Den tredje rollen: Fra distriktshøgskole til universitet

This chapter discusses the evolution of third-mission collaboration by tracking the historical unfolding of third-mission engagement in the Norwegian higher education sector and against the backdrop of changes in the institutional profiles and legal statuses of domestic providers. We categorise developments into four distinct phases and develop a novel typology on the evolution of third-mission roles and the tensions that emerge from this, to be empirically tested and applied in other geographical contexts. The research problem being addressed is: What characterises third-mission engagement in the transition from regional college to a full-fledged university? The findings are of relevance to managers and policy makers, in addition to social science researchers interested in the topic.

Et paradigmeskifte sett nordfra

In this chapter, the integration of the Norwegian higher education field is analyzed in regard to the implementation of two reforms in Nordland County: the college reform in 1994 and the structural reform in 2015. The first resulted in two autonomous higher education institutions: Nesna College and Bodø University College. The last was a result of geographical considerations in connection with the location and autonomy of higher education institutions, here called ‘the geographical paradigm’ being replaced with quantitative measures of quality in a new academic paradigm. The structural reform led to the amalgamation of the two and, including Sør-Trøndelag University College, the formation of North University in 2016. One key question is how this paradigm shift occurred and in what way it affected the higher education institutions in Bodø and Nesna.

Næringslivets samhandling med universiteter og høgskoler i og utenfor regionen: Funn fra en undersøkelse av norske bedrifter

The chapter examines collaboration with universities from the perspective of firms, drawing on survey data from 1200 Norwegian firms. Around one in five firms collaborate with a university. The firms provide various motives for collaborating, including access to knowledge, access to students and staff, and improving their reputation. The collaborations span a wide variety of different mechanisms, including research, teaching and other activities. Frequently used indicators of university-industry interaction, such as joint research projects and contract research, account for less than half of all collaborations, while informal consultations and training or educational programmes emerge as important areas of collaboration. In two-thirds of the cases, the local university is the most important partner for university-industry interaction, while the national technical university NTNU accounts for more than half of the most important inter-regional connections. In total, 93 percent of firms involved in university-industry interaction have connections to their local universities. However, half of them also interact with universities in other regions of Norway, and 30 percent with foreign universities. Hence, local universities can act as bridges that also enable firms to reach distant research groups.

Reformer i UH-sektoren. Det muliges kunst

Public sector reform tends to harbour competing ambitions, problems and solutions. Reforms in higher education policy are no exception. They are often multi-faceted phenomena, partly because higher education institutions are complex organizations with wide-ranging expectations and demands from a variety of stakeholders. This chapter argues that higher education institutions cannot ‘organize away’ competing objectives, but rather aim to create organizational designs which help complex institutions to live with complex reforms. The chapter examines the ‘Structural Reform’ in Norwegian higher education and how higher education institutions responded. Launched in April 2015, it resulted in a large-scale organizational redesign of the higher education landscape through merger processes between university colleges as well as between universities and university colleges. As with other reforms in higher education, the Structural Reform focused on several desirable but competing objectives such as high-quality education and research, regional development and world leading academic environments.

Instrument eller institusjon? Skiftende politiske prioriteringer

In Norway, as in all other industrialised countries, a strong expansion in higher education started in late 1950s. This was politically initiated with the aim of a better educated work-force and also broadening access to higher education socially and regionally as well as by gender. In the late 1960s a major reform was initiated in Norway to establish alternatives to universities to handle the expected growth. A new non-university, geographically spread sector was created with the clear aim of stimulating development in all corners of the country. The present chapter analyses the shifting policies for the regional roles of higher education institutions as stated in central policy documents. During the last 50 years higher education policy has been drawn between their regional roles and institutional concentration. Many colleges have been merged into a few large multi-campus institutions, leaving the impression that the aims of world-class quality and excellence have replaced the regional role. However, most of the campuses that existed before 1990 still exist within new institutional settings. The original rationale behind a geographically spread institutional structure is less visible in today’s policy, but at the same time the regional role of higher education has become broader and perhaps even more important. Back in the 1960s the objectives were mainly enrolling local students, educating the local workforce and the direct effects of the institution. This is still the case, but gradually R&D activities and innovation have become important contributions of higher education institutions.

