2005:32 R
Visit of Inspection to Gävle University College in 2004
Planning
During May 2004 the Vice-Chancellor of the University College of Gävle was contacted by telephone and informed that a visit of inspection would be made on November 17, 2004 and that a questionnaire would be sent to the institution before the visit was to take place. The questionnaire was sent to the institution on May 27, 2004 together with a letter requesting a response no later than October 4, 2004.
The student union at Gävle also received the questionnaire and was offered the possibility of expressing opinions about the application of regulations at the university college. On October 1, 2004, responses to the questionnaire were received from the university college and a response from the student union was received on October 4, 2004, in which it expressed opinions on one of the questions.
The visit of inspection took place on November 17, 2004. The National Agency for Higher Education was represented by its chief legal officer, Annica Lindblom (head of the legal department) and four legal officers, Caroline Cruz, Pontus Kyrk, Barbro Molander and Marie Stern Wärn.
The visit
The visit began with a meeting between the representatives of the National Agency and the acting Vice-Chancellor, Gabriella Åhmansson, the Senior Administrative Officer, Hans-Gunnar Johansson, the head of the student office, Gert Dahlkvist, the coordinator, Susanne Axner, the registrar, Ulla Sandström, Johny Bylerius, a research officer and archivist, Lennart Öhlund, Chair, Kristina Malm, finance officer and the vice president of the student union, Hanna Hjalmarsson. Gabriella Åhmansson presented an account of the work of the university college which contained the following information. The university college has a student population of 13,000 students and a staff of 700. It has six departments and offers 30-40 different programmes. The university college offers 25 per cent of its programmes in the form of distance teaching. A new library has been built in what used to be the barrack square. The university college has applied to be entitled to offer its own postgraduate programmes in the disciplines of technology and the humanities and social sciences. Annica Lindblom described the role of the legal department, the purpose of the visit and how it was to be conducted. This was followed by discussion of some of the responses submitted by the university college to the questionnaire it had received.
Caroline Cruz and Marie Stern Wärn then visited the Registry and talked to Ulla Sandström and Johny Bylerius. Annica Lindblom, Barbro Molander and Pontus Kyrk visited the student office to meet Gert Dahlkvist, Marie-Louise Holmberg, a social adviser, Annika Thunström, responsible for results and the award of degrees and the secretaries in the office, Lotta Holmén and Lina Claw.
During the afternoon random checks were made at two departments, the Department of Business Administration and the Department of Education and Psychology. All of the officials from the National Agency for Higher Education met representatives from the departments.
The Department of Business Administration was represented by its Chair, Lars Hjärne, who provided information about the department, and by members of its administrative staff, Cristina Malm, Kerstin Jacobson and Inger Kinsten. The representatives of the Department of Education and Psychology consisted - in addition to its Chair, Lennart Öhlund - of the subject representatives for Didactics and for Psychology, Åsa Morberg and Mårten Eriksson, the departmental secretaries Agneta Carlsson, Ann Gerhartz-Fa, Camilla Gustafsson and Lena Thavelin, together with the Chair´s secretary, Helena Fors and Martin Wagner, finance officer.
Annica Lindblom provided information about the visit and its intended purpose and the chairs of the two departments described how they functioned. The visit concluded with a second meeting, attended by the representatives of the National Agency for Higher Education and Gabriella Åhmansson and Hanna Hjalmarsson.
Annica Lindblom and the members of her staff presented a summary of the observations that had been made during talks with the University College´s staff and examination of the documents. Some issues were raised and discussed.
Finally Annica Lindblom described how the inspection visit would affect the work to come.
Concluding phase
In April 2005, a draft was sent by the National Agency for Higher Education to the university to allow its representatives to correct any errors of fact or remedy any misunderstandings that may have arisen at the Agency. The university college was also given the possibility of expressing opinions on questions it received before the visit took place. The university college then submitted its opinions on the draft report.
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