Rezekne Higher Education Institution

Academic study programme “Master of Social Sciences in Management”
Academic study programme “Bachelor of Social Sciences in Management”

Academic study programme “Bachelor in History”

Academic study programme “Master in Pedagogics” and

2nd level Higher education Study Program in History, History of Culture and Teacher of Social Sciences

Final Evaluation Report of the Joint Commission

May 28, 2002

This is the report of the joint commission consisting of prof. Virginijus Kundrotas, team leader, prof. Jean-David Avenel, prof. Viive Ruus, prof. Vulfs Kozlinskis, prof. Gunnar Bergendal and prof. Enn Tarvel.

Each member of the commission will also submit a more detailed report on the study programmes related to their area of expertise. This report is based on a visit to Rezekne Higher Education Institution on 2 and 3 of May, 2002 and on written materials presented to commission members by the Higher education Institution

Institution

The Rezekne Higher Education Institution is a public Higher educational institution. It was founded in 1993 and has 4 Faculties. After almost 10 years of operations the Institution has about 4000 students in various programmes at the moment.

In addition to the permanent faculty body the teachers are also coming from other institutions of Higher education in Latvia.

Curriculum

Rezekne Higher Education Institution has a number of study programmes. The 5 of them currently under evaluation are academic study programme “Master of Social Sciences in Management”, academic study programme “Bachelor of Social Sciences in Management”, academic study programme “Bachelor in History”, academic study programme “Master in Pedagogics” and 2nd level Higher education professional Study Program in History, History of Culture and Teacher of Social Sciences

The members of the commission evaluated academic study programme “Master of Social Sciences in Management” and academic study programme “Bachelor of Social Sciences in Management” state that both programmes generally correspond to the official requirements settled by the Ministry of Education of Latvia and are meeting the demand from the local market. At the same time the commission members note the lack of clear focus in the curriculum of the Academic Master study programme in management. It is difficult to observe a clear direction of proficiency that is sought in this program. Such important subjects as Strategic management, International commercial and European law are lacking in the curriculum. This will require a re-evaluation of the course selection. The members of the commission are also noted that the research methods part in Master theses should be strengthen.

The quality of Bachelor in Management theses also should be strengthen.

The members of the commission evaluated the academic study programme “Bachelor in History” admitted the good scientific and pedagogical level of the programme. The strongest side of this programme is the remarkable use of research, expressed in the theses demonstrated. The more detailed comments will be presented in their individual reports.

The members of the commission evaluated the academic study programme “Master in Pedagogics” note the following. The “Master in Pedagogics” seems to be apar with other similar programmes in Latvia. Its strength is broad aims related to the needs of the region and the country. This Master's programme prepares not only for future research in an academic context but also - and perhaps essentially for work in key positions in society, where meeting new challenges and seeing the vital points of a situation are important aspects of the work.

The members of the commission got the impression that the programme would be well served by a further emphasis on qualitative methods of research, and also that the quantitative methods could be more sophisticated. However, the important thing is that the research should not be determined by the current methods, but that suitable methods be developed for each issue at hand.

The library is for this programme not sufficient in itself and should be consolidated continuously. However, the cooperation with other libraries, nationally and internationally, compensates to a large extent for such shortcomings.

The 2nd level Higher education professional Study Program in History, History of Culture and Teacher of Social Sciences reflects changes in the comprehensive school curriculum. The programme is a supplementary programme for students already having completed their first level studies. It may be considered a transitory programme for remedying the lack of teachers in the new social science subject of school. The members of the commission see that in a longer perspective of time a comprehensive programme of teachers of History and the Social Sciences should be developed.

In the present context of evaluation the commission noted that the subject "social sciences" at school is not defined in the self-evaluation report. From the discussions it was learned that ethics and health care are included in this subject at school. In contrast, at universities the social sciences make up an internationally defined domain of disciplines, with certain traditions of thinking.

Another problem was that the self-evaluation report did not provide a comprehensive view of the contents of the first level higher education of the teachers involved - a first level that has (in many cases) been of 4 years' duration, but will, in the future, be a 3 1/2-year study.

The proposed rather uniform second level program may result in repetitions for most categories of students - an inefficient use of time. Nevertheless, this programme may be the simplest way of satisfying the needs for new teacher qualifications according to the new needs of the school, but there are no arguments in the self-evaluation report showing that this is the case.

Learning Facilities

The learning facilities of Rezekne Higher Education Institution are located in the center of Rezekne. The classroom facilities are good enough and supportive of the learning process. All the classrooms are equipped with overhead projectors.

The Institution also has sufficient computer facilities (65 PCs) complete with INTERNET access, modest library, and sport facilities for the students and faculty.

Because Rezekne Higher Education Institution is a young Institution, the library also lacks a wider selection of international books, journals and magazines in the fields of economics and business. Especially it should be addressed to the basic textbooks for the Master of Management studies. The Faculty’s expansion plans, however, include expanding in this area.

As a whole, the premises are good and appear to provide a satisfactory space for current needs and realistic development of institution. Classroom space is enough and adequate for the learning process.

Students and Faculty

The commission had a chance to have discussion with various groups of students, representing various study years and programmes, they are studying in. They were open and generous in conversation. Despite the modesty in their English knowledge, they were able to express clearly their position concerning the various issues in study process and Institution’s life in general.

