| Savonia University of Applied Sciences | |
|---|---|
| Savonia-ammattikorkeakoulu | |
| Motto | Thousands of Possibilities |
| Established | provisional 1992 (perm. 1998) |
| Type | Public ammattikorkeakoulu |
| Endowment | approx. $100 million (real estate) |
| Rector | Veli-Matti Tolppi |
| Admin. staff | 600 |
| Students | 4,500 in Kuopio, 1,000 in Varkaus and 1,000 in Iisalmi (total 6,500) |
| Undergraduates | 6,400 |
| Postgraduates | 100 (early adoption stage) |
| Location | Kuopio, Varkaus and Iisalmi, Northern Savonia, Finland |
| Campus | De-centralized in Kuopio, centralized in Varkaus and Iisalmi (all urban) |
| Nickname | Savonia |
| Website | www.savonia.fi |
Savonia University of Applied Sciences (Finnish: Savonia-ammattikorkeakoulu) is a local municipality-owned Finnish institution of higher education based in the cities of Kuopio, Iisalmi and Varkaus.
Savonia offers mainly Bachelor degree studies, though some Master degree programmes are in operation. It is the sixth largest University of Applied Sciences in Finland with about 6,500 students.[1]
The largest field of education is Engineering. Engineers graduate after a minimum of four years and 240 ECTS credits after which they are awarded with the degree of Insinööri (AMK), equivalent to a Bachelor of Engineering (BEng). The second largest field is Business, which educates its students for a minimum of three years and 210 ECTS credits. Business studies lead to the degree of Tradenomi, equivalent to Bachelor of Business Administration.
Savonia University of Applied Sciences is participating in the Bologna Process.
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During establishment of ammattikorkeakoulu -sector in Finnish Higher Education, Northern Savonia got its own institution in 1992.
The new provisional institution was combined from very old (by Finnish standards) local establishments:
Soon they were followed by Kuopio School of Public Health (Kuopion terveydenhuolto-oppilaitos, est. 1896) and the institution expanded also to Iisalmi.
In 1998 it received permanent status by the Finnish Government. 1. January 2004 Pohjois-Savo Polytechnic (Pohjois-Savon ammattikorkeakoulu) was renamed to Savonia University of Applied Sciences (Savonia-ammattikorkeakoulu).
The university offers 30 degree programs in 7 fields of study. Courses in the Culture area are taught at the Kuopio Academy of Design and the Kuopio Academy of Music and Dance. Among the Bachelor of Engineering degrees offered is the Fire Officer Training Program, which is in cooperation with the Emergency Services College.
Required previous studies + these studies are worth 300 ECTS credits.
Master's Degree programmes in the Finnish University of Applied Sciences are distinctive. To meet the applying qualifications, you are required to accumulate three years worth of work experience after your Bachelors degree. The Master's Degree programmes are very heavily oriented to the needs of the working life - you can study the whole degree in two years while working, in fact it is even encouraged. The learning assignments can be focused to address the development needs of the student's own employer. Some of the programs might be led by a network of Finnish University of Applied Sciences, like Service Business with Rovaniemi and Turku University of Applied Sciences'. Teaching language is Finnish, but some programmes in English program are available. All of the programs are not available every year.
While most of the instruction is in Finnish, there are four programs leading to Bachelors degrees and one leading to Master's degree which are taught in English:
Approximately 6,500 students study at the university, 250 of whom are international students. Some 130 students studied abroad in 2004. Savonia has a staff of 600.
Each member municipality has votes in the municipality consortium council depending on the three-year average number of its inhabitants studying at Savonia.[3] Currently Kuopio has slightly over half of the votes.
The consortium council term is three years (current 2005-2008).[4] The council has 17 members, of which seven are from Kuopio, five from Varkaus, three from Iisalmi, one from Kiuruvesi and one from Lapinlahti. Municipality votes are shared between members who are attending the council meeting - e.g., if five members from Kuopio are available, they each have higher amount of votes than they would in case of full attendance.[3]
The consortium council selects a consortium board (2005-2008), which has nine members.[5] They are not listed according to their municipality. The board is more active than the council, but still consists of politicians, not professional managers. This dual structure has been recently seen as a somewhat useless allocation of resources and could be removed in ongoing organisational restructuring. Change to a limited company has been under discussion.
The rector serves in a dual role, as he is also director of the owner consortium of municipalities.
On 24 November 2005, backed by the Ministry of Education, Savonia and the University of Kuopio signed an agreement to begin a joint project named Northern Savonia Higher Education Consortium (Pohjois-Savon korkeakoulukonsortio). The first goal is to examine the potential of formalising and expanding current forms of co-operation into a consortium. The decision in June 2007 to move Savonia's operations in Kuopio to the University of Kuopio campus in Savilahti is a cornerstone for future co-operation.[8]
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