The UOC Inaugurates the Academic Year 2010-2011

Sept. 22, 2010 - PRLog -- Accompanied by the Governing Council and members of the UOC community, the President gave a speech stressing the main pillars of university debate as internationalisation, funding and governance models. This first semester, which starts on Tuesday, has 40,749 students enrolled on one of the first- and second-cycle qualifications, degrees and university master's degree offered by the UOC. Of these, 24.1% (9,817) are students who are enrolling on a qualification at this University for the first time.

The three challenges set by the President – internationalisation, funding and governance model – require a cultural change. “We cannot look to change things by always doing the same”, said the President. She added that “if we want universities to be a powerful motor for economic development, they have to be agile and flexible. The university community needs to call for and lead change. And the solution is the web, collaboration and multidirectional exchange.”
The inaugural lecture, Between Conservatism and Messianism: Is Technology Really Changing Student Expectations in Higher Education?, was given by Dr Francesc Pedró, Senior Policy Analyst at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI). Pedró focused on whether current students’ inclination towards and interest in the internet and digital media had consequences in traditional teaching and higher learning educational practices. During the ceremony, UOC General Secretary, Llorenç Valverde, reflected on the main projects started in the last academic year, 2009-2010, as detailed in the institution’s annual report. The ceremony was closed by the Catalan government’s Commissioner for Universities and Research, Joan Majó.

Over 40,000 students
This first semester of the academic year 2010-2011 sees 40,749 students enrolled on one of the first- and second-cycle qualifications, degrees and university master’s degrees offered by the UOC. Of these, 24.1% (9,817) are students who are enrolling on a qualification at this University for the first time.
Most of the students enrolling for the first time have chosen studies adapted to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Specifically, 5,751 students started on an EHEA degree this Tuesday, and 551 on a university master’s degree.
The most popular courses are the degree in Business Sciences, with 5,145 students enrolled this semester; the EHEA degree in Psychology, with 3,280, and the degree in Law, with 2,257. With regard to the master’s degrees, the following two stand out: the master’s degree in Education and ICTs (e-learning), with 580 students, and the master’s degree in Health and Safety, with 508. Finally, 2,242 students will study one of the subjects offered as part of the University @thenaeum.

Over 50% of students are women
While in the year 2000, the number of women enrolling at the UOC for the first time represented 45.4% of the total, for the first semester of the current academic year, that percentage had gone up to 52.4%. This reinforces the upward trend seen in new enrolments of women at the UOC.
In terms of the specializations, in the case of women, the highest percentage of enrolments corresponded to the degree in Business Sciences, followed by the EHEA degree in Psychology. With regard to men, the most popular qualification was, again, Business Sciences, followed by the Foundation Degree in Systems IT.

Increasingly international
85.2% of all the students (34,726) have enrolled on one of the programs offered on the Catalan campus, whereas the remaining 14.8% (6,023) have enrolled on one of the initiatives on the Spanish campus.
With regard to the students living outside Spain, the majority are to be found in Andorra, Germany, Colombia, UK, France and Mexico. In total this year, students from 70 countries have enrolled on one of the officially recognized qualifications.

Enrollment open for postgraduate courses
It should be stressed that enrolment is still open for the UOC master’s degrees and postgraduate courses offered by the International Graduate Institute (IGI). The inauguration of the academic year for UOC master’s degrees and postgraduate courses will take place on 20 October.

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The UOC began more than 15 years ago as an e-learning institution and solely as an e-learning institution. As a result, our teaching and learning model is flexible and innovative. Located in Barcelona, Spain physically and virtually around the globe, the UOC is an online university that has been winning international awards on e-learning since 1997.