A conversation between the Chair of the Forest Certification Council of Latvia Māra Liopa and www.zemeunvalsts.lv editor Pauls Rēvelis with Professor Irēna Kokina, Rector of Daugavpils University
Back in the summer, we could read news in the media about three universities intending to cooperate more closely by forming a university consortium. The news was followed by a more extensive report from Jelgava, where the mayors of three cities and the rectors of three higher education institutions met to sign the document.
Exactly! Since Jelgava is relatively 'in the middle' between Daugavpils and Liepāja, we met there. During the meeting, we signed an agreement, and I consider this day historical because the mayors of all three large Latvian cities participated and were present, as they are very interested in the issue of higher education institutions! Support from local governments was, and will continue to be, essential for us. The initiators of the formation of the consortium (a union of higher education institutions) were our colleagues in the Liepāja City Council, who were very unhappy with the possibility that there might be no higher education institution in the Kurzeme region.
The event in Jelgava was also attended by the Ministers of Education and Agriculture, which testified to the interest of not only the three local governments and universities but also the sectors. In a situation where universities want to achieve a good level in global rankings, but financial support from the state has not been fulfilled for several years in a row, achieving high results is quite problematic. Furthermore, news followed one after another from the ministry that the number of higher education institutions 'should be reduced'. Of course, one can concentrate universities only in Riga, but – as I have already mentioned – the state has set a course for polycentric development, and local governments are also interested in the existence of universities in the regions. In our view, the consortium is a voluntary merger of several universities, while at the same time each retains its legal status, identity, and traditions.
What is the situation with local prospective students in Daugavpils?
After a very intensive discussion of the new version of the higher education institution typology at various meetings, both at the Ministry of Education and Science level and at the meetings of the Saeima Education, Culture and Science Committee, as well as in society in general, I believe that the fate of the future existence of Daugavpils University was seriously questioned, and the very idea that there could be no university in Daugavpils is, in my opinion, generally unacceptable. The attitude of our city's residents and their interest in maintaining the University's status should be noted. At that time, it was difficult to be on the street because literally everyone I met wanted to ask: what is happening, why this news, why could the university status suddenly be taken away? One thing is clear – for young people and their parents in our city, as well as throughout the region, it was and is important what kind of university degree can be obtained here – in the city.
This is also a political issue: liquidating a higher education institution in Daugavpils would be absolutely wrong and shortsighted.
That would be first and foremost! If we read Latvia's National Development Plan, as well as other strategically important development documents for the country, we see how much and how beautifully it is written about regional development, but in practice, the 'main' players are still being concentrated in Riga. This is both misguided and contradictory.
Our university will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year; it has long and thoroughly shaped and developed higher education traditions in the region. We have worked a lot and seriously to win the status of a university and meet the requirements defined at that time in the Law on Higher Education Institutions. An appropriate percentage of faculty members who hold a doctoral degree has been achieved, two large scientific institutes have been established which carry out internationally significant scientific research, and research work is also carried out in the faculties and relevant departments in parallel with study work, which results in scientific articles that are published in the highest-level international scientific databases. Even in the current difficult conditions of change, we continue to develop new study programmes and improve existing ones to meet the changing labour market, we are improving the university's infrastructure, international students study with us, and colleagues – teaching staff – come from abroad for experience exchange. At the same time, it must be objectively acknowledged that the number of students in some programmes has fallen; it is insufficient for the study programme to function fully as a whole. But the demographic situation in Latvia and the choice of students to study, for example, physics, mathematics, or chemistry programmes must be taken into account, which is a serious problem throughout the country, moreover, starting from the secondary school level.
If we evaluate the number of applicants for studies this year compared to the previous year, it must be concluded that it is considerably higher, even though the talk about the possible loss of university status has done a lot of harm. So, we can confidently state that we are needed by our region and are capable of providing what is necessary both in the preparation of specialists and in the creation of a research environment and innovation, and in the preservation of the Latvian cultural environment.
The situation caused by Covid-19 forced us to adapt very quickly to work in a remote study mode. Thanks must go to all lecturers, general staff, and IT specialists who adapted very quickly, and we were able to finish the academic year on time, almost all of us. Of course, it required a huge amount of extra work and extra time investment, which, in turn, shows that we are a strong and cohesive team that is capable of adapting to any changes and solving any unexpected and unforeseen situation.
The concept of a higher education (university) consortium is new to all of us in Latvia. For now, only a memorandum of intent has been signed. However, all three universities are full of determination, by pooling forces and rationally using academic capacity, to create new interdisciplinary programmes, offer unified, interesting 'C block' or elective courses, work together on attracting international students, and seek solutions for the use of common IT platforms, etc. As far as I know, the infrastructure is developed both for us, in Liepāja, and in Jelgava, and research and innovative solutions are possible in all three universities. We are currently working on aligning study programmes. We are working on the creation of joint promotion councils – by combining each university's scientific potential into one, which would be a real scientific contribution to each university and the country as a whole! Currently, cooperation agreements have been signed between Daugavpils University, Liepāja University, and Ventspils University of Applied Sciences on the creation of a joint council in literary science. I believe this is a bold and promising step when looking at the future perspective.
