2012 – 2022

Rudolf Kropil – Jaroslav Šálka

The years 2012 – 2022 can be characterised by two long-term schemes of the Technical University in Zvolen (hereafter TUZVO). According to the Long-term Scheme of the Technical University in Zvolen for years 2011 – 2016, the strategic intention of the TUZVO for this period were internationalisation of the education process, research activities and knowledge application, as well as further development of the TUZVO status. Another aim was to emphasise the position of the TUZVO within the European education and research space, participating in building the European knowledge society in terms of the University profile and reinforcing its unique nature in the system of universities in the Slovak Republic. The Long-term Scheme of the TUZVO for the years 2017 – 2023 set a vision to become an internationally recognized, research-oriented university by 2030, which will be among the Slovak leaders in its research focus. In 2030, the Technical University in Zvolen wants to provide modern education, systematic transmission of knowledge and common cultural and democratic values in the intergenerational process, but also spread the ideas of humanism, tolerance, cooperation and responsibility for life. In its vision, the TUZVO claims to fulfil the concept of a “green university“ providing the most modern scientific knowledge regarding the consistent observance of the principles of sustainable living.

The Rector of TUZVO during this period was Dr. h. c. Prof. Ing. Rudolf Kropil, PhD., Vicerector for Education was RNDr. Andrej Jankech, PhD., Vice-rector for Scientific Research was Prof. Dr. Ing. Jaroslav Šálka, Vice-rectors for Development were Prof. RNDr. Danica Kačíková, PhD., and Assoc. Prof. Ing. Josef Drábek, CSc., the Vice-rectors for Foreign Relations were Assoc. Prof. Ing. Mgr. Rastislav Šulek, PhD., and Prof. Ing. Branislav Olah, PhD. The Bursars of the university were Assoc. Prof. Ing. Josef Drábek, CSc., and Ing. Stanislav Jalakša.

The period of 2013 – 2017 in the university environment was characterised mainly by the process of complex accreditation of public universities.

A number of legislative changes significantly affected pedagogical, scientific, research and economic activities, especially the charging and subsequently the extension of the standard length of study in the part-time form. Central registers of study programmes and university employees were introduced, electronic method was used to submit applications for accreditation or submit documents within the framework of complex accreditation, which relieved the administrative burden and made standard activities at universities more efficient. Studying at universities was governed by the Act on Higher Education No. 131/2002 Coll. and its other amendments adopted in the following years. In terms of financing, the operation of higher education institutions adapted to the changes from budget financing to subsidized financing, which significantly reflected performance parameters, covering the recalculated numbers of students, the evaluation of the university research areas within the complex accreditation, the volumes of funds obtained from domestic and foreign grants, qualitatively structured outputs in publishing and art activity, etc. In the area of higher education, the Slovak Republic intended to build an effective system enabling access to quality higher education for all citizens, who show interest in it, and demonstrate the necessary abilities or skills. Education is a process not only of constant monitoring and verification of procedures and activities established over the years, but also of finding new innovative activities or adapting to current modern trends reflecting the needs of practice and society. The intention is to bring higher efficiency of education, higher success of graduates in applying to the labour market at a time when competition is constantly increasing. This resulted in a situation when several universities focused on obtaining the highest possible number of students by creating new study programmes, which were the most popular in Slovakia. It mainly concerned study programmes in the field of economy, law, social field, and mass media communication. This started the battle among universities to attract students, and students’ interest in technologyoriented study programmes had a downward trend.

In 2018, the Slovak Accreditation Agency for Higher Education was established as a public institution with the task to carry out external quality assurance activities for higher education in the Slovak Republic. It was established by Act No. 269/2018 Coll. as a legal entity based in Bratislava. The mission of the agency is to contribute to the improvement of the quality of higher education in the Slovak Republic with external quality assurance tools according to the principles of ESG 2015, and in accordance with the expectations of the parties involved in education. The agency provides higher education institutions with a professional and independent view on the quality of education, and strengthens the culture of quality. The agency decides mainly on matters related to the granting of authorizations to higher education institutions based on their requests, and also performs other related tasks. In connection with the new accreditation system, 2021 meant a beginning of the approval of new documents and guidelines regarding the internal system of quality assurance of higher education at the TUZVO. The entire process of creation and subsequent approval of materials was long and difficult.

