The Effect of the Bologna Process on the Cartographic Courses in the Hungarian Higher Education

After the 1990 political reforms, it took several years until Hungary officially signed the Bologna Declaration (1999). The progress was very slow: the implementation of the Bologna principles only started in 2002. The nation-wide introduction of the BA and BSc system began in 2006 and will be continued at master level in 2009. One of the most important bodies in this process has been the Hungarian Accreditation Committee. This Board consists of university professors and academics and has control over the establishment and introduction of curricula at all higher education institutions in Hungary. As for cartography and geodesy, we had two independent 5-year degree programmes in the pre-Bologna system (Cartography at Eötvös Loránd University, and Surveying and Geoinformatical Engineering at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics) and two 3-year degree programmes in the College of Surveying and Land Administration in Székesfehérvár. Due to the integration of Hungarian higher education institutions in 2000, this college was incorporated into the University of West Hungary as a faculty. These institutions had worked a lot on establishing and developing their own programmes. However, due to the implementation of the Bologna process, these individual programmes have lost their independence. It is only natural that all these institutions were interested in finding a solution to keep as much of their original curricula as only possible. Although about 140 BA and BSc programmes were established at national level, the Bologna system in Hungary did not allow any cartography-related BSc programme. However, Eötvös Loránd University and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics have established their MSc programmes that are related to cartography. Four universities also agreed on starting a new MSc in GIS, but the Hungarian Accreditation Committee refused the approval of their joint proposal. There are further cartography-related MSc programmes waiting for decision by the Hungarian Accreditation Committee. Some BSc and MSc programmes (such as geography and informatics) established specialization in GIS, and this gives us the opportunity of teaching cartography and GIS to a larger number of students

Developing professionalism in new IT graduates? Who needs it?

A new graduate may require a period of ‘acclimatisation’ through a process of ‘developing their professionalism’ to fit into their work environment. The e-Skills UK Technology Counts Insights 2010 report suggests that 110,500 new entrants a year are required to fill IT & Telecoms professional job roles, with 20,800 coming from education (predominantly graduate level and higher). However, 43% of recruiters were reporting a lack of suitable candidates for IT & Telecoms posts where growing importance will be placed on relationship management, business process analysis and design, project and programme management. IT & Telecoms professionals are increasingly expected to be multi-skilled, with sophisticated business and interpersonal skills as well as technical competence. As the report also says: ‘UK growth will continue to be primarily in high-value roles with an increasing need for customer and business-oriented skills as well as sophisticated technical competencies.’ The diverse needs and requirements of the IT sector, as specified by various employer groups and professional bodies including BCS, IET, eSkills, the CBI and the SFIA Foundation, are discussed. According to the CBI, ‘62% of entrants to the IT sector need to draw on managerial and professional business skills almost immediately.’ For organisations to succeed, their IT graduate recruits must supplement their IT skills with managerial and professional business skills. Well considered CPD will ensure that recent graduates can enhance their ‘academic’ skills with the necessary work-based skills for the benefit of both themselves and their new employer. The focus of the improvement will balance the student-centred needs for development and the engaging employer’s commercial needs

Responding to challenges: the training and educating of the information professional for the next millenium

“… in most fields the issue of the professional competence and qualification of individuals is viewed as an integral part of the quality assurance of organisations and the services that they provide.” This view has long been embraced within the librarianship profession. Librarians and information professionals have a strong culture of responding to new opportunities in professional development to ensure that their skills meet the continually changing environments in which they work. This is illustrated by initiatives such as the Library Associations programme of Continuing Professional Development (CPD), Masters programmes for librarians entering management positions, increased availability of qualifications and training for paraprofessional staff and the adoption of the government instituted system of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) and Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SNVQs). Two further initiatives have been undertaken as a response to concern about the pace of change and the importance of sustaining an adequately skilled professional workforce. Firstly, the Library and Information Studies Training and Education Network (LISTEN), is working with employers, the profession and educational institutions to identify, CPD and post-qualification competencies required when staff have been in post for several or more years. Secondly, the Electronic Libraries Programme (eLib) which aims to accelerate the development and uptake of the ‘electronic library’ has recognised the need for CPD and has funded a number of training and awareness projects including EduLib. This paper will examine the role, education and training of information professionals from two distinct points of view. First the paper will concentrate on initial undergraduate training which students receive at an established Department of Library and Information Studies — with particular regard to the training and education of business information in order to prepare students for the global business world. The second part of the paper will deal with an aspect of continuing professional development for which there is an increasing demand in academic libraries — teaching skills for librarians. The paper will focus on EduLib — a development project which aims to provide a nationally recognised and accredited network of trainers in academic libraries

