Dean Prof. Inga Millere: "Consolidation opens up a range of new possibilities"

This year has brought major changes to Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) — alongside other consolidation processes, a new faculty was created by merging the Faculty of Rehabilitation with the Faculty of Public Health and Social Welfare: the Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences (FHSS).

Consolidation processes in higher education institutions in Latvia and elsewhere are nothing new. Let us remember: the Red Cross Medical College joined RSU in 2010, and Liepāja Medical College became a branch of RSU. A similar process also affected the University of Latvia, Daugavpils University and other medical universities. Even back then, the wider opportunities to organise the learning process more efficiently and to train high-quality specialists were highly appreciated, as well as to make better use of the institutions' infrastructure and resources and to ensure more successfully the continuity of teaching and studies, to improve the quality of programmes, and to link studies with research. Overall, these consolidation processes have also enabled the development of nursing education and professional reform in Latvia, which has made it possible to better address the human resources challenges in healthcare.

RSU's status as a research university requires internal consolidation. By combining the resources of the Faculty of Rehabilitation with the Faculty of Public Health and Social Welfare, we can develop faster and achieve better results in research and studies. The work we have started on developing the quality of research and studies will not only be continued, but also expanded in an interdisciplinary way.

Our aim is to increase opportunities for collaboration between students, lecturers, departments and study programmes, which will not only broaden the range of educational offerings, for example through the creation of new interdisciplinary courses and study programmes, but also create a multi-professional environment for the generation and development of new scientific ideas.

The new Faculty was launched on 6 February this year, but intensive work had already been carried out to merge the two Faculties. The NHF now has six departments - the Department of Welfare and Social Work, Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Department of Rehabilitation, Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Department of Sports and Nutrition, and the Department of Health Psychology and Paedoagogy. We are also responsible for the development and quality of the study programmes at the Liepaja branch and the Red Cross Medical College.

This process is not just a mechanical merger. There are many psychological and emotional factors that come with change, and staff react to it in different ways. Even if the change is positive and will improve the current situation, some employees do not find change easy and do not have positive emotions, while others are excited about new opportunities.

Changes allow us to look at what we have achieved and define new goals in a new context.

LASE will be integrated under the RSU umbrella. How far along is this process? What are some benefits and challenges? Can we hope that the field of sports sciences will be particularly developed in the future?

External consolidation includes the incorporation of LASE into RSU as a separate structural unit — this was established by a decision of the Ministry of Education and Science and the regulations from the Cabinet of Ministers. From 1 July, we are taking over all rights and obligations related to LASE; this will be followed by a transition period, during which we will coordinate all study programmes, systems, and processes.

The reorganisation plan includes several steps.

We are currently getting acquainted with the study programmes that LASE offers and analysing them in order to align them with ours and provide opportunities for development. In parallel, we are also looking at possibilities for creating new programmes. We have also set up several working groups that have been active for more than a month already. Together, we are striving to achieve a common goal, namely the development of programmes that are advanced, in demand, and based on science.

There are a lot of emotions involved in external consolidation. As with any change that requires a disruption of established routines, acceptance of the new circumstances can be impacted by concerns and unease. All of this affects the consolidation process, making it less straightforward, but the key is to agree on a common goal.

We are also currently acquainting ourselves with the LASE infrastructure and we will evaluate the investments we need to be able to develop the required facilities to implement the study programmes. At the beginning of the new academic year in September, many things will definitely remain in the LASE building on Brīvības iela.

Several RSU and LASE study programmes overlap (for example, Physiotherapy). We are currently working to create one consolidated study programme that will integrate all students in these programmes.

LASE is known for its sports programmes, but we have similar programmes too. This is why we must look for ways in which to combine our strengths and resolve our weaknesses.

