Strategy Plan for Faculty of Engineering and Science 2021-2024

Education is faculty’s primary activity, and the main task is to educate candidates who are attractive to the labour market both as employees, but also as entrepreneurs. To achieve this, we need an excellent environment for studies, characterised by quality, relevance and completion.

Quality

Quality has many aspects and is mainly built on the teachers, the infrastructure and students’ involvement. In these three areas, the faculty has a tradition of performing at a high level. This work must continue, and the high level must be maintained. However, it is also desirable that our study programmes have a higher degree of variation in teaching- and assessment methods.

Main goal

Ensure that all existing study programmes include 4-5 clearly different teaching- and assessment methods.

Subgoals

• Initiate at least two piloting studies within degree programmes where the teaching is mainly facilitated as project-based teaching.
• All students must have positive experiences with creative thinking, innovation, interdisciplinary working practice, sustainable goals in all courses (competition, external companies, young entrepreneurs)
• Forum (PULS) where ideas on "best pedagogical practice" can be exchanged
• Strengthen universal design for all courses by increased digitalisation

Relevance

Relevance in the study programmes ensures three basic factors: recruitment of good candidates, motivated students and graduates who are attractive to working life. Of these, recruitment is the greatest challenge. We need to strengthen the relevance of our studies and use this in a goal-oriented way in our recruitment efforts.

Main goal

Above the national average on the national student survey in ‘work-life relevance’.

Subgoals

• Ensure that we have at least 50 permanent part-time positions for our students with organisations outside UiA
• More than 60% of bachelor – and master examination projects conducted with organisations outside UiA
• Measure the effect and document the consequent adjustments of PR campaigns regarding our study programmes
• Clarify how the sustainable goals are integrated into our study programmes

Implementation

Implementation of the study programmes with a high degree of predictability and good results concerning the number of applicants, admission and drop-out is the basis for a healthy economy and freedom to act strategically at the faculty. This applies to all kinds of teaching offers at the faculty, including further and continuing education.

Main goal

More than one qualified applicant per place at the faculty.

Subgoals

• All places in all programmes taken by the beginning of the semester
• A completion rate above 75%
• At least four new, permanent positions established at the faculty, funded by further- and continuing education.

R&D is a fundamental activity to the faculty. The individual research-active member of staff and each research group or research centre always face some basic challenges:

• To ensure and strengthen the quality of the R&D work
• To ensure and strengthen the external professional network
• To apply for and implement externally funded R&D projects
• To ensure that the teaching is research-based and that research is relevant to the study programmes

Often, some of these challenges will pull in opposite directions, and both the success of the individual researcher, research group, research centre and the faculty as a whole depend on making the right priorities.

Quality

To have the necessary quality in our R&D work, resources, time and impulses from outside are needed. The faculty’s strategic resources must, therefore, be prioritised and the administrative research support developed further.

Main objective (for both quality and relevance)

Increase external funding of R&D activity (for both quality and relevance)

Subgoals

• Support research centres prioritised by UiA
• The average grade of NFR-applications >5
• Develop a transparent model for the distribution of R&D hours
• Develop a transparent model for support to research groups at the faculty
• At least 50% of PhDs on shorter or longer stays at another institution
• An increased part of the application process and project management done by administrative resources, allowing scientific employees to focus on the academic aspects.
• The administrative organisation in relation to the application and the implementation of externally funded R&D projects are clarified, and manpower resources increased
• The administrative support in relation to the profiling of individual researchers, research groups and research centres is clarified and strengthened.

Relevance

The faculty educates PhD Research Fellows who will be active in many different areas. R&D work should, to a high degree, be relevant to working life. It is a known fact that most PhDs go on to positions in private and public enterprises, and this should be reflected in the R&D projects. However, the education of PhD Research Fellows represents a considerable investment, and it is crucially important to the faculty to keep a significant part of the candidates either directly at UiA, in the region or in the country.

Main objective: (both quality and relevance)

To ensure the quality and relevance of the R&D work, the main objective is to increase the externally funded R&D activity at the faculty.

Subgoals

• More than 60% of the completed PhDs continue to work in Norway
• The number of externally funded PhDs is higher than the number of strategically distributed PhDs
• More than 25% of all PhDs are either business sector or public sector PhDs.