Geomatics bachelor and masters program in Belgium

A 4-year curriculum degree of Licence in Geography option Land Surveying was introduced in 1990 at two Belgian academic universities: both at the Universite de Liege in the French speaking part of Belgium and at Ghent University in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium. With the BAMA revolution in 2004, this degree has been converted into a 5-year curriculum finalised into an academic "Master in Geomatics and Surveying" (Ghent University) or a "Master in Geography, option Geomatics and Geometrology" (Universite de Liege) and subsequent "Ph.D. in Geomatics and Surveying" (Ghent University). The academic bachelor degree that gives direct access to the Master curriculum without additional compulsory courses is "Bachelor in Geography and Geomatics, Main subject: Surveying" (Ghent University), that can be obtained after 3 years of study. As suggested by the title, the geomatics/surveying degree is related to geographical sciences and located in the Faculty of Sciences. On the opposite, University Colleges (also called Technical Universities) offer professional Bachelor degrees, while academic universities only offer academic Bachelor or Master degrees. In October 2014, Ghent University will start an enhanced academic Bachelor program in Geomatics that allows direct access to the profession of chartered surveyor. The paper will discuss the education experiences, student number evolution and motivation for the enhancements of the Bachelor program

Load flow studies on stand alone microgrid system in Ranau, Sabah

This paper presents the power flow or load flow analysis of Ranau microgrid, a standalone microgrid in the district of Ranau,West Coast Division of Sabah. Power flow for IEEE 9 bus also performed and analyzed. Power flow is define as an important tool involving numerical analysis applied to power system. Power flow uses simplified notation such as one line diagram and per-unit system focusing on voltages, voltage angles, real power and reactive power. To achieved that purpose, this research is done by analyzing the power flow analysis and calculation of all the elements in the microgrid such as generators, buses, loads, transformers, transmission lines using the Power Factory DIGSilent 14 software to calculate the power flow. After the analysis and calculations, the results were analysed and compared

The Education Quality Measuring: American Experience

The US Higher Education Reform is due to certain processes of competitiveness, market orientation, the tendency to form a single space for education. The American system of Higher Education has integrated the best in the education of other countries and thus helped the country overcome crises, to some extent solve the problems of racial discrimination, unemployment, poverty, improved the situation of women, people with disabilities, national minorities. The historical events, socio-economic transformations, aspiration to be a leader in the world market respectively have influenced the development of Higher Education. Due to reforms in American society, education has become more open, various, versatile. The Americans highly value the Higher Education and believe that education is necessary for a conscious political life, the functioning of a democratic government, the development of economic and political International relations. The American education serving the dynamic and global economy is effective and capable of developing in the conditions of limited public resources. This article focuses on the measurement of education quality and accreditation of Higher Learning Institutions in the USA; the analysis of educational activities of American universities; the coverage of accreditation and education performance of Higher Learning Institutions in the United States; these indicators usage in the process of education quality assessing in American universities; the essence disclosure of measurement the education quality with helping "added value" on the basis by American scientists research; the borrowing American experience into the Higher Learning Institutions in Ukraine

The growing need for a unified biopsychosocial approach in mental health care

Psychology has been remarkably successful as a scientific discipline and field of clinical practice. Despite its remarkable growth, however, the field has also experienced substantial conflict and controversy. There has been great diversity in the approaches counselors and psychologists have used to understand development, psychopathology, and the goals and processes of psychotherapy. This has led to large numbers of conflicts and controversies that have distracted the field from its primary purposes. A biopsychosocial approach has the potential to bring the field together around a unified science-based framework for understanding mental health practice that will avoid these conflicts