UOC rector sets out strategic priorities for her term in office

The UOC's role in society, our uniqueness, the evolution of our educational model, alliances, funding, our legal status, governance, etc. These are some of the strategic priorities that UOC rector, Àngels Fitó, and her executive team shared with the over 1,000 staff who came together at Barcelona's Teatre Coliseum on Monday 9 October. Over the course of two hours, Rector Fitó, vice rectors Teresa Guasch, María Jesús Martínez-Argüelles, Xavier Vilajosana and Manel Jiménez-Morales, and general manager, Antoni Cahner, set out the strategic priorities for the first few years in office.

Rector Fitó explained that the UOC has to lead the way in lifelong learning that is inclusive, high-quality and transformative for people, organizations and the world. It must lead the way because, with a public mandate, it generates, recognizes and exchanges complex and significant knowledge, because it incorporates new technological opportunities and because it maintains constant dialogue and cooperation with all the other stakeholders.

Fitó set out the objectives she will pursue in her term of office:

• • Ensuring the university's strategy aligns with its social function, constantly updating our strategy and actions with forecasting, exerting the necessary influence to maximize our impact in Catalonia, Spain and the world, promoting internal communication – "we need direct, fluid communication" – and raising the university's external profile.
• • Updating the UOC's legal status and funding model within the framework of the university system. "Our legal status needs to be clarified once and for all. It must protect our public role, while also protecting our management model." She added: "It's a priority that a funding model that recognizes and consolidates the social contribution of the university be agreed." She explained that a working group had been set up with the Government of Catalonia ministries to update both the university's legal status and funding model.
• • Adapting the governance model and the governing, participation and coordination bodies. She explained that this requires the updating of the Statutes, the Organizational and Operational Regulations and the University Council. In addition, the aim is to reinforce the commitment and participation of the Advisory Board (which is due to be renewed at the end of the year), the Alumni Council and the Student Council through an action plan.
  
  Internal coordination and participation mechanisms will also be reviewed. "We need to review the way things mesh to combine leadership and action with coherent governance," Fitó said.

Student support

The vice rector for Teaching and Learning, Teresa Guasch, explained that progress must be made towards the implementation of an inclusive, effective and sustainable student support system and that formative, competency-based and rigorous digital assessment must be consolidated.

She added that artificial intelligence (AI) must be explored and applied to the educational model. Guasch encouraged those present to "participate in and influence the debate on the role of technology in education" and stressed that it was necessary to "integrate AI in the educational model in a unique way".

Finally, she explained that research related to our educational model, including experimentation and the use of learning analytics, was also a priority during this term in office, both to transfer the results of the model and to make our current educational programmes more competitive.

Raising the profile of the excellence of the UOC's research

"The UOC's performance in research is up there with the leading centres," explained Xavier Vilajosana, the vice rector for Research, Knowledge Transfer and Entrepreneurship.

Vilajosana told those present about the priorities proposed by his office. They are, firstly, to consolidate research at the UOC by providing it with the necessary resources and structures. The UOC is committed to making the best use of internal resources for research and improving the context in which research activity is carried out. He also stressed that we must take advantage of the funding opportunities generated by the Catalan Science Law.

He then explained that the second area that must be worked on is impact: "We need to think about tangible, valuable and social impact. Knowledge transfer is also needed." The intention is thus to structure, promote and frame knowledge transfer through the creation of a knowledge transfer map and by defining a competitive knowledge transfer policy.

Finally, he emphasized the importance of raising the UOC's profile as a university of excellence in research and knowledge transfer. "We need to be visible, for teaching and research staff to be at the centre of the UOC's vision," he said. He also advocated building a solid research discourse aligned with the great global challenges "and with the funding opportunities offered by Europe". Promoting the research hub should also contribute to raising the university's profile and help it to transfer knowledge to its immediate surroundings.

Culture takes on increasingly important role

The vice rector for Alliances, Community and Culture, Manel Jiménez-Morales, told the audience about the main lines of action pursued by his office. One priority is to extend the ecosystem of alliances in various ways, including a strategy and map of alliances, a territorial engagement plan ("the territory is our scope," he said) and the possibility of running educational programmes in alliance with others, dual programmes and micro-credentials.

He also indicated that a second priority for the next two years will be the forging of links with the community. "Internal and external should blend into one," he said. This will be achieved by designing a community participation programme that reinforces the university's commitment to its graduates, and by updating and integrating plans that guarantee equity, diversity and well-being.

Finally, in the deployment of the university's fourth mission, he emphasized the importance of building on its commitment to culture. Thus, the Cultural Action Programme will be launched, the design and implementation of the Language Plan will be promoted, and the editorial policy will be updated and implemented.

Towards a new model for teaching staff

"We need to adjust the teaching staff model to the new educational model and the new legal context that is emerging from the Spanish Law on Universities (LOSU)," said María Jesús Martínez-Argüelles, the vice rector for Governance and Academic Policy. The aim is to redefine the roles and functions of the academic team and ensure a legally and economically sustainable model.

She put forward an aspirational model for teaching and research staff: "Teaching staff coordinating a small number of courses, for which they are fully responsible, both in terms of the activities to be carried out by students and the tutoring of the first group-classroom, with sufficient time to focus on the university's other missions, including academic management."

She explained that the university also aimed to consolidate a working framework that strengthens academic activity. This will involve automating processes and improving the organization of work as well as reviewing the governance model for faculties and centres.

Finally, she outlined the third strategic priority: to update academic policy. This process must be well-anchored in the new collective agreement and give equitable consideration to the academic careers of different professional profiles, including research staff.

Retaining talent in a flexible, digital organization

The general manager, Antoni Cahner, defined three main lines of action for the next two years:

• • Strengthening our ability to attract, retain and develop talent

One priority is the roll-out of new training and career development plans, another is laying the foundations for a new collective agreement. He also emphasized the need to update the open work model, to facilitate reconnection and face-to-face interaction, adapting it to the new circumstances.

• • Transforming the organization to make it agile and flexible, and ensuring its financial sustainability

He plans to promote initiatives for organizational transformation that prioritize the external and internal user experience. The global process map also needs to be updated and extended to increase efficiency and expand the revenue diversification strategy to make the organization more sustainable by developing a new portfolio, not only for teaching but also for research and knowledge transfer.

• • Promoting the plan for digitalization and updating technology

This involves three aspects: technological transformation projects; increased cybersecurity given the risks faced, including reputational risk; and strengthened data governance to enhance decision-making.