"The most important thing is that we're competitive"
Stúdentablaðið/Stefanía Stefánsdóttir
Translation: Julie Summers
The school year ahead
On the morning of September 20, Jón Atli warmly welcomes two journalists from the Student Paper to his office in Aðalbygging on the University of Iceland (UI) campus. When we’ve taken a seat, we ask Jón Atli to tell us a bit about what’s in the works this year.
“I think it’s going to be a good year, and I think the university is doing really well, wherever I look. For instance, it’s wonderful to see growth in the School of Education, which both the university and the Icelandic government have worked to bring about.” Jón Atli believes morale on campus is high, both among students and employees. “We place a lot of importance on welcoming incoming students, because the transition from secondary school to university is a big one. We’re constantly striving for improvement, guided by the plan that we usually refer to as HÍ21.”
HÍ21 is the university’s strategic policy for 2016 to 2021. “Our strategic policy addresses a lot of progressive issues. One of our focuses this year and something we’re already working to implement is for instance strengthening our master’s programs. We’re also emphasizing innovation among instructors and students alike. Anything that encourages innovation, like the Golden Egg competition, is something we want to bolster even more. We want the university to make a difference in society. Another goal is to boost our funding. We’ve had great success in that area over the past few years and we hope that trend will continue.”
Climate action at UI
The day of our interview, a climate strike is being held at Austurvöllur Square, so it’s only fitting that we speak with Jón Atli about UI’s climate policy. Kristín Nanna asks about the university’s policy and whether further action will be taken this year.
“First of all, I’d like to applaud the Student Council for their leadership in this area,” says Jón Atli, “both with regard to the climate strikes and various other things that the Council has done wonderfully.” He turns to discussing steps the university has taken. “In recent years, UI has been a leader in this area in many ways. We have an active environmental and sustainability policy which is currently being reexamined, and we’re focused on adopting the United Nations’ global sustainable development goals to the best of our ability. For example, we’ve made an effort to eliminate plastic bottles whenever possible and are looking into limiting our travel. We’ve also supported students’ initiative to apply for Eco-School certification,” says Jón Atli. In fact, the university hopes to complete the certification process next spring, therefore earning the right to fly the so-called Green Flag, a symbol of environmental excellence.
One of the things the school has been working on recently is the parking situation on campus. “We’ve appointed a special committee to address the parking lot issue,” says Jón Atli. The committee will submit its suggestions by the end of the year. Employees have the option of using electric cars and electric bikes owned by the university to reduce their use of private vehicles. It should also be noted that there are now Donkey Republic rental bikes available outside the University Centre, and anyone can use them.
Jón Atli also mentions that the school is working to measure its carbon footprint and limit food waste. “So there’s a lot going on.”
Mental health issues at UI
The conversation turns to another issue highly relevant to young people. Kristín Nanna asks about the state of mental health services at UI, where the school is in the process of hiring several new psychologists, what is already being done to support students’ mental health, and whether we can expect anything new this school year.
“Recent statistics, for instance from EUROSTUDENT, indicate that we need to be vigilant when it comes to mental health issues. We’ve taken a number of steps in recent years, but we need to do even better. For instance, we’ve offered psychological counselling services through the Department of Psychology, and that’s gone very well. We’ve had a psychologist working at the Counselling and Career Centre, and we hired another last year.” Each of them works half-time. Jón Atli mentions that the Student Council has pointed out the need for more counsellors. “We are planning to advertise the third position” in the coming weeks, he says. The third counsellor is expected to start on January 1, 2020. “Then we’ve also offered group counselling and two CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) courses each semester, and we’ve supported the mental health education program Hugrún. We’re really pleased with the work they’ve been doing. We take mental health very seriously and want to work on doing even better.”
“The OECD goal is just one milepost along the way. What we’re aiming for now is to match the Nordic country average by 2025.” Stúdentablaðið/Stefanía Stefánsdóttir
40 billion in funding
According to the 2020 fiscal budget proposal, universities in Iceland are expecting 40 billion krónur in government funding next year. HÍ21 lays out the government’s goal to gradually increase UI’s funding until it is on par with comparable universities in the other Nordic countries. The government would also like to see UI reach the average funding levels of the OECD countries next year. Sólveig asks how likely it is that the school will reach these goals given the current budget proposal.
