University of Zenica

[EduCativ]

The history of high education in Zenica started in 1959 when the High Technical School was founded. In 1959 and 1960, there were some intensive activities undertaken on setting up a Faculty. Thus, according to the People's Board's Decision in the Zenica County and following the Decision from 1961 passed by the Executive Council of the Bosnia and the Herzegovina Republic, the High Technical School was transformed into the Faculty of Metallurgy. The Faculty worked within Sarajevo University.
The next step in the development of high education in Zenica was the founding of the Metallurgical Institute" Hasan Brkic" ( i.e.," Kemal Kapetanovic") on October 1, 1961.
It took a long time before the second Faculty in Zenica was founded. It was on March 31, 1977, following the Decisions of the Zenica Steelworks Labour Council and the Zenica Municipality as to the separation of specialized Mechanical Departments from the Faculty of Metallurgy to an independent Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. For years, these two Faculties were the backbone of high education in Zenica. They produced many experts required for an industry in the Zenica region and the country in general. Following the needs necessary for the development of science and its application in praxis, in 1981, there were constituted the Agency for Mechanical Engineering. In 1981 the Agency was transformed into the Mechanical Institute of the Mechanical Engineering Faculty in Zenica.
In the period before the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the School of Economics and the Faculty of Law from the University of Sarajevo had their branch departments in Zenica. However, they were soon closed down. Upon the outbreak of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the situation in high education and society, in general, became quite complicated. The actual life conditions were jeopardized, and many students and teaching staff participated actively in defense of the country. Yet, no matter the problems they faced, the high education institutions did not stop working.
On the contrary, some new Departments, Faculties, and Colleges, were founded. Thus, The School of Medicine and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Tuzla had its branch departments in Zenica. The same refers to the Faculty of Criminology from Sarajevo University. All these Departments ceased their work upon the completion of the war.
In line with a highlighted need for teachers in primary and secondary education on March 10, 1994, the College of Education in Zenica worked within the Sarajevo University. Another college, the Islamic Pedagogical College, was set up on September 9, 1993, and the Decision for its foundation was passed by the highest body of the Islamic community in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Except for the Departments mentioned above and Colleges, the School of Economics and the Faculty of Law from Sarajevo started their departments in Zenica again. As the need for experts in these fields is significant, these Departments are still working.
Along with these institutions, the high education community in Zenica includes the Public Library with its branches. The books from this library are available to all students attending the Faculties in Zenica. The University of Zenica was founded on October 18, 2000, according to the Decision of the Zenica-Doboj Canton Assembly.
The university's mission includes assisting economic, social, and cultural development within and beyond the region and the state, providing scientific and technical support. In doing so, the University of Zenica must fit into national and international criteria of quality of educational and scientific activities and results. In other words, all the results of scientific and teaching, scientific research, and professional work at the University of Zenica must include the character of universal values, which are not measures of regional qualitative assessments.
The vision is that the University of Zenica has become a modern and respected institution involved in a common academic area of Europe and the world.
By the year 2020, at his 20th birthday, the University of Zenica should be a higher education institution of medium size, which has 12 to 14 organizational units (faculties, institutes, etc.) and about 40 programs of study, and the planned number of students from 10000 to 12000. The buildings will be arranged on two campuses (natural Sciences, on the one hand, and social and humanities, on the other hand), whose total area would be 60,000 m2. University should have 550-600 employees. Also, we hope that the University of Zenica should have built a reputation in the academic area in Bosnia and Herzegovina and much more comprehensive.

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