University of Agder

The University of Agder (Norwegian: Universitetet i Agder), formerly known as Agder College and Agder University College, is a public university with campuses in Kristiansand and Grimstad, Norway. The institution was established as a university college (høgskole) in 1994 through the merger of Agder College and five other colleges, including a technical college and a nursing school, and became one of Norway's new universities in 2007. It is among the youngest of Norway's ten universities.

University of Agder
Universitetet i Agder
TypePublic university
Established2007 (1994, 1839)
RectorFrank Reichert
Administrative staff
1100
Students11879
Location
Kristiansand & Grimstad
,
Norway
CampusGimlemoen
Grimstad
Websitewww.uia.no
Panorama view of Gimlemoen.
Campus of Kristiansand Teacher Training College
Campus Gimlemoen, located in Kristiansand.
Campus Grimstad, main entrance

History

The idea of a university in the Agder region is not completely new. In his short period as ruler of the union of Denmark–Norway, Johann Friedrich Struensee planned on reforming the University of Copenhagen. He gave Bishop Johann Ernst Gunnerus of Trondheim the task of developing more detailed plans. Gunnerus presented a proposal in 1771 in which he suggested establishing a new university in Norway, and placing it in Kristiansand.

The motives for suggesting Kristiansand as a university town have been debated. Regardless, the idea was soon discarded as planning began for the first Norwegian university. In 1811, a resolution was passed to establish Norway's first university in Christiania (Oslo).

Even without a university in the region, and as the need for better educated employees rose, several smaller colleges were established throughout the Agder region. The first, Christiansands Stiftsseminarium på Holt, later known as Kristiansand Teacher Training College, was founded at Holt, Aust-Agder in 1839, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Norway. It was followed by Arendal College of Nursing (1920), Agder Music Conservatory (1965), Agder Regional College of Technology (1967), Agder Regional College (1969) and Kristiansand College of Nursing (1976).[1]

Agder University College was established by a merger in 1994, when the six public regional colleges in the Agder counties became one institution. The University College received full university accreditation and became the University of Agder on 1 September 2007. In 2015, the University of Agder has approximately 12,000 students and 1,100 employees.

Organisation and administration

UiA has a shared leadership. The rector is elected by the students and members of staff and faculty, who becomes the head of the university board, and is responsible for the academic programmes and activities. The university director is the head of administration, and is responsible for all economic and administrative affairs.

Faculties and Academia

The University of Agder has six faculties as well as an own unit fior teacher education.

School of Business and Law
  • Department of Economics and Finance
  • Department of Management
  • Department of Working Life and Innovation
  • Department of Law

The School of Business and Law is a member of EFMD and AACSB, and holds an international AACSB accreditation for its high-quality education on an international level as of 2019.[2]

Faculty of Social Sciences
  • Faculty of Social Sciences (from 1 Jan 2014) (University of Agder)[3]
  • Department of Development Studies (Gimlemoen)
  • Department of Information Systems
  • Department of Political Science and Management (Gimlemoen)
  • Department of Sociology, Social Work and Welfare Studies (Gimlemoen)

Faculty of Fine Arts
  • Department of Music (Gimlemoen)
  • Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts (Gimlemoen)

Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences
  • Department of Public Health, Sport and Nutrition (Gimlemoen/Grimstad)
  • Department of Health and Nursing Science (Gimlemoen/Grimstad)
  • Department of Psychososial Health (Gimlemoen/Grimstad)

Faculty of Humanities and Education
  • Department of Foreign Languages and Translation (Gimlemoen/Grimstad)
  • Department of Nordic and Media Studies (Gimlemoen)
  • Department of Education (Gimlemoen)
  • Department of Religion, Philosophy and History (Gimlemoen)

Faculty of Engineering and Science
  • Department of Mathematical Sciences (Gimlemoen)
  • Department of Natural Sciences (Gimlemoen)
  • Department of Engineering (Grimstad)
  • Department of ICT (Grimstad)

Teacher Education

The teacher training programmes are organized in an interdisciplinary fashion.

Research Centres
  • Achieving Accountability in School Practice
  • Center for Artificial Intelligence Research
  • Center for intelligent networks and signal processing
  • Centre for Business Systems
  • Centre for Care Research
  • Centre for Cultural Studies
  • Centre for Development Studies
  • Centre for Didactics
  • Centre for Digital Transformation (CeDiT)
  • Centre for Entrepreneurship
  • Centre for European Studies
  • Centre for Gender Equality
  • Centre for Innovation and Work Life Studies
  • Centre for International Economics and Shipping
  • Centre for Multicultural Activities
  • Centre for Norwegian Studies Abroad
  • Centre for Real Estate
  • Center for Sustainable Energy Solutions
  • Norwegian Centre for Offshore Wind Energy (NORCOWE)

Library

Agder University Research Archive (AURA) is a full text digital archive of scientific papers, theses and dissertations from the academic staff and students at the University of Agder. The University Library administrates AURA.

References
  1. "Our history - Universitetet i Agder". www.uia.no. Archived from the original on 2017-10-27. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  2. "University of Agder School of Business and Law, Accreditations". dbh.nsd.uib.no. Retrieved 2019-01-14.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-10-18. Retrieved 2014-08-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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