Rector summarizes April
Rector Christen Krogh summarizes activities, work and impressions from April.
April has come and gone, and we are well into May already. That's how it is sometimes with spring when it finally arrives.
Good application numbers
Since the last update, we have received the results from The Norwegian Universities and Colleges Admission Service (NUCAS). There are many bright spots in this year's application numbers. Firstly, our master's programs are becoming increasingly popular. The increase from last year is over 1,000 applicants. For bachelor's and one-year studies, the number of first-choice applicants increased by a solid 5 %. It's pleasing to see that the application rate for nursing education remains consistently high, while many other health profession programs are also popular and increasing. Business School's programmes are also in very high demand, and some of the technology programmes are among the most popular.
Decline in applications to teacher education
However, not everything is increasing. The sharp decline in applications to teacher education is worrying. Last year, there was a general decline among many educational institutions, but we still had good numbers. This year, we also experienced a sharp decline. There are likely several reasons for this. We must continue to work on preparing our students for the teaching profession. Of course, it is also important that student satisfaction is high. School owners and schools must work systematically on teachers' working conditions. And most importantly, we must work together with unions, school owners, and politicians to promote the teaching profession. In the subsequent debate, several have called for changes to teacher education, possibly reversing the transition to a five-year program. This is unfortunate. The urge to act must not be allowed to override what is a sensible use of resources. The transition to a five-year teacher education has taken time and effort, and now the teaching profession must have the opportunity to reap the benefits of the professional upgrading that has been done.
150 years of technical education
Recently we have also celebrated an important anniversary at the university. This year marks 150 years since the establishment of the Kristiania Technical School. In the 1800s, there was a great need for technical expertise to assist with the industrialization of Norway. Several attempts were made to establish a polytechnic institute centrally in Eastern Norway, but all failed. Eventually, four technical schools were established at the intermediate level, first in Horten, and then in quick succession in Trondheim, Kristiania, and Bergen. The Kristiania Technical School was quickly expanded to be a full-fledged four-year technical engineering education in construction, machinery, and chemistry. After 1910, the school was required to reduce education to two years, and it wasn't until the 1970s, when the school became a university, that the development was on its way back to where it was at the end of the 1800s. Today, the history of the Kristiania Technical School is an important part of the Faculty of Technology, Art and Design. Today, the Department of Computer Science, Department of Mechanical, Electronic and Chemical Engineering, and Department of Built Environment, graduate candidates who are essential for the development of Norway and conduct important research. Among these departments, we have some of Norway's strongest technical academic communities. Congratulations on the anniversary!
Emergency preparedness
Earlier this week, many employees and students at a sister institution received an email with a threat. If something like this were to happen here, we have emergency systems in place. The emergency manager is the Director of Organization and Infrastructure, Vigdis By Kampenes. I recommend that all employees go to sikresiden.no from their mobile phone, choose OsloMet as their location, and add this website to their home screen. On sikresiden.no you can find updated, institution-specific information about what each individual should do if something happens, as well as important phone numbers.
Consultant stop
Finally, an administrative matter. Sometimes it may be appropriate to use external consultants to solve certain tasks, for example to implement solutions where there is no permanent need for the competency used. Other times, however, we should rather use internal competence or try to hire permanently. It is expensive to rely on consultants, and often it is also far more effective to do the work ourselves. However, it has proven more difficult than we had hoped to gain good control over the use of consultants at OsloMet. Therefore, we are now introducing a consultant stop. This means that we generally should not enter into new agreements or make calls on existing agreements. In those cases where exceptions to this rule are necessary (some exceptions are absolutely necessary), this must be approved by the dean or center director. The consultant stop applies to all consultant purchases at OsloMet, both when entering into any new agreements and when making calls on existing framework agreements, and of course also includes strategy projects.
Best regards, Christen
