Rector’s  speech

From historical point of view  a university has always been a source or repository of information, a place where students prepared themselves by force of knowledge acquisition and academic treatises, seminars and development of intellectual skills, the exploration of traditional pieces of knowledge and searching of new academic pieces of knowledge and an understanding of complicated phenomena Universities were established in a slowly changing society, where external factors and surroundings were usually predicted.

The status and respect which was ascribed by human society to scholarship and knowledge, was in individual historical periods varied, but to a crucial extent it was highly valued.

The significance of knowledge in today´ s society is definitive, not for nothing it is called a society based on knowledge. Currently society puts great emphasis on reflection and creation because the results of these processes  are ideas, solutions, methods and instructions.

Never before have intellectual exceptionality, thoroughness and criticism, combined with the ability to evaluate, connect and confirm, been so important as they are today.

It is a mission for all universities to develop all the mentioned abilities. Only a well-educated nation with a mature competence of continuous education has the potential to assert itself in the today´ s global world.

Upholding the traditional values, we have to take into consideration that our society is expecting from us the preparation of highly-qualified and effective labour to provide  constant development of Slovak society, the setting-up of activities for social mobility and effective involvement of all society constituents, building of scientific and technology parks, think-tanks and student companies. The accomplishment of these tasks is difficult to imagine without adequate strategic planning, quality personnel in key management and relevant university infrastructure, creating the conditions for educational, research, art, administrative and management activity at the university.

We must agree with the statement of Professor Jaak Aaviksoo, rector of Tartu University, Estonia, which was made at the seminar of rectors of European universities, held in Paris in March 2006: “The old golden times have passed away forever.” Everywhere, universities are pushed into providing greater added value (better and higher quality services for society) for less money (more effective). Is anything like this achievable? If so, it is only after the adoption of better management and more effective use of means which are available. Effective means of management with the acceptance of qualified decisions, are, indeed only possible with the availability of the relevant information at the right time and its analysis at the time of taking decisions.

The present dynamic shortens the time for decisions, at the same time the mass of information is being arised and therefore accepting quality decisions without utilization of information and communication technologies is very difficult to imagine.

What can be said in the final analysis? We can imagine our university in the future mainly as a place, that will offer educational and library services  at level of the 21st century, a space for work, self-study, as well as collaboration,  collective meetings and social activities, casual discussions of pedagogues with students, and between students, rest and exhilaration during the day and at the same time it will serve as the only access point to all services, that university can offer to students. It will be a place, that will fulfil mainly social role that will neutralize physical isolation of education subjects in consequence of technology utilization e.g. in form of online education.

Students will attend the university not because of timetable dictates, but to improve and enhance their lives.

doc. Ing. Martin Mišút , CSc.
Rector of Trnava University in Trnava