Page 83 - TLÜ Arengukava

ANNEX3. OVERVIEWOFTHEOPERA- TIONAL ENVIRONMENT
The position of Tallinn University in Estonian higher education and our development tasks, arise from the nature of the university. Tallinn University represents the biggest merger project in Estonian higher education. Organisation of the merging process and development of a unified organisation has been - and will remain - one of the priorities of the university during the following development period.
Competition between higher education, research and development establishments is constantly increasing. Considering the present number of establishments offering higher education, the number of doubling study programmes, the decrease in the numbers of learners and changes in the age structure of learners, new mergers of educational establishments are to be expected in the near future. Also, enterprise is offering more and more competition in recruiting student candidates and academic employees, as well as competing for alternative financing sources.
Financing systems everywhere, including in Estonia, are becoming competition-based, higher education establishments are expected to be effective and have a clear profile. Baseline funding for Tallinn University has increased. Competition in the changed research funding system has increased and depends more than before on the effectiveness of previous research activity of research staff and cooperation inside and outside the university.
International trends in higher education and research see a novel role in the cooperation of universities and enterprise, which includes the planning of common strategy, organising professional placement, conducting surveys, etc. The scarcity of cooperation with enterprise is considered an important factor hindering the development of a knowledge-based society in Estonia. The main partners of TU are mainly from the public or non-profit sector, i.e. our cooperation with entrepreneurship is scarce in comparison to other universities.
By 2020, Estonia faces a situation where the demographic crisis in the group of 15-24 years is at its height, potentially causing a lack of university applicants. At the same time, the number of students who are 25 and older has shown a stable increase. Recruitment of non-traditional students requires different outreach activities. It is also necessary to find flexible study forms and relate studies with practice.
TALLINN UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2015−2020
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