In 2022, the TUZVO will be accredited according to new standards. The new complex system of accreditation of study programmes and the requirements for the quality of education, which we are currently working on at the University, are based on European quality standards. They are expected not only by study applicants, but also by young educators and scientists, who decide to stay or go abroad. The year 2022 is crucial for the development of the TUZVO due to the approval of certain parts of the groundbreaking amendment to the Act on Higher Education Institutions. Act amending Act No. 131/2002 Coll. on Higher Education Institutions and on the amendment of certain laws as amended and amending certain laws 137/2022 is effective from 25th April 2022. The aim of the amendment is a systemic change in the management of public universities with the aim of modernization in order to make the decision-making processes more flexible at the level of universities and faculties. In particular, the method of appointing the Rector, the composition of the board of directors of the higher education institution, the establishment of faculty bodies, the scope of the academic senate of the higher education institution and the board of directors of the public higher education institution will be changed by strengthening the position of the board of directors. In 2022, the TUZVO is also waiting for the process of harmonizing legislative documents and administrative, financial and management processes.

The year 2022 is significant for TUZVO due to the approval of Directive no. 36/2022 on periodic evaluation of research, development, art and other creative activities. The Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sports of the Slovak Republic according to Art. 12 par. 2 letters f) the second point of the Organizational Rules of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic in accordance with § 26a and Act no. 172/2005 Coll. on the organization of state support for research and development and on the amendment of Act no. 575/2001 Coll. on the organization of government activities and the organization of the central state administration, as amended, issued a directive that will have a major impact on financing of scientific research activities and the entire university in the future.

Between 2020 and 2022, our alma mater was also affected by the epidemic caused by the Covid-19 disease, which affected all universities equally. Although it brought limitations in teaching, research and other creative activities, it showed that alternative or hybrid forms of education are also possible in our environment. In the coming period, we will have to pay more attention to these forms of education in order to ensure the quality of study programmes and to ensure that students are satisfied with the education provided.

The war in Ukraine in 2022 shocked the world public. The Technical University has joined the peace challenge and rejects the violence and brute force as means of conflict resolution. At the same time, the University emphasized the need to support critical thinking in Slovak society and the role of universities, their employees and students to oppose the spread of political propaganda, misinformation and alternative facts, as well as extremism. The war in Ukraine will very likely have a major impact on the social, economic and environmental aspects of the life of the entire European Union, Slovakia, and universities.

Education

On 2nd June 2014, the TUZVO submitted an application for complex accreditation of the university’s activities in connection with its long-term scheme. During more than 12 months from the submission of the application, the accreditation committee was assessing and evaluating the educational, research, development, art and other creative activities of the university, as well as the personnel, technical, information and other conditions in which these activities take place. Activities were evaluated for the period from 2008 to 2013. During the academic year 2015/2016, on 12th November 2015, the results of the complex accreditation were delivered to the Technical University in Zvolen, and due to several changes in the study organisation, it was necessary to make the transition to newly accredited study programmes in full-time form of study.

At the same time, the Accreditation Committee commented on the requests for accreditation of study programmes and for the accreditation of all habilitation procedures and procedures for appointing the professors in which the University wants to be granted rights. The Technical University in Zvolen applied for accreditation in 100 study programmes in all three degrees, and in 99 cases the applications were successful. Additional requests for accreditation of new study programmes, or reaccreditations of existing ones were continuously implemented in the following academic years. The current number of accredited study programs at the TUZVO was 129.