We are currently also working on the creation of a so-called '0' course for people who want to change their professional career but have not previously been able to study university courses in disciplines important to the country, for example, mathematics, physics, chemistry, or biology. I am convinced that for such a goal we have everything necessary both in the use of academic personnel in the relevant disciplines and in the use of infrastructure. The result could be a good 'breakthrough' for many people in building their careers. As we can see, there are many plans for joint cooperation, and the more we cooperate, the more ideas we will come up with. I am convinced of this, only we should not be rushed too much, because good and new ideas need to 'mature'.
What is the planned governance of the consortium?
The change of the governance model has been started in a rather harsh way at the ministry, but I see certain advantages in it. The councils (consisting of 11 people) that they want to introduce in each higher education institution are a certain innovation; they will operate alongside the university Senate. Since a university consortium is planned for us, I think the consortium council will 'relate' to the joint management of the three universities. What will be the benefits? I think they will choose people for the councils who will be relatively neutral, with an objective view of management and reasonable decision-making power. The people on the councils could have a 'view from the outside' to better see what is happening both in each University and in the consortium as a whole.
By January 2021, we must stabilise and legally justify the concept of a consortium and incorporate it into the Law on Higher Education Institutions.
It is pleasing that the ministries are interested in this work and want a result, just as we do.
There are also other higher education institutions... Has anyone been interested in joining the three of you?
When the signing of the consortium memorandum took place, which I mentioned at the beginning of the conversation, colleagues from other universities called me and were interested, asking what 'we have signed up for'. As far as I know, it is being discussed that the concept developed by the Ministry of Education and Science similarly provides for the merger of art, music, and culture higher education institutions, to which other rules apply, because these institutions have other tasks and they will always be evaluated with other, specific quality criteria. They also have a different designated number of students. However, this in no way means a worse or questionable quality of the higher education institution's operations. If we want even development of the state, we cannot concentrate all higher education institutions (universities) only in Riga. The widely discussed quantitative indicator that should be placed at the basis of university typology, namely 4,000 students for universities and accordingly 1,000 students for applied higher education institutions, including music, art, and culture higher education institutions, is, in my opinion, not based on any objective indicators.
Not so long ago, Daugavpils University had a number of branches; what is happening there now?
There is an interesting experience with branches. At one time, we had six branches. We very honestly fulfilled all the regulations; we maintained the infrastructure in order: library, computer labs, appropriate study classrooms, etc. We went through the accreditation procedure in all branches. The same lecturers who ensured the respective study programmes locally at Daugavpils University always worked in our University's branches. However, as time went on, the number of people interested in certain programmes in individual regions decreased sharply. For example, the Balvi branch had many students interested in psychology for several years, but as the labour market became saturated, their number decreased. The same thing happened with other programmes. The costs for the implementation of the programme in the branches became too high, and the University Senate voted to stop the study process. Furthermore, the teaching staff literally 'burned out', because the branches usually operated on Saturdays and Sundays, which was convenient for students in the regions, whereas the lecturer worked without rest after the working week at the University. Consequently, work went on for weeks, without days off...
What is Daugavpils University's cooperation with local secondary schools?
Very good! Schools offer us internship placements, and we, in turn, offer various scientific events that would be interesting to potential students. These are science festivals, Researchers' Nights, science schools and academies, scientific conferences for students of general education schools, etc.
Scholarships. Money. Tuition fees. An eternally current issue.
If the amount of the scholarship is increased, one can only be happy about it! Another question is: how many students receive scholarships? It happens that there are one or two students with scholarships in groups. But a very important circumstance should also be taken into account: it is good if a student has entered a state-funded group! Students often tend to forget that. In our region, this is important because tuition fees for many study programmes at Daugavpils University range from 1,200 to 2,400 euros (according to the programme's respective level and profile), and in our region, such a sum is often simply 'unaffordable'!
We also have several study programmes for a fee only, but the groups are full and there is no shortage of students. For example, the professional master's study programme 'Public Administration', where mainly working people study, and they can afford the tuition fee. In the times when the branches were operating, there were about 600 students in this programme. Many currently working in public administration are 'ours', because wider-profile managers are not trained anywhere else in Latvia.
Daugavpils University has established cooperation with US military universities, which send their students for one semester or longer to learn Russian. Our methodology for teaching Russian is at a very good level. I would like to add that often those students who learn Russian simultaneously apply to learn other study courses important for their professional career, for example, informatics, physics, interpersonal communication, etc. By the way, Americans are very responsible and punctual regarding studies, which could not always be said about the locals. Yes, Americans can confidently say: 'Lecturer, you have one or two minutes left for the lecture!' This means that the lecturer and the student are allotted a specific time, and it must be used fully!
The students' serious attitude forces the teaching staff to pull themselves together and always be on level: one cannot rely on old knowledge for long – one must undoubtedly and definitely know the new and current, be oriented in the latest research, and quickly implement all of this into the provision of course content.
We also have many students from Lithuania, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan. For example, young people from Tajikistan try very hard because they are aware that the finances for studies come from their family, and they are responsible both for this funding and for its efficient use!