The students were very satisfied with their studies at the Rezekne Higher Education Institution, good and friendly atmosphere here, and the professional emphasis. The computer resources were considered sufficient. However, some students mentioned that the library could be developed better.

The commission had a chance to talk with a number of employers, business partners and graduates of the Institution. The employers were satisfied by the good knowledge of graduates from the programmes under the evaluation process and also noted the intelligence, quick orientation, creativity and responsibility of their, which appeared during the work practice. The graduates expressed their satisfaction concerning the programmes they graduated from.

The commission also expresses gratitude to the staff and faculty of Rezekne Higher Education Institution. They were extremely hospitable, friendly and helpful.

The faculty comprises full time and part time lecturers. This is a combination of young eager teachers, many of whom are doctoral students, and of the mature and experienced teachers. The commission pays the attention that the middle generation of experienced faculty should be expanded in addition to the mature and the very young ones in order to serve as teachers for the young colleagues. At the same time, the young generation of faculty has a lot of potential to grow and it makes possible to believe in successful further development of the Institution.

The Rezekne Higher Education Institution has agreements of academic cooperation with institutions in foreign counties, like Greece, Norway, France, Belgium, Lithuania and others. The faculty of the Institution also are involved in writing teaching notes and textbooks.

Final Recommendations

Here we make five recommendations:

First, the commission recommends unconditional (six years) accreditation of the “Bachelor of Social Sciences in Management” academic programme as a programmes meeting the market demand and generally meeting the quality standards of the undergraduate academic programmes. However, the suggestions mentioned in the report above should be taken into consideration.

Second, the commission recommends conditional (two year) accreditation of the academic study programme “Master of Social Sciences in Management”. The commission believes that this time period will be sufficient enough to make the changes suggested, such as curricullum corrections, library (first of all-English texts) development and faculty development.

Third, the commission recommends unconditional (6 year) accreditation of the academic study programme “Bachelor in History” and academic study programme “Master in Pedagogics”, taking into consideration that remarkable progress in development of those programmes took place during the recent years.

Fourth, the commission recommends 6 year accreditation of the 2nd level Higher education professional Study Program in History, History of Culture and Teacher of Social Sciences with the restrictions, which will be underlined on a later stage in joint report as well as in individual reports of members of the commission. Only after the implementation of those suggestions this recommendation will apply.

Fifth, the commission is considering Rezekne Higher Education Institution as a very important educational institution in Latgala region having a good potential to develop further and serve as a positive example of institution taking care of regional challenges. After the implementation of changes in the Master of Management programme, all the programmes mentioned would may also serve as examples of good quality programmes nationally and internationally.

On behalf of the commission:

Prof. Virginijus Kundrotas, Lithuania

May 28, 2002

The commission:

Prof. Virginijus Kundrotas, Lithuania

Prof. Jean-David Avenel, France

Prof. Viive Ruus, Estonia

Prof. Vulfs Kozlinskis, Latvia

Prof. Gunnar Bergendal, Sweden

Prof. Enn Tarvel, Estonia

Individual Evaluation Report

on the

Academic study programme “Master of Social Sciences in Management”
Academic study programme “Bachelor of Social Sciences in Management”

Academic study programme “Bachelor in History”

Academic study programme “Master in Pedagogics” and

2nd level Higher education Study Program in History, History of Culture and Teacher of Social Sciences

the Rezekne Higher Education Institution

May 28, 2002

This is the report of dr. Virginijus Kundrotas. This report is based on a visit to the Rezekne Higher Education Institution on May 2 and 3 of 2002 and on written material presented to the expert by Rezekne’s Higher Education Institution

Curriculum

After the evaluation of the curriculum of both Management programmes I agree with the opinion of joint commission that academic study programme “Master of Social Sciences in Management” and academic study programme “Bachelor of Social Sciences in Management” generally correspond to the official requirements settled by the Ministry of Education of Latvia and are meeting the demand from the local market. At the same time the lack of clear focus in the curriculum of the Academic Master study programme in management was noticed. It is difficult to observe a clear direction of proficiency that is sought in this program. Such important subjects as Strategic management, International commercial and European law are lacking in the curriculum. This will require a re-evaluation of the course selection. The research methods part in Master theses should be strengthen as well as the quality of Bachelor in Management theses also should be strengthen.

It is also clear weakness in the quality control system. It was observed that in a substantial part of courses students are evaluated by oral exams, rather than written exams, which are known to allow for greater quality control. The reasons provided cannot serve as ssubstantial explanation.

For the evaluation of academic study programme “Bachelor in History”, academic study programme “Master in Pedagogics” and 2nd level Higher education Study Program in History, History of Culture and Teacher of Social Sciences are fully relay on the opinion of the relevant experts of those programmes.

Learning Facilities

The Institution also has sufficient computer facilities (65 PCs) complete with INTERNET access, modest library, and sport facilities for the students and faculty.

Personnel

After the discussion with various groups of students, representing various study years and programmes, they are studying in, I may do the following statements.

The students are very satisfied with their studies at the Rezekne Higher Education Institution, good and friendly atmosphere here, and the professional emphasis. The computer resources were considered sufficient. However, some students mentioned that the library could be developed better.