During the evaluated period, the number of students at the TU in Zvolen decreased from 4,483 students in the academic year 2012/2013 to 3,481 students in the academic year 2015/2016. In the current academic year 2020/2021, a total of 2,037 students studied at the TU in Zvolen. On average, more than 100 foreign students chose the Technical University as an educational institution each year, which was approximately 3% of the total number of students. Most of them studied at the Faculty of Wood Sciences and Technology, where the study programme was conducted in the first degree at the external education facility in Volyně, Czech Republic. Part of the educational process is also study at the third degree of study. In the academic year 2012/2013, a total of 213 students studied in doctoral studies in both forms of study. In the academic year 2015/2016, 113 students studied at the third level of study, and in the academic year 2021/2022, 99 doctoral students studied at TU in Zvolen.

The TUZVO also provides university study programmes in the field of economics and management of natural resources, which are guaranteed and provided by the specialist workplaces of several faculties of the University.

Dr. h. c. Prof. Ing. Rudolf Kropil, PhD. was appointed the Rector of the Technical University in Zvolen, effective 18th February 2012 for the first four-year term; effective 18th February 2016 for the second four-year term and effective 18th February 2020 for the third fouryear term.

These are modern study programmes that integrate several scientific fields in order to enable the preparation of university-educated experts for the current conditions of todays and future development of the economy and society as a whole. A total of 382 students in 20 fields of study studied at the University of the Third Age in the academic year 2015/2016. 140 graduates successfully completed their studies in the given academic year. In order to increase the employment of its own graduates, the Technical University in Zvolen in cooperation with the Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica organised additional teacher training course. The period from 2012 to 2022 was characterised by a reduction in the number of teaching staff, from 273 in 2012 to 231 in 2022 (234 in 2019, 263 in 2016, 260 in 2014). Nevertheless, the qualification structure was improving in favour of academic staff with a higher scientific-pedagogical or scientific degree. The reduction in the number of students at the University, as well as the trend towards the efficiency of work performance, have certainly a great impact on the decrease in the number of teaching staff. The development of the coefficient of the qualification structure at TUZVO since 2012 has reflected mainly the increase in the qualification of assistant professors without a scientific rank to assistant professors with a scientific rank, and in the last period the increase has been affected most significantly by the increase in the number of associate professors and professors. In the field of personnel, the last decade was also characterised by an increased level of financing of scientific and research employees from projects.

Science and Research

The main directions of research at the Technical University in Zvolen, which wants to profile itself as a green university, were focused on forests, wood, ecology and the environment and were implemented through the scientific research activities of the faculties.

However, the condition of research and development in Slovakia is also characterised by several persistent problems. Undoubtedly, the biggest problem of Slovak research remains its long-term underfunding. In practice, this is also reflected in the insufficient budget of the Slovak Research and Development Agency, which, as the main grant agency, has only limited options when it comes to announcing new calls. Moreover, contrary to the European trend, support for basic research and funding of research from public sources still prevails in Slovakia, which should, however, be changed in accordance with RIS3 SK. In the past, the TUZVO was evaluated by various ranking and rating agencies, achieving very good positions.

The creative workers of the TUZVO were involved in cooperation with foreign partners. A clear fact of this is the success of the Faculty of Forestry, the Faculty of Wood Sciences and Technology and the Faculty of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, which managed to obtain foreign grants from the Framework Programs and Horizon 2020 funded by the European Commission. In addition, TUZVO staff worked in international scientific networks also through COST actions, bilateral projects supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency, the European Forestry Institute (EFI).

National scientific research projects at the Technical University in Zvolen were financed by domestic agencies: the Slovak Research and Development Agency (APVV), the Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic (VEGA), the Cultural and Educational Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic (KEGA) and the Agency of the Ministry of Education for Structural Funds EU (ASFEU), later by the Research Agency (VA).

The measurable result of the projects within scientific and research activity is a high-quality publication. Publication activity at the TUZVO was divided into five groups: A1, A2, B, C and D, in accordance with the data recorded in the central register of publication activity. Group A1 represents book publications having the nature of a scientific monograph, group A2 represents the authorship of other book publications, such as university textbooks, professional book works, course books, etc. Group B includes publications in indexed scientific journals, copyright certificates, patents and discoveries. Group C includes publications in the journals Web of Science and SCOPUS. Group D is represented by other peerreviewed publications, as well as chapters in professional books and textbooks, scientific papers in magazines, peer-reviewed proceedings.

