University of Maribor

University of Maribor has well-defined vision and mission and the thereupon based strategic goals 2021-2030. Strategic planning is feasible and comprehensive, and places particular emphasis on numerous aspects of the University's links to its environment and its capacities. The University is endeavouring to attain a national and European identity, but could employ the European ESG Standards with greater precision. Outsourced and non-academic staff should be included more into the University's strategic planning. The University monitors its work on a yearly basis in self-evaluation reports and the University's annual management report, which could be upgraded with the use of performance indicators and periodic assessments. The University's well conceived strategy could be further improved with the estimated realisation dates as guidelines, in addition to performance indicators and regular formative assessments. The internal organisation of the University enables varied cooperation between internal and external stakeholders in the management and development of activities. Cooperation among higher education teachers and associates, and professional and administrative staff, and their inclusion in participatory decision making are excellent. Students are treated as equal partners and actively participate in the University's activities. Collaboration among researchers should be encouraged more. Business representatives, employers and other external stakeholders liaise with the representatives of the University and the Faculties at conferences and meetings of various forms as well as through Programme Boards. Their opinions and suggestions should be better systematised and taken into account by the University. A good working atmosphere and positive interpersonal relationships have been established at the University of Maribor, and its employees have expressed satisfaction with their workplace. The University demonstrates the development and improvement of research, scientific and artistic activities. 109 research teams are active at the seventeen Members, but the University has strategically decided to define four basic areas. Research activity is extensive, some Members are internationally competitive. The University shows progress in the area of research, but there is still room for improvement. It has some top researchers, but they are few and their potential is not exploited to the fullest. Success in attracting national or international research projects should be appropriately financially rewarded. The transfer of research findings into practice is even weaker. Research and teaching activities need to be understood as complementary and not mutually competitive, and the synergy between them needs to be strongly encouraged. Outstanding research achievements could be more clearly and frequently presented on the websites of the University and its Members. The practical part of studies is obligatory for professional study programmes, and is optional in other programmes or is conducted as an additional study requirement. Activities of practical training take place outside the University premises, which allows students to familiarise themselves with the professional obligations of their discipline, and to get to know their potential employers. Procedures that measure the level of satisfaction with practical training, both on the part of students and the institutions that supervise (mentor) their work, vary greatly among the Faculties, but assessment results are evaluated regularly. All Faculties could improve the quality of practical training if they opened themselves to the international environment. 54 University of Maribor monitors the needs for knowledge and the employment needs of the environment through various means. It conducts a university survey on academic satisfaction and employability as well as employment of its graduates, but since 2016 this mechanism cannot be used anymore due to the regulation on information privacy. The University monitors the employability of its graduates to some extent through individual Members' Alumni Clubs and through Career Centres, while it also communicates with various employers (many are included into the Members' Programme Boards); students do their practical traning in collaboration with their future employers. Employers should participate as much as possible in the provision of feedback on graduates' competencies, particularly in relation to the integration of contents that enhance employability into undergraduate study programmes. The University should establish more transparent communication of information on employability to all the interested parties at the University and individual Faculties. University of Maribor has established a comprehensive and sophisticated quality assurance system, defined in the UM Rules of Procedure on Quality, and enables a closed quality loop in all areas of the higher education institution's activities. The level of the culture of quality is not defined clearly and precisely enough, although it is improvementoriented. The University could upgrade the supporting systems with the aim of improving action inside the quality loop. University of Maribor has already enabled its Members the appointment of vice-deans for quality development; now the management of the Faculties have to take a leading role in making the changes that are necessary for the development of the culture of quality. It is important to implement two key principles of quality which promote and sustain the development of the culture of quality, namely autonomy/accountability and participation in the culture of communication and trust. University of Maribor informs the stakeholders and the public in a timely manner about study programmes and its activities. The University has established a visible URL ("um.si") for its online presence, while the websites of its Members still need to be standardised. Exceptional research and teaching achievements have not been given enough attention on these websites. On a quarterly basis, the University publishes a printed magazine UMniverzum, which presents employees' achievements and other news. It also publishes a weekly newsletter for students, employees and the interested publics, which is distributed via e-mail. The Rectorate and the Faculties are actively present on a variety of social media platforms. The University should develop a communication strategy and plan the improvement of information quality. The role of the university press and its recognisability in the Slovenian and international research environments could be more active. The University of Maribor's efforts to achieve human resources development in accordance with the »European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers« have been acknowledged with a special prize. Staffing is not hierarchically adequate: there are approximately 70% of lecturers and only 30% of assistents among the teaching staff. Furthermore, only 30% of them are employed fulltime, while others are outsourced (external contractors). At the same time, the number of researchers is disproportionately low in comparison with the proportion of teaching staff. Habilitation criteria are adequate and well balanced. Most teachers and researchers demonstrate reasonable achievements, though some Faculties employ or collaborate with course holders who are not active in research. The University has a well developed system 55 of staff training; however, the introduction of mandatory pedagogical training in the area of higher education didactics for beginner assistants is worth considering. The University does not have any systematic plans or concretely defined goals for regulating the area of gender balance. University of Maribor is adequately staffed with professional-technical in managerial-administrative workers who provide effective assistance and advise to students and other stakeholders. Staffing is sufficient and adequately qualified. A large anonymous survey on employee satisfaction is performed on a yearly basis. On the basis of these data, the University