“We have to make the move from a great project to a great university”

Dr Imma Tubella heralds in a new era at the head of the UOC, succeeding Gabriel Ferraté, the founding rector of this institution that has just celebrated its tenth anniversary. During these first few months, Dr Tubella, an expert in audiovisual communication and former professor at the university, has set the objectives for 2006, the basic principles of which are to make the move from a great project to a great university and to become a point of reference for academic and research quality in Catalonia, whilst looking towards Europe. Without ruling out the possible expansion of the UOC, Dr Tubella stated that she would only support growth that did not have a negative effect on quality and that did not lose sight of the character of a university rooted in Catalonia.

Dr Imma Tubella heralds in a new era at the head of the UOC, succeeding Gabriel Ferraté, the founding rector of this institution that has just celebrated its tenth anniversary. During these first few months, Dr Tubella, an expert in audiovisual communication and former professor at the university, has set the objectives for 2006, the basic principles of which are to make the move from a great project to a great university and to become a point of reference for academic and research quality in Catalonia, whilst looking towards Europe. Without ruling out the possible expansion of the UOC, Dr Tubella stated that she would only support growth that did not have a negative effect on quality and that did not lose sight of the character of a university rooted in Catalonia.

It's been a period of exactly what I said it would be: I said that I would take stock of the situation, that I would look at all aspects of the UOC's position in order to make a diagnosis and, subsequently, develop a strategic plan. In fact, I wasn't able to do things exactly this way, as, first of all, the budget had to be approved and that meant that certain objectives had to be set. This led to objectives having to be established whilst the analysis of the state of the affairs at the University was underway. The only thing that I have reserved from these objectives is the development of the strategic plan for the UOC to be implanted from this year until 2009. The most important factor is being able to define the type of university we want to create, which is a blend of what we are and what we want to be. I feel that the UOC is currently a great project, and that we also want it to be a great university. I haven't got a slogan; but if I had to summarise the most important change that the UOC has to undergo in one line, then I would say that it is to make the move from a great project to a great university, and that this move has to have an impact on Catalonia, Spain and further afield. Not necessarily. We want to keep to the founding principles, which are the principles of a great project, but we also want to add certain aspects of quality. If growth is not linked to quality, then I do not feel growth is necessary. Likewise, growth towards a type of university that is more akin to a business does not interest me in the least. I want a university, not a business. A university is linked to quality, whereas a business is simply linked to efficiency. That does not mean that we do not want to be efficient: indeed, if we're not efficient, we won't be able to offer quality either. When I presented my governing body, I said that it had been designed with five areas of concern in mind: I am concerned about good organisation of the University, and that's why I looked for a good manager, who is also a doctor; I am concerned about education at a time when the UOC has to develop the careers of the teaching staff and a time when we have to adapt to the European Higher Education Area; I am concerned about research, because the foremost area for research at the UOC is the UOC itself; I am concerned about technology, because the Campus is ten years old and many advances have been made in the last ten years, and finally, I am concerned about the wide-ranging business galaxy that surrounds the UOC. If you want a good university, research is vital. Research helps the teaching staff to improve the education offered and to create transfers between that researched and that taught. The UOC has created a university from nothing and on the basis of a great deal of research. But having focused greatly on developing study programmes, which was essential, there has been no direct mandate to carry out research. However, I feel that a turning point has now come and universities have to carry out research, because, if not, they become good academies, or what are known as teeching university. Not at all. On the contrary, I am quite happy to have companies, but I want companies that contribute value, not money, companies that establish links with the University, that offer knowledge transfer. That's why I asked the vice-rector for Strategic Development, Dr Jordi Vilaseca, on the one hand, to look after all that which affected university-company relations in general and, on the other hand, to carry out a diagnosis of the companies themselves and whether they are what we need. My opinion is that we should maintain those companies that are necessary, get rid of those we have to get rid of and create new ones if there are areas of the University that are not covered. The mandate that we have as a university is to ensure that any student who wants to study in Catalonia, but who cannot study at a traditional university, can do so at the UOC. This is the first aim that we have to cover. Beyond that, I'm quite happy with any expansion, provided it is closely linked to quality and provided the character of a university based here remains clear. And by this I mean that it is a university from Catalonia whether culturally, socially, scientifically, nationally, etc. I have been. I have started with those rectors who form part of the UOC's advisory board, ie, the rector of the University of Barcelona, Màrius Rubiralta; the rector of the Polytechnic University, Josep Ferrer; the rector of Pompeu Fabra University, Josep Joan Moreso, and the rector of the University of Lleida, Joan Viñas; but I have also arranged other meetings. I want to meet up with each and every one of them, as we have specific projects in mind. I feel that the UOC can contribute many things to the Catalan university system, and that it shouldn't be seen as a university that is to act as the competition, but as complementary, offering the chance to work together. We're working on it. One of the first things that the vice-rector for Academic Organisation, Teaching Staff and Educational Innovation, Ramon Alemany, has had to do is contract someone to take direct control of this issue and to help us see how our model can be adapted to this new framework. I said it would be one of my priorities and it is. At the start of last month, we had a first meeting to look at the statutes, where we discussed how we saw the governing of the University. I have very clear in my mind what I said about the limits of the mandate, I think it is a very healthy measure. Then the question of how rectors are chosen also needs to be looked at, a question which is much more complicated given the nature of the university we have here. In any case, I cannot modify the statutes, because the last word remains with the University's Board of Trustees. What I'm doing at the moment is prepare a proposal to be presented to the UOC's Trustees and Board, which is to serve as a draft document to catalyse a debate which I feel to be absolutely necessary.