University of Vaasa

University of Vaasa

Vaasan yliopisto
File:University of Vaasa.svg
Type	Public
Established	1968
Rector	Suvi Ronkainen
Academic staff	327
Students	5,000
Undergraduates	4,400
Postgraduates	400
Doctoral students	310
Address	Wolffintie 34, FIN-65101 Vaasa, Finland , Vaasa , Ostrobothnia , Finland
Campus	Urban
Affiliations	ERASMUS, NORDPLUS
Website	www.uva.fi

The University of Vaasa (Finnish: Vaasan yliopisto, Swedish: Vasa universitet) is a multidisciplinary, business-oriented university in Vaasa, Finland. The campus of the university is situated by the Gulf of Bothnia adjacent to downtown Vaasa. The university has evolved from a school of economics founded in 1968 to a university consisting of three faculties: Faculty of Business Studies, Faculty of Philosophy and Faculty of Technology. With its Faculty of Business Studies, also called the Vaasa School of Economics, University of Vaasa is one of the largest business universities in Finland. The university has 425 personnel which includes a teaching staff of 180 and 54 professors. Around 5000 students are currently studying in various degree programs at the university.

A modern marble arch in front of the universitys main entrance.

File:Fabriikki.jpg

Part of the university is housed in a former cotton mill. This part is called Fabriikki.

File:Granar.jpg

Part of the main building called Tervahovi photographed from the universitys parking lot.

The former cotton mill that nowadays houses parts of University of Vaasa was founded in 1856 by A.A.Levón. In the background is Tritonia, the academic library of Vaasa shared by all the city's academic institutions.

File:MeriCampus.jpg

The campus area of University of Vaasa is sometimes called the most beautiful campus in Finland.

The former cotton mill has been extensively rebuilt on the inside to house parts of the university.

History

In 1966 the Council of State made the decision to establish a School of Economics and Business Administration in Vaasa, and so Vaasa got its first institution of higher education which the region of Vaasa had worked for since the 1940s. The very next year the first students started their studies; 90 business and 60 correspondence students. The first principal to be chosen for the school was Tryggve Saxén and the first vice principal was Mauri Palomäki, who later would become the longest serving principal the school has seen so far. The lectures were first held in a yard building of Vaasa Commercial College in Raastuvankatu street, but in its second year the school moved into the whole house as the commercial college moved to a new building.

In 1977 the school became a state institution along with all other academic institutions in Finland.

In 1980 education in Humanities (languages) began and so the school became a "School of higher education" (in Finland the term is "Korkeakoulu". In order to be called a University, or "Yliopisto", in Finland at least four faculties are needed). In 1983 studies in the Social Sciences began and in 1990 Technology studies began in connection with Helsinki University of Technology. In 1992 the school was organised into four faculties; The Humanities, Business Administration, Accounting and Industrial Management, and Social Sciences, so that it could finally officially be labelled a University. In 1994 the school moved into its new premises on Palosaari.

Campus

The university can be found in the neighbourhood of Palosaari beside the city's old cotton mill, which also houses part of the university. Each building has its own name, like the main building of "Tervahovi" (English: Pinetar Court) and the governing building of "Luotsi" (English: Pilot). These buildings were finished in 1994 and planned in the spirit of the former county architect Carl Axel Setterberg who planned most of Vaasas public buildings in 1860. The part of the university placed in the old mill is called "Fabriikki" (English: Factory). There is also the academic library of Tritonia, which the university shares with the other academic institutions in the city, and the laboratory of Technobothnia, which is shared with the city's two universities of applied sciences. The whole campus is near the waterfront and surrounded by park areas. It is sometimes called the most beautiful campus in Finland.

Faculties

There are three faculties at the University of Vaasa:

• Faculty of Business Studies
• Faculty of Philosophy
• Faculty of Technology

Services

• Levón Institute - Centre for Continuing Education and Research
• Tritonia - Academic Library, Vaasa
• Technobotnia - Research Centre
• VaasaEMG - Nordic Centre for Expertise in Energy and Utilities Marketing
• Vaasan Yliopiston Ylioppilaskunta - Student Union of Vaasa University

Rectors

• Tryggve Saxén 1968–1970
• Mauri Palomäki 1970–1987
• Ilkka Virtanen 1987–1994
• Ari Salminen 1994–1998
• Matti Jakobsson 1998-2014
• Suvi Ronkainen 2015–

See also

• History of Finland
• List of universities in Finland

External links

• University of Vaasa
• Research Database of the University of Vaasa
• Publications Database of the University of Vaasa
• The Student Housing Foundation in Vaasa
• Vaasa Consortium of Higher Education