Production

Each research group and research centre will develop a long-term (2-4 years) R&D plan, which will be evaluated annually with the Dean and the Head of Department. The plan should primarily relate to the expected productivity. Scientific employees, if they so wish, may have also have an individual plan. In this manner, it is expected that all scientific employees are involved in a long-term R&D plan, either individually and/or with others in a research group/centre. Each department is expected to have the necessary overview of its R&D plans.

Main objective

Establish long-term R&D plans for all research groups/centres

The long-term R&D plan must include an overview of current R&D themes, and also be measuring at least annually the implementation of the following metrics:

• Publications, numbers and level
• Patents and submissions of inventions
• Students’ involvement in research-, development-, and innovation activities
• Applications, numbers, where
• Exchange (PhDs and other employees), numbers and where
• Frequency of meetings for the research group/centre
• Co-creation arenas
• Publications with authors outside UiA
• Popular science productions
• Profiling
• Influence on education
• Completion time for PhDs
• Continuity in academic activities

The faculty aims for comprehensive contact with other faculties at UiA and with organisations in our community. Through this cooperation, we aim to promote co-creation and innovation which will make us known as the faculty where the students create their own working places. The faculty has, with the Business School at UiA, developed a template for cooperation agreements med other organisations. The template includes a table which is meant to cover all kinds of cooperation with our surroundings:

• Bachelor’s and master’s theses
• Guest lectures
• Adjunct Professor at UiA, possibly also UiA employee in a minor position in an external enterprise.
• Student in minor position in enterprise
• Research cooperation, project application/implementation
• Joint conferences/workshops/seminars

Where this is feasible, and there are no other written agreements, it is desirable that existing cooperation is also included in this system for cooperation agreements.

Main objective

Establish at least 100 cooperation agreements with external enterprises.

Subgoals

• Establish a system and a structure for how to follow up the cooperation agreements
• Communicate the cooperation agreements internally as well as externally
• Establish a system and structure for our alumni – activities and set goals
• Clarify and set goals for the faculty's presence and place in international rankings

Consider increase of incentives for publication of popular science articles

Working environment

A workplace that is satisfactory and which contributes to the development of the employee is characterised by a good working environment. To the Faculty of Engineering and Science, it is vital to ensure good framework conditions for both our employees and our students. This applies to the infrastructure, with high-quality laboratory facilities and offices and meeting space, but also to the linguistic environment with many international employees (including PhD Research Fellows). The faculty must facilitate the inclusion of all employees in both information and social settings.

In our work with quality, it is important to maintain close contact with the students. This will allow us to solve problems in an early phase. Our systems for quality assurance are excellent, but it is important to deal with the problems before they reach the formal forums. If an employee repeatedly gets negative feedback from the students, it may be wise to deploy, for example, peer supervision. In order to achieve the best possible effect of such measures, the faculty needs to aim for a safe and stable framework for its employees.

Main objective

Systematic peer supervision, both for scientific and administrative employees, and both for newcomers and experienced members of staff. This is especially relevant to the teaching, and Increase number of student representatives during all semesters for all studies will, therefore, be the first step.

Subgoals

• Establish a forum for peer supervisors
• Implement proper systems for onboarding and offboarding, including buddies for new employees
• Actively continue to use and develop social meeting places (Wednesday coffee, Friday coffee, seminars, arrangements that involve students in the academic environment) as a resource for ensuring a good working environment.
• Develop the university cities of Kristiansand and Grimstad and develop further future-oriented campuses.

The Learning Environment

The learning environment is constituted by both physical and psychical infrastructure. We must ensure that it is attractive to our students and our teachers to participate in learning activities. We wish to minimise drop-out due to a lack of follow-up, and we also wish to strengthen the network of each individual student.

Main objective

Continue the work in FYSE (First Year Study Environment) and develop this further with the main purpose of minimising drop-out and maximising student networks.

Subgoals

• Increase number of student representatives during all semesters for all studies
• Strengthen the running dialogue with student representatives (more/more frequent connective points)
• Strengthen the running dialogue with minority groups in the study programmes, for instance, international students, female students within technology, male students within bioengineering, etc. (more/more frequent connective points)