The Technical University in Zvolen meets the temporary criteria for the authorization to use the label “research university“. The numerically expressed profile of the quality of research activity and the number of research areas in which the creative activity of the higher education institution was evaluated within the framework of its complex accreditation of activities are the decisive criteria for granting the authorisation to use the label “research university“.

The structure of publishing activity changed in the period from 2012 to 2022 towards more significant publishing, primarily in category B, and thus the overall structure of publishing activity changed to the disadvantage of other, less significant categories. In addition, in category B, the structure changed to a more significant publication of works, especially in quartile Q1 or Q2.

The goals of the Technical University in Zvolen in the last decade were to actively support and motivate employees to transfer acquired scientific knowledge into practice. The creative employees of the university were most often oriented towards informal contacts and research cooperation. The overall trend in this area at all faculties captures the university’s strong position in less demanding forms of transfer of knowledge into practice (information activities, educational activities), and in the case of more demanding forms, the engagement of employees is not that strong (commercialisation of industrial property rights, expert and consulting analysis or founding of new businesses). To strengthen the transfer of knowledge into practice, a system of internal guidelines was created between 2012 and 2022 and a technology transfer department was established.

International Relations

The international aspect of the activity of every university within the European educational and research area is becoming more and more important. Focusing not only on domestic students, but also on students paying the tuition from countries in Asia, America or Africa, and the obvious exchange of students and creative workers within the EU requires careful attention to teaching in foreign languages and international publicity. In the same way, the integration of research capacities into international scientific research networks is connected with active international scientific contacts and publication of the results of scientific and research projects in internationally recognised journals. In the period 2012 – 2022, the TUZVO fulfilled its mission in the field of international relations by developing international cooperation based on joint projects with foreign academic and professional institutions, as well as academic mobility. The accessibility of the university to foreigners can also be considered an important aspect of the internationalisation of the university, which is, however, conditional on adequate language competences of both students and academic staff.

During this period, the Department for Foreign Relations continued to expand contractual cooperation outside the European area, with the renewal and development of activities within the framework of academic mobility and with the intensification of cooperation with domestic and foreign strategic partners.

The long-term goal in the field of bilateral cooperation was not only a quantitative increase in concluded contracts, but also the quality of their fulfilment. In the last decade, we have noticed a growing trend in the number of sent and accepted participants of the Erasmus+ programme at the TUZVO, which is also supported by a significant increase in the amount of funds allocated from the sources of the European Commission through the Slovak Academic Association for International Cooperation.

In addition to rights, obligations also arise for the university from membership in international organisations. This is mainly about participation in annual conferences and scientific events, meetings of commissions and governing bodies of these institutions. It can be concluded that by developing international cooperation with the mentioned organizations, the TUZVO clearly fulfils its mission in the field of internationalization of its activities. The long-term attention paid to carrying out and developing the relations with the public and private spheres, as well as with the public in the purposeful building of goodwill, and the successful management of the main activities resulting from the mission of TUZVO significantly influence the perception of TUZVO as a top educational and scientific research institution among a wide public, as well as by professionals. At the same time, they also contribute to the formation of loyalty and a sense of pride for their alma mater among students and employees, as well as to the development of relations with state and local government authorities and other professional institutions.

From 23rd to 27th June 2014, the Faculty of Wood Sciences and Technology with the auspices of Prof. RNDr. Marián Babiak, PhD., organized the 57th annual conference of the world professional woodworking organization Society of Wood Science and Technology (SWST) with the topic “Sustainable Resources and Technology for Forest Products“. A total of 168 guests from countries of five continents took part in the conference. The conclusions of the conference showed the challenges that await wood science in the coming years: the need for studies in the newly developing areas of nanoscience and nanotechnologies in the creation and processing of lignocellulosic materials, the development of methodologies for optimized wood sorting according to the needs of the end customer, the development of technologies for the processing of lignocellulosic materials for energy purposes, the creation of new processes for prospective use of local sources of wood raw material, technology for recycling and reuse of wood.