A bimonthly publication of AQU Catalunya

64

January 2013

Around one hundred people took part in the workshop on THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE UNIVERSITIES IN TIMES OF CRISIS, which was organised by AQU Catalunya on 12 December. The objective of the workshop was to show the fundamental role played by the universities in the growth strategy for Catalonia (Europe 2020) through the presentation of two of the latest publications on this matter:

• Universidad, universitarios y productividad (Universities, graduates and productivity in Spain) by Francisco Pérez and Lorenzo Serrano, professor and associate professor respectively at the University of Valencia and members of the Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas (Valencia Institute for Economic Research).
• La Universidad pública española: Retos y prioridades en el marco de la crisis del primer decenio del siglo XXI (Public and state-run universities in Spain: challenges and priorities within the context of the crisis, a decade into the 21st century") by Francesc Xavier Grau, rector of the Rovira i Virgili University and president of the Catalan Association of Public Universities.

According to Professor Francisco Pérez, a reform of university governance is necessary in order for higher education institutions to become more responsive to the diverse needs of society, while Professor Lorenzo stated that the learning process is just one of several aspects that needs to be improved in order to better capitalise on the universities.

Among the challenges facing the universities, Dr. Francesc Xavier Grau, rector of the Rovira i Virgili University, singled out the establishing of synergies with private enterprise, their improved effectiveness and efficiency, increasing the impact of research and regaining society's trust.

The Director of AQU Catalunya, Josep Anton Ferré, presented the tools made available by the Agency to the universities for programme monitoring: the graduate destinations (labour market outcomes) survey and the WINDDAT indicators website.

The workshop was brought to a close by the Director-General for Universities, Lluís Jofre, and the AQU president/CEO, Joaquim Prats.

Documentation and papers

 Programme

 Universidad, universitarios y productividad ("Universities, graduates and productivity in Spain"), Francisco Pérez and Lorenzo Serrano, director of research and and researcher, respectively, at the Valencia Institute for Economic Research (Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas)

 Reptes i prioritats de la Universitat Espanyola ("Spanish universities - challenges and priorities"), Francesc Xavier Grau, rector of the Rovira i Virgili University and president of the Catalan Association of Public Universities

 Indicadors per al seguiment: WINDDAT i enquesta d'inserció laboral ("Monitoring indicators: WINDDAT and the graduate destinations survey"), Josep Anton Ferré Vidal, Director of AQU Catalunya