Page 85 - TLÜ Arengukava

The universities have been reproached for the small number of graduates, also the small number of graduates within the nominal period of study, and disruption of studies. It is important that young people focus on acquiring education, but long-term exclusion from labour market could lead to worsened competitiveness. More strict requirements established with the 2013 reform should shorten the period required for completing the studies. It is important to complement the university support systems to help an adult learner to acquire education in full-time study.
Most higher education students in Estonia are acquiring an academic based higher education. Therefore it is expected that academic higher education would correspond more to the labour market needs. The outcomes of the majority of Tallinn University study programmes are not related to a specific field of activity, thus it is important to develop the programmes so that the general competence and entrepreneurship of students are developed. The traditional university study methods are not suitable for that task, because the skill to contextualise knowledge by using the means of digital technology is more important than the content knowledge. Thus, in the near future more attention should be given to the development of professional placement, as well as interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary study approaches.
The number of international students has increased every year, but contrary to the set goals, the percentage of international students has increased in Bachelor´s study and decreased in Master´s and doctoral study. We must take into account that Tallinn University competes for international students; not only with other Estonian universities, but with universities across the whole world. International students consider Estonia the best country to live in, but the general quality of studies needs to be improved.
International trends show that academic employees are expected to be significantly more competent than before. The percentage of research staff among academic staff in Tallinn University is low in comparison to other big public universities. Therefore, in order to provide sustainability of studies, the number of academic staff (especially research staff) should increase in the near future; but this is not possible without increasing the proportion of research projects and research financing.
There is a constant need for international top-level researchers and academic staff. Recruitment of international academic staff has been possible due to different scholarships and funding, but the university should create an action plan for recruiting international academic staff to Tallinn University after the additional financing ends.
TALLINN UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2015−2020
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