Finland - Jyvaskyla Region - Final Self-Evaluation Report.pdf

FOREWORDIn last years, the national and regional strategies have put increasing expectations on HEIs as a source ofinnovations and know-how as well as a producer of economic and social welfare. The HEIs are expected toplay an important role in achieving several political objectives. An extended role of HEIs and increasingexpectations have been taken account also in the strategic policy lines of the Ministry of Education and in thenew legislation that came into force recently. The central aim of the legislation is to strengthen the societalinteraction of HEIs as a natural part of their core functions. Thus, the legislation should rather be seen as atool for stressing the societal importance of science and education than as a new separate task. With theextended role of HEIs, however, it is time to deepen this societal interaction by means of new modes ofaction. As a part of larger OECD coordinated project the self evaluation process and the report on hand forman excellent opening to meet this challenge.This critical self-evaluation brings up several starting-points that aim to further develop the societalinteraction of HEIs. The key outcomes of the evaluation can be summarized as a need for the brave choicesand deeper collaboration between the HEIs and their stakeholders. The efficient management of regionalinteraction requires strategic choices. It is not purposeful to decentralize the resources of HEIs too much inthe field of societal interaction. The HEIs should also be able to determine the activities that are not relevantto their operation. From the point of view of leadership, it is the question of profiling and prioritizing ofactivities. On the other hand, the leadership of societal interaction cannot be solely based on the internalstarting-points but it also requires a close coordination of strategies in cooperation with the stakeholders. Theinteraction between the society and HEIs should be two-way. A prerequisite for the efficient societalcontribution of HEIs is that the society and its actors also actively contribute to the development of theoperation of HEIs.This self-evaluation would not have been possible without a significant contribution of the personnel of HEIsand their stakeholders to this development process. They all deserve great commendation for their effort.Numerous discussions have revealed that there exists a real development ethos among the participatingactors. The evaluation process carried out allows a concrete opening for the common learning process andcapacity building to further strengthen the regional contribution of the University of Jyväskylä and JyväskyläPolytechnic. To enable an effective exploitation of the results of this self-evaluation there is a need for closestrategic cooperation and for concrete joint measures between the HEIs and their stakeholders. This formsthe next step to be taken in the near future.Aino SallinenRectorUniversity of JyväskyläMauri PanhelainenRectorJyväskylä Polytechnic