
  teaching)
• Costs of programme-specific courses
• Remedial language and communication skills
• Orientation course
• Programme guides, various rules, instructions and
  guidelines in printed and electronic form
• Web services (general or programme-specific)
• Computer services, IT services and facilities
  (learning platform)
• Rents for auditoria and classrooms

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What funding should cover (2)

• Auxiliary costs
• Counselling and guidance
• Including permanent or temporary personnel
• Library services
• new acquisitions in programme-related areas
• membership fees for database use
• textbooks
• Recruiting students
• printed and electronic information on programmes
• participation in student fairs and exhibitions
• Admission services
• Translation services

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To set up a Joint Programme

• Is the specialization programme provides really
  needed in academic and working life?
• Finding partners at home and abroad who are the
  desirable partners
• New programme should offer added value compared
  to old arrangements (e.g. specialization option
  in old programme)
• Funding has its implications for cooperation and
  programme implementation
• Teaching as such is easy, but justified and
  objective cost allocation is difficult
• Are we jealous? Are we afraid of our ideas being
  stolen and therefore we struggle on alone?
• Is the way from inspiration to realisation too
  short?

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Fees, scholarships and grants for students

• Basic principle in Finland no scholarships at
  Masters level
• no tuition fees (1st and 2nd cycle degree
  students)
• commissioned education (made-to-order education),
  however, possible for non-EU/ETA student groups,
  starting 2008.
• Support available for doctoral studies, ways and
  means may differ between universities.
• University scholarships, research projectsa
• Doctoral schools

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How to evaluate programme (1)

• Degree of integration and networking within the
  university and with national or international
  stakeholders
• Actor profiles and responsibilities and student
  involvement in planning and evaluation processes
• Aims and content of the programme (also including
  learning outcomes)
• Staff and profile participating in programme
  implementation (pedagogical and linguistic
  skills, differences compared to the curriculum in
  Finnish, training of new teachers, how personal
  study plan is prepared and implemented)
• Students (admission and admission criteria for
  new students, learning results (outcomes, support
  for thesis writing, evaluation of student
  performance, evaluation criteria)

Source Anne Räsänen
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How to evaluate programme (2)

• Language-related issues (which language is used
  in thesis writing, may students use other
  languages than English for exams and other
  assignments, how are language skills evaluated
• How to eliminate plagiarism
• Resources (how programme is financed now and in
  the future, status of the programme in the
  departmental budget)
• Strengths of the programme (how to improve the
  programme and why, how to confirm the academic
  and working-life or professional relevance of the
  programme)

Source Anne Räsänen
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Thank you!
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Right to offer made-to-order education against
payment (1)

• Universities and polytechnics have the right to
  offer made-to-order education (commissioned
  education) against payment (for a fee)
• In October 2007, the Government of Finland
  submitted its proposal for an amendment to the
  Universities and Polytechnics Acts.
• The amendment will confer the right for
  universities and polytechnics to organise
  made-to-order degree education for non EU/EEA
  citizens.

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Right to offer made-to-order education for a fee
(2)

• Made-to-order education may be arranged for a
  group but not for individual students. The
  education can be purchased by a legal person
  under private or public law, e.g. a limited
  company, an association, a foundation or a state,
  a municipality or a municipal consortium.
• The provider of education leading to a degree
  must charge the client at least for the costs
  incurred. The proposal will result in a new
  source of revenue for Finnish higher education
  institutions.

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Right to offer made-to-order education for a fee
(3)

• According to a Ministry of Education report,
  there is already demand for such made-to-order
  education services abroad.
• By arranging made-to-order education, higher
  education institutions could enter the
  international education market, particularly in
  the Far East and Central Asia. Such activities
  would promote networking with developing
  universities and other higher education
  institutions in various countries.
• The amendment will enter into force on 1 January
  2008.

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Regarding joint curriculum and its implemetation

• On which issue you would like to have more
  information?

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Regarding joint curriculum and its implemetation

• 2 Which issues are the main obstacles to
  cooperation?
• a) b)

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Regarding joint curriculum and its implemetation

• Whic is the main benefita) from the
  institutional viewpoint?b) from students
  viewpoint?

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Regarding joint curriculum and its implemetation

• 3 Which issues are difficult? a)
  b)

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Regarding joint curriculum and its implemetation

• 4 Which are the best ways to find partners for
  cooperation? a)
  b)

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Regarding joint curriculum and its implemetation

• 5 Would you or your institution like to have
  Nordic or Baltic partner to continue discussion?

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Regarding joint curriculum and its implemetation

• 6 Which are the prospective fields of study
  concerning cooperation?

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Regarding joint curriculum and its implemetation

• 7 My e-mail address is (not compulsory field)