| Technological Educational Institute of Kavala | |
|---|---|
| Τεχνολογικό Εκπαιδευτικό Ίδρυμα Καβάλας | |
| Motto | Knowledge is the author of happiness |
| Established | 1976 |
| Type | Public |
| Endowment | €10,000,000/annum |
| President | A. Mitropoulos |
| Academic staff | 104 |
| Admin. staff | 96 |
| Students | 13,500 |
| Location | Kavala, Drama, Didymoteicho, Greece |
| Website | www.teikav.edu.gr |
The Technological Educational Institute of Kavala (Greek: ΤΕΙ Καβάλας) is a public institute providing education at university level in the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. The institute has 3 campuses; the main campus in St. Lukas, Kavala, a second campus in the nearby city of Drama and an additional campus in Didymoteicho, Evros Prefecture. The TEI of Kavala has 13,500 registered students, ranking 7th among the 16 Technological Educational Institutes in Greece in terms of students.[1]
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The TEI of Kavala was founded in 1976, and its current form is a result of many institutional reforms and changes.[2][3][4] Originally, it was established as an Educational Centre for Vocational Studies (Presidential Decree 748/76 and Law 652/70). In 1983, it was recognised as an Institute of Technology by Law 1404/83. In 2001 it was upgraded to a Higher Educational Institute by Law 2916/01 and since 2007 it is a recognised as a University-level institute (Law 3549/07). However, the term University is not widely used, because the term "Technological Educational Institute" (TEI for short) is more common throughout Greece.
In its earlier (1976–1983) forms, the TEI of Kavala consisted of six departments. These are: 1) the Department of Electrical Engineering, 2) the Department of Mechanical Engineering, 3) the Department of Petroleum Engineering, 4) the Department of Sciences, 5) the Department of Accounting, and 6) the Foreign Languages and Physical Education Centre. In 1983, the first four of these departments were allocated to the newly-formed School of Engineering Sciences and the remaining two, the School of Business and Economics. In 1985 the first campus outside of Kavala was established in the nearby city of Drama; the Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management was the first department that established there. In 1986, the Department of Business Administration, was founded and integrated into the School of Business and Economics.
During the period 1999-2007, the institute underwent an expansion with the creation of four more departments, known as the ‘New Departments’. Originally, these departments were financed by the European Union through the Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training. The departments are listed below in chronological order of their foundation: 1) the Department of Industrial Informatics (1999) and Information Management (2000) located in Kavala, the Department of Landscape Architecture (2003) located in Drama, the Department of Nursing (2007) located in Didymoteicho. Following the establishment of the Department of Landscape Architecture (2003) in Drama, a third school, the School of Agricultural Technology was established in the Institute. In 2009, the Department of Oenology (third department in Drama) was founded and integrated into Drama Branch.
TEI of Kavala’s facilities were originally accommodated in different leased buildings around Kavala. In 1992 these facilities relocated to the new main campus in St. Lukas. Developed by Michaniki S.A., the campus buildings were assembled in an amphitheatre-style structure, overlooking the gulf of Kavala. The campus area is approximately 132,000 m2 with buildings covering an area of 36,000 m2.
The Drama Campus is located in the area of Microchori, Drama. The Departments of Forestry and Oenology and administration services, the Museum of Natural History as well as the Botanical Gardens are located within the campus area of 100,000 m2 with buildings covering an area of 6,000 m2, while the Department of Landscape Architecture is located in the city of Drama, in facilities granted by the Prefecture of Drama. The Didymoteicho Campus is accommodated in the historic Primary School in the centre of Didymoteicho, located in the eastern part of the Evros Prefecture of Thrace.
The main library is in operation since 1988 and has a collection of over 32,000 volumes. It subscribes to 17 electronic sources (on-line databases, digital libraries, statistical databases, etc.) and provides access to 550 scientific journals. The study room area is 800 m2, has seating capacity for 200 people and provides access to 22 computers. In comparison with other TEIs, the library in Kavala is ranked 6th in number of books.[5] There are also libraries on the campuses at Drama and Didymoteicho.