“The way I see it, we are essentially meeting the OECD average. According to our numbers, based on the fiscal budget proposal, our funding for 2020 is at 98% of the OECD average. We can thank the government for putting that in their policy declaration and following through. We’ve seen some significant and important increases in recent years. Since we’re at 98% of the OECD average, we could say that we’re within a reasonable margin of meeting our goals, though we’re missing a little bit of funding to get all the way there. But the most important thing is that we want to continue working with the government to get there. And the OECD goal is just one milepost along the way. What we’re aiming for now is to match the Nordic country average by 2025.” Jón Atli says the school actually should have reached that level of funding by 2020, according to goals set in 2011. “Things have moved slower than we hoped. We need a considerable amount of additional funding to reach the Nordic average by 2025, so I think we need to take a better look at it with the government and figure out how we can get there. In my opinion, we just have to push to reach that goal. The most important thing is that the University of Iceland is well funded and we’re competitive in Iceland when it comes to education. I’d like to thank the government, especially the Minister of Education and the Prime Minister, for their resolute support in this area. It makes a great difference for our society.”
Asked how achieving funding levels on par with comparable Nordic universities would affect UI and Icelandic society, Jón Atli says it would mean the school could improve facilities and infrastructure and better meet students’ needs. “There’s been a lot of talk about improving the student-teacher ratio. [If we could do that], we could better serve our students and provide better feedback. We could also strengthen our master’s programs and facilities for doctoral students. If we compare ourselves to the other Nordic countries, there’s a completely different environment in their research universities. We need to catch up.”
Language and the humanities in a new era
Increased globalization and technological advances have significantly redrawn the landscape of our universities. For instance, it is no longer possible to earn a BA in Norwegian or Swedish from the University of Iceland. As more language programs are likely to face a struggle for survival in the near future, Sólveig asks about UI’s goals for the future of language and humanities programs.
“I’ve always looked at the humanities as being at the core of a comprehensive university like the University of Iceland,” says Jón Atli. “The humanities are so important. Whenever I meet new students in the Department of Humanities, I always emphasize that the humanities will be extremely important in the future because it matters so much that people can throw themselves into an issue, analyze it, discuss it, and so on. The ability to think critically and work as a team is extremely important. So are languages. Regarding the Norwegian and Swedish programs, the issue is that we are so small. It’s difficult for us to offer every language.” Jón Atli points to Veröld, Vigdís’ House, as proof of the university’s commitment to supporting language learning. “I think that for some languages with relatively few students, the best path forward for UI is to develop programs where part is taught here and part on exchange, like we do for example with Chinese and Japanese. Languages create opportunity, and the university must recognize their importance. I have also fought to make language courses an option in as many fields of study as possible. That way, more students study other languages, and the language programs get a boost from more students coming in.”
Technological advances at UI
Finally, we ask Jón Atli what the University of Iceland will focus on in the future and how the school will cope with technological advances.
“Speaking on behalf of the University of Iceland, the most important thing is that we’re competitive – that we’re a good university that serves society well and is positioned well internationally. There’s a line we have to walk – always this dichotomy, being an international research university while also bearing certain obligations to Icelandic society. And this is a comprehensive university; we don’t just offer certain subjects, but rather all the major subjects that universities teach. That’s what matters so much. We’re going to stick to our strategy, but we have to do better when it comes to funding because the nations that perform best are the ones that understand the importance of education and science and allocate funding accordingly. That’s why we always have to invest in our universities. The key is that we’re always striving to improve, both students and instructors.”
One of the challenges facing universities today is finding ways to incorporate more technology into teaching. “We’ve taken many steps in that direction, such as giving exams in electronic format. We’re currently working to implement the Inspera system, which I believe is a very positive step for both students and instructors. We’re also adopting a new learning management platform, Canvas. The idea is to have a single dynamic system for students and instructors instead of using multiple systems like Ugla and Moodle. UI is also working to develop dynamic distance learning options in certain fields, but not necessarily across the board. When we talk about technological advances, we must always keep in mind that the university is a community. It isn’t good if we just send things out electronically and never manage to form a real community or have face-to-face conversations in the classroom. That’s where people learn. We have to make use of technology without losing the human element.”
Online course provider edX is a good example of UI’s projects in electronic media. The school was invited to participate and has already offered several classes through the platform. Jón Atli points out that joining edX is a great opportunity for the school to attract more attention. Additionally, UI can learn from the other schools participating in edX. “UI is also part of the Aurora Network, which is a group of dynamic European research universities. We’re working on an application for a grant to establish the so-called European Universities Network (EUN). If we get that grant and are able to work more with the other Aurora schools, we’ll be able to engage in more student exchange, both through electronic courses between universities and direct exchange programs. We’re also trying to grow the University of Iceland and create more dynamic relationships with other universities, as well as strengthen our agreements with schools abroad so that we can give students even more options for studying at the world’s best universities. That’s one thing that sets UI apart from other universities in Iceland – we have such a broad network of partner institutions, which shows that we are well-regarded by other institutions both here and abroad.”
We end our interview here and thank Jón Atli for speaking with us. In closing, Jón Atli says he is looking forward to the Student Council’s hundredth birthday next year and is grateful for the opportunity to continue working with students.