Download 76.5 Board meeting 76 76.5 Annual report 2016 Enclosure

76.5
Board meeting 76
76.5
Annual report 2016
Enclosure:
Draft of NOVA Annual Report and Accounts 2016
Report to Nordplus from the NOVA BOVA Nordplus Network 2015/2016
Background
The NOVA Annual Report and Accounts 2016 gives a short description of the major results in the network
concerning courses, student participation, mobility, networking and collaboration. It also gives a short
account of the NOVA Board and the NOVA Student Board in 2016. Finally, it presents NOVA’s major future
challenges.
Presentation
The NOVA Annual Report and Accounts 2016 shows that despite an increase in the activity level for PhD
courses, the activity level is still low compared to NOVA’s ambition of 25-30 PhD courses a year. In 2016,
the number of PhD courses increased from twelve to fifteen courses, which is 60% of NOVA’s ambition. The
number of NOVA students and the total number of students on NOVA PhD courses increased considerably
in 2016. In addition, the network organised one Master’s course.
The number of member institutions is decreasing. KU-HEALTH and KU-SCIENCE have withdrawn from the
network, from 1 Jan. 2016 and 1 Jan. 2017, respectively. The background for this is financial issues at KU. As
a result, the pool of teachers who can apply for organising courses and the NOVA student pool is reduced.
The network continued focusing on augmenting the number of PhD courses, while continuing simplifying
and streamlining the work. There were no major changes in the application in 2016. The promotion of calls
and courses was increased in 2016. From the figures for 2016, it seems likely that the measures taken since
2014 to increase the number of applications and courses have had an effect. It also seems that applications
for course series are becoming more popular. However, the number of applications is still low compared to
NOVA’s ambition, and it is still important that all involved parties promote NOVA and the courses actively.
It has still been challenging for organisers to reach the minimum requirement of 12 NOVA students on
courses. In November 2016, the Board approved a new student requirement (10 registered and qualified
NOVA students), which is more realistic, to improve the predictability for teachers and students.
Cooperation on marketing is still very important to assure that approved courses are held.
A task force for external funding was appointed in 2015. It has proven challenging to find external funding
for NOVA’s activities. No new agreements on external funding were made in 2016.
The report on the NOVA-BOVA collaboration for 2016 will be presented at the next NOVA board meeting,
on 9 June 2017. The NOVA BOVA Nordplus Network’s report to Nordplus is attached for the Board’s
information.
Proposed resolution:
The Board approves the NOVA Annual Report and Accounts 2016.