The institute comprises three schools, and a total of thirteen departments. The following table provides an overview of this structure and also indicates the number of students entering the institute per annum (S/A).
| TEI of Kavala | ||
|---|---|---|
| S/A | ||
| 1 | Kavala | |
| SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES | ||
| Department of Petroleum Technology and Natural Gas | 305 | |
| Department of Electrical Engineering | 300 | |
| Department of Mechanical Engineering | 300 | |
| Department of Industrial Informatics | 300 | |
| Department of Sciences | - | |
| SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS | ||
| Department of Accounting | 500 | |
| Department of Business Administration | 330 | |
| Department of Information Management | 300 | |
| Department of Foreign Languages and Physical Education Centre | - | |
| 2 | DRAMA CAMPUS | |
| SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY | ||
| Department of Forestry & Natural Environment Management | 150 | |
| Department of Landscape Architecture | 150 | |
| Department of Oenology and Beverage Technology (independent) | 100 | |
| 3 | DIDYMOTEICHO CAMPUS | |
| Department of Nursing | 150 |
The institute is governed by the Senate, the Academic Council, the President and 3 Vice-Presidents. The Academic Council is composed of 9 members: the President, 3 Vice-Presidents, 3 Deans, the General Secretary, and the Student Representative. Each Vice-President individually deals with one of the following areas: Academic Affairs, Economic Affairs and European and International Affairs. Each school is governed by a Dean that answers to a School Board. The Department Heads and the student representatives participate in the School Board. Each department is governed by a General Assembly, Board, General Assembly of the Sector, and a Head and the Managers of the Sectors. Each department acts independently and has two or more sectors, to which the members of Educational Staff of the Department are allocated. Each Department Board consists of a Head, Sectors Managers and a Student representative.
Educational duties in TEI of Kavala are carried out by the members of the permanent academic staff, which are hierarchically ordered as follows: a) Professor, b) Associate Professor, c) Assistant Professor, and d) Lecturer. The members of academic staff cooperate with temporary staff such as Scientific and Laboratory Associates, Laboratory Technicians, and Administrative Staff. This “mixed” system (i.e. permanent/temporary staff) is common in Greek Institutes of Technology and derives from the French model of grandes écoles.
The following four Master Programmes are available in the TEI of Kavala: 1) M.Sc. in Finance and Financial Information Systems.[6] The programme focuses on the students’ ability to analyse, compose and assess theoretical concepts as well as practical applications in the economic sector. It is run by the Department of Business Administration in partnership with the University Of Greenwich’s (UK) Business School.[7][8] The tuition fees for 2010 are €6,500. 2) Southeast European Studies.[9] This is a two-year programme for those that have graduated from studies in law, economic, business administration or medical sciences. It is run by the Department of Accounting in partnership with the Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Law.[10][11] 3) Catalysis and its Applications. This programme is in the area of catalysis, and its applications in modern technology.[12] It is run by the Department of Petroleum Technology in partnership with the Athens University, Department of Chemistry.[13][14] The programme is currently free of charge. 4) Masters in Distance Education.[15] This programme is addressed to graduates interested in specialising in new educational technologies and methodologies for distance education.[16] It is run in collaboration with the Open University of Athabasca (Canada).[17][18] The 2010 tuition fees are €10,500.
TEI of Kavala is ranked 8th among the 16 Institutes of Technology and 25th among 50 ΑΕΙs and Colleges throughout Greece. [19] Globally, it is ranked in the first third (1/3) (3,744) of the world’s top 12,000 Universities [20] as determined according to the indexes of the Cybermetrics Lab,[21] which are based on the production and publication of scientific knowledge.;[22] the measurement has 4 indexes: a) the “size”, which is the number of pages retrieved from search engines, b) the “visibility” that is the received number of external links (inlinks), c) the “rich” files which are the volume of files of the following types: .pdf, .ps, .doc, and. ppt, and d) the “scholar” that is the number of publications and references per academic research area. The indexes are normalised and 1 stands for “excellent”. Other measurements provide equivalent results. [23][24]
The TEI of Kavala is dedicated to achieving the highest standards in research and the promotion of knowledge and is actively involved in a variety of areas, including computer science chemistry and chemical engineering, and material science. TEI of Kavala publishes two English-language scientific journals. a) the Journal of Engineering Science and Technology Review [25] is edited by Prof. D. Bantekas. The Journal’s Board includes such distinguished participants as Prof. D. Nanopoulos and Prof. E. Gazis. The journal is registered in research databases such as EBSCO,[26] DOAJ[27]) and is included in CERN’s recognised scientific journals.[28] b) the International Journal of Economics Science and Applied Research [29] is edited by Prof. Α. Κarasavvoglou from the Department of Accounting. Both journals are published in electronic and printed form and access to the journals is free.
TEI of Kavala has made significant investments in research infrastructure, including highly-valued laboratory equipment for the promotion of knowledge in specific fields. Among those, the Small Angle X-Ray Scattering and the Scanning Electron Microscope in the Centre for In-Situ Studies permits the in-situ combination of different experimental methods for the static and dynamic (in process) study of nanomaterials. Others laboratories include the Water Quality Laboratory, the Petroleum Chemistry Laboratory, the Materials’ Laboratory, the Photovoltaic Laboratory and the Microcomputers Laboratory.
