The Rector hopes for wide-ranging discussion based on the report submitted by the University of Helsinki’s reform committee.

The reform committee’s task was to draw up a list of proposed measures to promote the achievement of the University’s strategic targets and to prepare for savings. The committee considered ways to better carry out the University’s core activities as well as operating models that could be relinquished.

“We asked the reform committee for as radical proposals as possible, which will now be handed over to the University community for discussion,” said Rector Thomas Wilhelmsson at the report’s release on 10 April 2012.

Degrees across faculty boundaries

Having read the report, the Rector expected the most heated discussions to centre on the proposed changes to the status of independent institutes, the National Library of Finland and the Finnish Museum of Natural History.

The reform committee believes that national duties drain the University’s basic resources. It consequently proposes talks on separating the National Library of Finland and the Finnish Museum of Natural History from the University and calls for a critical evaluation of the University’s museum activities. According to the committee, integrating independent institutes into faculties would help reduce administrative costs. Such integration would target, for example, the Aleksanteri Institute and the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies.

“This must be analysed from two perspectives. Many independent institutes have performed excellently, but it is true that fragmented administration leads to unnecessary expenses,” Wilhelmsson notes.

The committee also proposes a reorganisation of on-campus financial and administrative services. Staff numbers in Central Administration should be reduced through natural attrition, while the joint use of infrastructure could be increased and facilities utilised more efficiently.

Other committee proposals include developing Bachelor’s studies by making first-cycle degrees broader in scope. The Viikki and City Centre campuses, for example, provide opportunities for arranging degrees and degree components that span faculty boundaries.

Ongoing reform talks

The reform committee’s report contains 63 proposals for developing operations at both the campus and university levels. Wilhelmsson expects many of them to be implemented, but only after sweeping and in-depth discussions.

The first talks will be launched in the coming days. Faculties, independent institutes, committees and associations will be asked for statements by 25 May, and reform issues will also be handled during target negotiations in late autumn 2012. Any definite decisions arising from the report must wait at least until this autumn.

Everyone at the University can submit further proposals and feedback on the committee’s report. Feedback will be compiled by Director of Planning Jussi Karvinen: jussi.karvinen@helsinki.fi.

The reform committee’s proposals are based on a survey conducted among the deans and directors of independent institutes as well as on ideas received from members of the University community. The committee was chaired by Vice-Rector Ulla-Maija Forsberg, and its members included doctoral student Arto Aniluoto, Professor Emeritus Mauno Kosonen, Professor Emeritus Hannu Saloniemi, Director Teija Tiilikainen and Professor Eero Vuorio. Chief Financial Officer Ilkka Hyvärinen and Director of Planning Jussi Karvinen acted as the committee’s permanent advisors and Quality Specialist Helena Immonen as its secretary.

Please see Alma for more details: https://alma.helsinki.fi/doclink/239626