is creating a positive working atmosphere. Considerable resources have been invested in the training and advancement of staff. Professional staff should be additionally trained for the partly English-speaking working environment as well as in the area of the general etiquette. The University provides students with adequate assistance and advice and takes into consideration the diversity of students and their needs. The University has a number of well developed advisory services for students, which are available at the Faculties and at the Rectorate. It could also establish the use of communication channels through which information could be transmitted to all the concerned students, and thereby provide a rapid and reliable route of informing students. The University has an established tutoring system, which should be unified particularly in relation to the recognition of tutoring work and support or remuneration offered to student tutors. The University could improve the student mobility web portal in a way that would make information more understandable and accessible to students, and arrange for the recognition of knowledge and skills acquired on international exchanges that would be unified on the University level. Students are provided with satisfactory conditions for quality studies, scientific, professional, research or artistic work as well as extracurricular activities. Student satisfaction with the study process is regularly monitored with the student satisfaction survey. Data indicate that the level of satisfaction is rising. Students are well included into professional activities and research through various projects, thematic and final assignments (diploma or Master theses), practical traning, case-based learning in mandatory and elective courses, and through joint publication of scientific articles by teachers and students. The University offers a wide range of extracurricular activities. Some of the activities organised by the University are formally recognised with ECTS credits. Active inclusion of students from dislocated units into student representative bodies is well developed. The reintroduction of a prorector for dislocated units at the university level could ensure a greater unity with the University and thereby a better study experience for all students. University of Maribor protects student rights. Representatives of students from different Faculties are organised into the Student Council, which elects its representatives into the University Senate, the Board of Directors and various committees. The fact that stands out at the University of Maribor is that the students have a representative in the University management, namely the student prorector. The University ensures identification and prevention of the discrimination of vulnerable groups of students and the discrimination based on students' personal circumstances and beliefs; the term ‘conflict situation’ could be replaced with a more suitable one in all Acts and procedures, and the application procedure could be modified. 56 Students participate in evaluating and updating the contents and implementing the activities of the University of Maribor. The prorector for student affairs is someone who is a student himself, which ensures the inclusion of students at all levels of the university system. Students regularly take part in self-evaluation through student surveys, while student representatives also actively participate in the writing process, and add their comments on the self-evaluation report. Additionally, they may express their opinions within the committees in which they participate. In accordance with the UM Rules of Quality Evaluation, approval by students is necessary for the adoption of the institutional selfevaluation report or a Member's self-evaluation report. It would be reasonable if the University considered more diverse means of acquiring student opinions (e.g. focus groups, interviews). Thus more qualitative information could be obtained and some topics that have not yet been included into the existing questionnaires could be incorporated into the student survey. It would be reasonable if student surveys were conducted immediately after the completion of a learning unit. Students should be informed as quickly as possible of any adaptations implemented on the basis of survey results. Students' opinions regarding teachers' performance has a growing impact, but can still be overruled and nullified by the Senate. Although such cases are rare, it would be reasonable to consider changing this institute, to promote a close and trustful partnership with students. It might be beneficial to examine the possibility of providing advice or further training in teaching skills for those implementors of courses (teachers) who require such support. University of Maribor provides adequate premises and equipment for implementing its activity. It owns the major part of the premises used for its educational, research and professional activities, while others are rented through relevant contracts for various time periods. Student Dormitories, which provide accommodation to students, operate as one of the University Members. Since 2018, the University has an appointed prorector of infrastructure. The University should provide additional resources for the reconstruction of deteriorated facilities and the adaptation of facilities to people with special needs. It should also develop a long-term strategy for the maintenance and modernisation of top-quality scientific research equipment as well as the unification of the information system at the level of the whole University. Adaptations of the study process are made for students with different forms of disability. Students with special needs participate as equal members in the Student Council and committees. A tutor is provided to students with special needs. Some facilities where extracurricular activities take place are not accessible to physically impaired persons. The University should update the system of ensuring study process adaptations to students with special needs so that the latter will not be forced to continuously draw attention to the consideration of their rights. University of Maribor ensures adequate and stable financial resources for the implementation and further development of the higher education activity. Additional income could be ensured through developing lifelong learning programmes and consolidating additional support for the commercially oriented patent activity, with the participation of the University. The University could increase its research cooperation with the environment and attainment of grants, sponsorships, and donations from the economic environment. University has a comprehensive library system, which enables a physical and online access to research- and study-related literature. Both the central library (the University 57 Library Maribor) and the individual libraries work as an integral part of the University and provide quality services. They share some of the common services. The libraries are generally well supplied, bibliographical support is of high quality. In cases when basic study materials are not always available to students in a sufficient number of copies, alternatives need to be provided. Access to (the majority of) electronic resources is possible through remote access, i.e. computers in the library. The University is developing a vision of the changing role of the library, envisaging it as the "students' third home", which could boost their satisfaction, health and psychological well-being as a way of enhancing their academic performance. The University should also consider the future role of the library in establishing links between the University and external stakeholders and the creation of opportunities for knowledge exchange. The provisions of Article 14 of the Higher Education Act have been fully observed. We have noticed that enrolment requirements for a considerable number of university-level study programmes are not regulated in accordance with the provisions of Article 38 of the Higher Education Act.