In 2004, the academic staff founded the Technology Research Centre of East Macedonia and Thrace (Presidential Decree 36/ΦΕΚ 30/06-02-04). This is a legal entity of private law focused on innovation in the areas of: a) Radiation, b) Fuels, c) Marbles, d) New Products Design, e) Marketing, f) Informatics and g) Environment. The centre has overseen the development of innovative technologies, including the survivor-detection robotic vehicle R.OX.AN.E, for which the centre was awarded a prize at the ‘Athens Digital Week 2009’ exhibition.[30][31] Since 2010 the centre is organiser of the Innovation Festival.[32] The centre is also a regular participant in exhibitions in Thessaloniki and Thrace; at a recent exhibition in Thrace, the Prime Minister of Greece, George Papandreou inspected recent technological advances made at the TEI of Kavala.
KavTech has been actively involved in many transnational co-operation actions over the past ten years, such as ERASMUS, COMETT, LINGUA, PETRA, TEMPUS, EUROFORM, TEXT, EURASHE, SOCRATES and bilateral international cooperation programs (SLOVENIA, GEORGIA etc.). It has been also actively involved in international research projects, such as ALPHA, EU DG-Research Vth Framework, (MEDMONT /QLK5-2000-01031), (CONTROCAM /QLK5-2000-01684), INTERREG IIIB CADSES, (GOVERNET/3B084), INTERREG III A PHARE CBC GREECE-BULGARIA (Dra-Smo 2.1-67), INTERREG III B ARCHIMED (Acronym ManagMED A.1 113.31), GREECE-JORDAN HELLENIC AID (YDAS 44.8), INTERREG IV-C South East.
As far as concerned the amounts more than €2,5 million have been managed by our institution, corresponding to the most recent of the projects, the list quoted below as follows:
TEI of Kavala offers an active student life; students can participate in the institute’s theatre group,[33] music groups,[34] and painting and hagiography ateliers. For those into sports, there are football, basketball and volleyball teams that participate with distinction in the Universiade. There is also great interest in the martial-arts team, the aerobics team, and the traditional dances group in which the Pontian[35] and Cretan Student Associations are also active.[36] Other active cultural associations are the Cypriot and Thessalian Student Associations as well as the Graduates of the Department of Forestry. The Pontian Student Association is the oldest in the Institute (1984), and has constructed a monument in memory of the genocide of Pontian Greeks that was inaugurated by the then-President of the Republic, Konstantinos Stefanopoulos. The association has also represented the AEIs of Greece in the cultural festival of Santa Napa (1993).
Each school has an elected Student Association. Additionally, associations representing the major Greek political parties contribute to the public discussion for the organisation and structure of higher education in Greece. The Student Associations are legal entities of private law.
TEI of Kavala is a member of a number of networks to enhance internationalisation. For instance, TEI of Kavala is highly active in SOCRATES, ERASMUS MUNDUS, LΕΟΝΑRDΟ DA VINCI, Associations des Formations Européennes à la Comptabilité et l'Audit (AFECA), Euroweek-Primenetworking, European Taxation and Accounting in Practice (ETAP), International Student Olympias of Business Administration, etc.[37] Student groups from TEI of Kavala regularly participate with distinction in Euroweek.
The English Language Certificate is organised by the Foreign Languages and Physical Education Centre. The examinations programme covers writing and reading in terminology.
Many distinguished scientists and personalities have delivered lectures in TEI of Kavala. Recently, TEI of Kavala welcomed Professor Dimitris Nanopoulos to talk about the Large Hadron Collider (20-5-09). Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem presented The Jerusalem Patriarchate and the meaning of Sacred Pilgrimages (2-7-09). Painter G. Kordis presented The art of image as a visual creation (10-11-09). The Rector of Sorbonne, Eleni Glykatzi-Ahrweiler presented the topic The Pontian Greeks and their intellectual life (27-1-10), and the journalist S. Fyntanidis talked about Journalism and personality protection (20-3-10). TEI of Kavala also organises a variety of events, including international conferences.
The TEI of Kavala’s official seal is the ‘Tripod of Philippi’ with lion’s feet and three handles, two of which are side-handles decorated with strands by three beams. Above the tripod there is a laurel branch, and on the right side there is a long-handled axe. This tripod was originally used on the tetradrachma coin, dating from the period 356-345 B.C. The other side of the coin depicts the head of the young Hercules wearing a lion’s skin.[38][39][40] When Philip II of Macedon conquered the Mount Pangaio goldmine in 358 B.C.,[41][42][43] he renamed the ancient Crenides into Philippi, and minted the race (drachma), the dolphin (half-drachma), the bow (silver stater) and the Phrygian cap (gold stater) coins, on which the tripod emblem was depicted.[44][45][46]