Rector summarizes March
Rector Christen Krogh summarizes activities, work and impressions from March, and wish everyone a happy Easter.
Dear colleagues,
March is the first month of spring. However, there has been little spring over March this year with a lot of snow on campus both in Pilestredet and at Kjeller. March nevertheless offers a view to brighter and warmer times.
The government launched its report on skills needs in Norway (Meld. St. 14 (2022 –2023)) at OsloMet last week. The report contains some perspectives on society's need for education in the coming years, while also giving input on how the funding system should be changed for universities and colleges.
In short, the proposals mean that the so-called "closed framework" will be largely discontinued, that is, the funding that applies to publication credits and external funding. At the same time, funding is increased in the so-called "open framework", that is funding based on credit production. And the funding categories are reduced from 6 to 3. Most of OsloMet's studies will end up in the middle category, with some social science studies in the lowest. It is an expressed goal in the report that universities and colleges should be given greater responsibility for prioritizing themselves, and be less exposed to detailed management from the ministry.
We have not finished assessing the consequences for OsloMet, but there are still some main lines that should be highlighted. The first is that if the publication indicator and the incentive funds for external funding disappear, then it will require us to make explicit priorities from the university in order to maintain and strengthen the important research activity. The second is that extra emphasis on study credit funding may seem like an advantage for OsloMet, which already produces many study credits per academic staff compared to some other universities. The report states "Institutions with a subject profile with a high proportion of professional education within health, teacher education and technology will receive a higher average rate. They will be somewhat more exposed to results than today." (Meld. St. 14 (2022–2023), p 109). The funding must be budget-neutral in the first year and then stimulate changes. It is then important to ensure that the final mechanisms do not favor those who have had low production until now, over those who are already productive, such as OsloMet. There are many changes proposed in the report and, as I said, we have not finished going through the proposals.
Something we have finished is the many hiring processes that have been going on since Christmas. On Friday 24 March, the university board employed two vice-rectors, a center manager and a dean, that all starts on the 1th of August.
Tanja Storsul is employed as vice-rector for research and development. She has a background from the University of Oslo, both as professor and head of department, and in recent years as director of the Department of Social Research. Tanja has a wide range of roles in Norwegian research, among other things she is currently chair of the board at the Faculty of Humanities at NTNU.
The board appointed Carl Christian Thodesen as vice-rector for societal impact and knowledge exchange. Carl is currently dean at the Faculty of Technology, Art and Design here at OsloMet. Previously, he was head of department at the Department of Construction and Environmental Engineering at NTNU, and head of research at SINTEF. Carl and Tanja will be great additions to the rector's office in the years to come.
As dean of the Faculty of Technology, Art and Design, the board appointed Laurence Marie Anna Habib. Laurence is currently head of the department of information technology at the faculty, a job she has held for three periods. Laurence was previously a manager at our educational development center and many know her as a development-oriented manager and strong professional.
Finally, Kåre Hagen has received renewed confidence as head of the Center for Welfare and Labor Research (SVA). Kåre was one of the architects behind SVA when it was established, and has been an important force in ensuring that the center has become an successful establishment at OsloMet.
I also want to point out the important work that Per Martin Nordheim-Martinsen has done and will continue to do. As vice-rector for research and development, he has been very important in further developing the research mission at the university.
In March, good colleagues and I visited the Storting and met the politicians from Akershus. As you remember, OsloMet proposed two initiatives for 2024 in its submission to investments outside the framework. The first was 500 study places and 50 research fellow positions at Romerike. The second was development of intelligent health together with Sunnaas hospital in Nesodden. Both of these initiatives are located in Akershus and it was natural to have a meeting with central politicians from Akershus about this. All the municipalities in Romerike support the first part of the initiatives, and the mayor of Lillestrøm, Jørgen Vik, attended the meeting in the Storting. Similarly, the proposal for intelligent health is supported by Nesodden municipality. I look forward to see if we get approval for our input in either the revised budget before the summer or in the state budget proposal in the autumn. In any case, it is certain that there are investments that are important both for OsloMet and the society we serve.
Romerike was also central when some of us were in the Ministry of Education and Research and met political leadership earlier in March. We talked about the new campus in the center of Lillestrøm. At the same time, we used the opportunity to explain that both we and the region of Romerike believe it is important to have stable conditions at Kjeller until the new campus is ready. It was also important for us to express that we need additional funds to be able to cover regional and national needs at the new campus.
There is constant study program development at OsloMet. In March, we launched a specialization in Geotechnics on the master's course in construction and energy engineering. The specialization has been developed in collaboration with working life and the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, and is a good example of us adjusting to what working life needs. Furthermore, the NERA conference was held in March. NERA is a Nordic educational conference that brings together researchers from educational environments throughout the Nordic region. This year, OsloMet hosted around 900 delegates. It was a hectic few days on campus with countless parallel sessions. It was a very successful event. Thanks to the Faculty of Education and International Studies.
Soon it will be the Easter holidays. Many are going to the mountains, some are staying in the city, some take the whole week off, and some work most days. I myself am going to Spain and France to visit my two daughters who are exchange students this semester. Exchange and internationalization are important parts of our academic everyday life. This last year I have worked a lot locally and regionally. I look forward to working more with OsloMet as a university in the world in the next year. International cooperation is important for the development of the subjects, and also makes us even better at solving the regional and national tasks we have.
Happy Easter to everyone!
