Transcript University Reform in Finland

University Reform in
Finland
10th Baltic Seminar of University
Administrators
14 May 2009
Ilkka Turunen
Special Government Advisor
Ministry of Education, Finland
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
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
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
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) Master’s degrees
 The whole HE system provides study places for 65-70%
of a age group
 Tuition free system
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 R&D 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 R&D and stronger (regional) impact
The Finnish university network
 UNIVERSITIES 2020
 UNIVERSITIES 2008
Rovaniemi
Univ. of Lapland
Univ. of Lapland
Oulu
Univ. of Oulu
Univ. of Oulu
Vaasa
Univ. of Vaasa
Tampere
Univ. of Tampere
Tampere Univ.
Technoloy
Turku
Univ. of Turku
Åbo Akademi Univ.
Turku School of
Economics and BA
Espoo
Helsinki Univ. of
Technology
(3 500)
Kuopio
Univ. of Kuopio
Univ. of Eastern
Finland
(11 000)
(JoY, KY: 10 300)
Joensuu
Univ. of Joensuu
Jyväskylä
Univ. of
Jyväskylä
Lappeenranta
Lappeenranta
Univ. of Tech
Helsinki
University of Helsinki
Helsinki School of Econ. and BA
Swedish School of Econ. and BA
Sibelius Academy
University of Arts and Design
Theatre Academy
Academy of Fine Arts
OPETUSMINISTERIÖ Koulutus- ja tiedepolitiikan osasto /Korkeakoulu- ja tiedeyksikkö
Univ. of Vaasa
(3 300)
University Alliance
(TaY, TTY, JY:
29 700)
Lappeenranta
Univ. of Tech
(3 600)
"New Univ. of Turku"
University of Helsinki
(TY, TuKKK: 13 000)
(25 700)
Åbo Akademi, SHH
Aalto University
( 6 000)
(TKK, HKKK, TaiK: 13 600)
University of Arts
(Teak, KuvA, SibA: 1 500)
OPETUSMINISTERIÖ Koulutus- ja tiedepolitiikan osasto /Korkeakoulu- ja tiedeyksikkö
Polytechnics
POLYTECHNICS 2008
 POLYTECHNICS 2020
Kemi-Tornio Pol.
Rovaniemi Polytechnic
Rovaniemi, Kemi-
Oulu Polytechnic
Kajaani Polytechnic
Tornio pol (4 800)
Central Ostrobothnia Pol.
Savonia Polytechnic
Novia
North Carelia Pol.
Vaasa Pol.
Jyväskylä Pol.
Seinäjoki Pol.
Mikkeli Pol.
Satakunta Pol.
South Carelia Pol.
Tampere Pol.
Kymenlaakso Pol.
Pirkanmaa Pol.
Häme Pol.
Lahti Pol.
Oulu, Kajaani pol
(7 300)
Savonia, N-C pol
(8 600)
Vaasa/S-joki/
K-Pohjanmaa pol
Jyväskylä pol
(8 900)
(5 100)
Novia/Arcada
S-C/ Mikkeli/
(4 300)
Kymenlaakso/
Arcada Pol.
Swedish Pol.
Turku Pol.
Laurea Pol.
Diaconia Pol.
Humanities Pol.
Metropolia Polytechnic
Haaga-Helia Polytechnic
Hum (10 300)
TRE/Pirkanmaa pol
(7 400)
Turku/Satakunnan pol
Lahti/Häme pol
(12 100)
(8 900)
Diakonia pol
Metropolia/Laurea pol
(17 000)
(2 400)
Haaga-Helia pol
(7 500)
OPETUSMINISTERIÖ Koulutus- ja tiedepolitiikan osasto /Korkeakoulu- ja tiedeyksikkö
OPETUSMINISTERIÖ Koulutus- ja tiedepolitiikan osasto /Korkeakoulu- ja tiedeyksikkö
Universities Bill
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.
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.
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:
1)professors,
2)other teaching and research staff and other personnel, and
3)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.
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.
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.
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: civilservice 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 master’s
programmes from students from outside the EU/EEA
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.
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.
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.
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.
Finnish innovation system/policy SWOT
STRENGTS






Education
Commitment & continuity
Co-operation & competition
Industry share of R&D investments
Proactive and client-oriented public
innovation services (funding, expert)
Public R&D funding with strong
incentives for co-operation and risktaking
WEAKNESSES






OPPORTUNITIES






More coherent and strategic national
policies (foresightinsightpolicy)
Stronger focusing of public R&D
resources
Going beyond “industrial innovation”:
Promotion of innovation in private and
public services
Market-pulled innovation stimulation
Active participation in major EU R&D
programmes and platforms
Going beyond EU: Active linkage with
global innovation hotspots
Small absolute volumes in R&D
(3,5% GDP = 5,5 bn €, < 1% global R&D)
Dependence on global developments
Low foreign direct investments
Low international researcher mobility
Small number of growth-oriented
enterprises
Small venture capital volumes for startup and early growth-phases
THREATS




Dominance of one sector (ICT) and one
company in business R&D
Risk of declining business R&D
expenditure
Businesses increasingly move their
operations abroad, including R&D
Loosing focus: Participation in too many
projects with scarce resources
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.
National Innovation Strategy



a more extensive, broad based approach to
innovation policy => horizontality
non-technological and non-R&D based
innovations => 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
Finland’s 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
Expanding innovation activities: new interactions
between players and functions.
Finland’s Innovation Strategy 2008
Ten key sets of measures

The central government’s 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 Finland’s
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.
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



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 =>The 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 R&D,
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)
Why now? (2007/2008)
 Interim Review of the Lisbon Strategy; reports (André Sapir
2003, Wim Kok 2004, Esko Aho 2006) => Universities, ERC,
EIT, JETs, Broad-based Innovation Policy
 Commission's Communications on Universities 2003, 2005,
2006
 Erasmus => Bologna => Education and Training 2010 and
European Research Area
 OECD work on tertiary education 2004-2008; Finnish Country
note 2006=> autonomy, internationalisation, broadening of
financial base, private investments
 Education/Science Patriotism <=> competitiveness, selfconfidence (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 R&D budget
 Support of HEIs: University rector's Red Manifests gains of
autonomy
Thank you!
[email protected]
+ 358 40 5664716