Regionale universiteter og utdanningspolitiske paradokser

The chapter seeks to shed light on university reforms in Norway since 1980 and asks how well-designed the reforms are regarding their capacity to strengthen the impact of universities in the regions where they are located. The chapter starts by asking how well-suited universities are to meet the expectations they face in the regions where they are located. It argues that the institutions in many ways have organizational characteristics – as academic and bureaucratic organizations – that are not well-suited to fulfilling varied and dynamic local needs. Subsequently the chapter analyzes the reforms and changes characterizing higher education – in terms of growth, internationalization and standardization – that may contribute to understanding the current situation. Finally, it takes a closer look at ongoing reforms and transformational processes and their indications of possible trends in the coming years. Here, changing expectations and tensions arising from multiple goals are emphasized in order to understand the obstacles faced by government attempts to enhance labor market relevance by means of structural reforms with institutional mergers as a main ingredient.

Forskningens regionale betydning

This chapter addresses the regional impact of research. The chapter presents, and partly develops, a framework for analysing how research in a region impacts the knowledge forms in the region. In order to do so, the chapter both presents a systemic approach to the impact of research-based knowledge, defines itself within a sociology of knowledge tradition and also, based on that, uses a model of a regional knowledge system as a framework for analysing the impact of different kinds of regionally related research. This model divides the regional knowledge system into areas characterised by either institutions, norms, attitudes or rules. The chapter used this model of the regional knowledge system to map 55 different research projects that have been conducted in the Agder region of Norway over the last 15 years. The 55 projects represent a wide range of topics and disciplines. Based on this mapping, the chapter argues that a) the research projects have a clear strategy for the particular knowledge area in the region they are targeting and uses relevant methodologies for this purpose, b) research-based knowledge is supportive, helpful and critical in relation to existing regional knowledge, and c) research-based knowledge addresses a large spectrum of knowledge forms in the region. The chapter does not discuss the impact of this knowledge with respect to social change. Furthermore, a limitation of the study, as well as a suggestion for further research, is that it does not analyse how social change might be a result of parallel changes within several knowledge forms in the region.

En diskusjon om universitetets tredje rolle

In the last decades, the discourse about universities and their engagement with actors in their host regions has increased. Concepts such as the third mission and the entrepreneurial university aim to describe the engagement between the university and regional actors as a change in the role of the university. In theory, this is described as a transformation of the university. In practice, this is organised as an add-on of a range of different knowledge-transfer and market-oriented activities, which do not interfere with the core activities of teaching and research. These normative concepts have a significant influence on how universities are developing their regional engagement. In a case study from a university in Norway, University of Agder, the study shows a university that gradually is transforming from an ivory tower model towards more regional engagement. However, the transformation is taking time. At present, the university has a dual strategy for its regional engagement. One part is organised as an add-on activity, while the other is organised within the academic core of teaching. In the latter, students are co-creating knowledge together with regional actors. The study demonstrates that it is possible to organise regional engagement as co-creation of knowledge also within the academic core.

Universitet og region – en sammensatt relasjon

Over the past 50 years, there has been a large-scale expansion and decentralization of higher education in Norway. Today, there are universities throughout the country, and the institutions are expected to serve as drivers for regional development. This chapter explores the many-faceted and symbiotic relationship between university and region. The chapter is based on a comprehensive literature review and the author’s own empirical research. First, it examines the advantages and disadvantages that a region may have from a university. Next, the lens is turned and the question is: What difference can the region make to the university? Six major transformations outside and within the universities currently changing the ways in which universities and regions interact are then discussed. As a result of these changes, universities are facing increasingly complex demands and expectations, and the final part of the paper elucidates some of the dilemmas that this creates for the governance of the institutions.

Reorganisering av UH-sektoren – nasjonsbygging med regionsmak

In this chapter, the institutional development of higher education and research in Norway is analysed as a process that has been intimately intertwined with the strong geographical dimension of the country’s nation-building process. This aspect of the sector’s development has been important under different phases of its political history. To be legitimate, national political decisions have always had to consider and mediate between conflicting regional interests. Following Mark Bevir’s (2011) distinction between different stages of nation building, I especially point at how decision makers under the present phase of a neoliberal and networking state seem to act as if the geographical rationales underpinning the national project can be ignored. The sector in question offers an illustrative case, as higher educational institutions bear a stronger affinity to their regional embeddedness than often acknowledged.