University of Helsinki could face record cuts in personnel
Reduction in beginning students possible
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The University of Helsinki begins its autumn term on Friday in an atmosphere of confusion, as it faces the prospect sharp reductions in personnel.
If the Finnish government implements its plans to cut state jobs, the first to suffer at the University of Helsinki will be its teaching. It is feared that the plans could even lead to a reduction in the number of students that the university can accept.
Demands for greater efficiency mean that smaller institutes will have to be merged into larger units. The university administration and its support services, such as libraries and laboratories, face sharp spending cuts in any case.
The need for belt-tightening stems from government moves to improve efficiency in different areas of administration. The government decided in the spring that between 2007 and 2011 only half of state jobs made vacant through retirement, or for other reasons, would be filled.
At the University of Helsinki this means reducing up to 1,100 of the university’s 7,500 employees. About 1,800 of these work in administration and support services.
The University of Helsinki has given the Ministry of Education its own report on increasing efficiency and reducing personnel.
Jukka Paakki of the university’s Department of Computer Science predicts that the moves will mean a reduction of teaching, and an increased focus on research.
"This would mean that we would not be able to take nearly as many students as we do now. At the same time, class sizes would grow."
He also warned that if there are deep cuts in administration, teachers will have to deal with more administrative duties, at the expense of giving instruction.
Matti Pursula, Rector at the Helsinki University of Technology, agrees that teaching could suffer as a result of the government's decisions.
He predicts that the state could make even more radical decisions, which could force a reassessment of the allocation of work at the universities.
"Small, exotic fields are in trouble, and there are plenty of them in the humanities. They are easy to call into question for economic reasons, even though it would not be a good idea otherwise", Pursula says.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 8.9.2005 - TODAY |
 University of Helsinki could face record cuts in personnel
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