Consolidation is an intensive, dynamic process that opens up a lot of opportunities. For example, our analysis of the physiotherapy programme has helped us understand that we must talk about the development of the physiotherapy sector from a conceptual point of view as well. We have therefore started a dialogue with the Latvian Physiotherapists’ Association, meeting with representatives to discuss the development of new study programmes and internationalisation. We have also initiated talks with the Ministry of Health about the development of the physiotherapy sector in the context of the health sector. The Minister of Health has come forward with ideas about attaching physiotherapists to GP practices, which would mean that the profession and therefore also the study programme would be in even greater demand.

At the moment there are approximately 2,600 students at FHSS, studying across 22 programmes — these programmes must also be analysed and reviewed. We have just finished the accreditation process and received recommendations from the International Accreditation Commission that must be taken into consideration in the development process of these programmes.

We definitely plan to develop sports education and other sports sectors according to international standards.

Our country needs specialist! LASE prepares sports coaches in more than 50 sports sub-sectors. Right now, we are looking for analogous international study programmes to gain experience on how to develop them.

When will students be able to enrol in the new study programmes?

It won’t happen too soon, because we have a lot of work to do: the study programmes, rules of admission, and all the processes must be aligned. The discussion about the consolidated study programmes is progressing, and we will definitely find the best solution for students and employers.

This year, admissions to RSU and LASE will take place as usual – nothing will change. The only difference will be that all applicants will have to sign the study contracts with RSU. Our University will take over all of LASE’s obligations, including any obligations to its students, who will, however, be able to continue their studies under the same conditions under which they started them.

I think that physiotherapy students at LASE, for example, will definitely be able to use our study facilities at the Medical Education Technology Centre, but we must prepare for that and provide premises and equipment because LASE has approximately 300 students in this programme.

How will the consolidation benefit students, the teaching staff, and researchers?

Students will have more opportunities — a broader infrastructure, new and interdisciplinary study programmes, study internationalisation, and new contacts.

A wider range of elective study courses will be available to all students at RSU. Nordic Walking is a very popular course implemented by our faculty, for example, but it is expected that LASE will also be able to offer many elective study courses.

Lecturers and researchers, on the other hand will be able to implement their ideas, they will have a wider range of contacts, and more students. We will be happy to welcome LASE lecturers as our colleagues, because we will need all the support we can get.

A considerable benefit of the consolidation is cooperation between researchers — even now, researchers from RSU and LASE are developing joint projects. Here I can mention the national research programme Sports, under which researchers from five higher education institutions, including RSU and LASE, are working together, finding synergies, and complementing each other in implementing research ideas. Another example of cooperation — researchers from RSU and LASE have just received funding in the research and academic careers grant competition of the higher education institution consolidation plan. 32 projects were supported, including joint studies between the two universities with an interdisciplinary approach.

Will consolidation contribute to increased internationalisation?

Absolutely!

Developing an international dimension in research and studies is one of our priorities. We must invite visiting lecturers and develop a cooperation network with researchers and the leading universities in particular specialities. This will also increase job opportunities for our students.

We will also think about study programmes for international students — for example, the Physiotherapy master’s programme could potentially also be taught in English.

Before the consolidation, the Faculty of Public Health and Social Welfare was a World Health Organisation (WHO) collaborating centre. The new faculty has taken over this function and is now a WHO collaboration centre in professional health care education, meaning that FHSS is a part of the network of 53 countries that promote education in this field.

The Faculty of Rehabilitation will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year, as will nursing and midwifery education, and the Department of Health Psychology and Paedagogy will celebrate its 10th anniversary. What impact will the consolidation have on the future of these fields?

Consolidation will certainly contribute to development and will pave the way for interdisciplinarity. In fact, almost all of our Faculty's study programmes are celebrating their 30th anniversary. Together with the Vice-Dean of FHSS Toms Pulmanis, we have met all the heads of our study programmes, listened to them, analysed the present situation, and outlined the directions in which they could develop.

We are also planning to meet with professional associations and research the labour market demand to prepare specialists that could work not only in Latvia, but also in the international arena.

This can only be achieved in cooperation with the industry, the health care system, and international partners.