The beginnings of higher education in Maribor date back to the 19th century. In 1859, bishop Anton Martin Slomšek moved the seat of the Levantine diocese from St. Andraž in Lavanttal (Austrian Carinthia) to Maribor and soon afterward established a Slovenian seminary. That gave Maribor its first institution of higher education, which became an essential focal point of Slovenian religious, national, cultural, and scientific thought in the Slovenian Štajerska region. Great years were also 1863 when the two-year teacher-training school was established, and 1888, when it became a four-year school.
The University of Maribor began to design an internal quality system in 1997 by establishing a select committee called the Quality Assessment Commission (KOKU). It is classified as a permanent committee of the Senate of the University since 2003. In 2006, UM established an independent professional service in charge of quality to coordinate activities in quality monitoring and provide KOKU with technical support. In 2011, Rector Prof. Danijel Rebolj, Ph. D identified quality development as a priority. He appointed a Vice-Rector for Quality Development and established the Quality Development Centre.
Since 2009, UM is conducting internal institutional evaluations by the Criteria for the Accreditation and External Evaluation of Higher Education Institutions and Study Programmes a regular basis (Slovenian Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education). In 2012, UM began to conduct follow-up internal institutional evaluations.
Since students play an increasingly important role in the development of quality, UM provides them with training in line with the SPARQL model to develop a unique model for student participation in the quality assurance system at UM.
Another significant challenge is also to raise the academic community's awareness of the importance of its participation (employees and students) in evaluations of UM's education activities and scientific research. Towards the end of 2012, the Senate of the University adopted the Quality Manual.
In terms of the development of a culture of quality, UM's mission is to transform itself into a sustainable and socially responsible institution. In 2011, the Council for Sustainability and Social Responsibility was established, chaired by the Rector. The concept of sustainable development has been supplemented with the principles of social responsibility. The Senate adopted the new strategy in May 2012. In April 2012, the Committee for Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility was established, which prepared a draft policy of sustainable development and social responsibility as well as a list of relevant activities until 2020, among which priorities for 2013 have been identified.
At UM's initiative, the Resolution on the Commitment of Slovene Universities to Develop a Quality Culture in HE was prepared and signed by the rectors of Slovene universities in March 2012.
The mission of the University of Maribor is based on honesty, curiosity, creativity, freedom of spirit, cooperation, and knowledge transfer in the field of science, art, and education. Concerned with humanity and sustainable development, the University of Maribor expands knowledge, raises awareness, and promotes humanistic values and the culture of dialogue, quality of life, and global justice.
With its nineteen member institutions, the university is turning into a central development institution attracting talented students from all over the world and providing a development context where excellence is at home at all levels.
The management is aware that close ties between the university as a central educational and research institution and its local environment and the industry are of the utmost importance. For this reason, various activities aimed at integrating knowledge and R&D with the industry are being implemented to initiate concrete projects contributing to new jobs and new products with high added value. The University of Maribor is thus bringing together knowledge, research findings, and the industry. The central project in this area is called IOT – Innovative Open Technologies. The information portal Vzhodna.si will serve as an entry point also in other development projects.
These are only a few examples indicating the direction of the future development of the University of Maribor. However, various impressive accomplishments can already be celebrated. The development of the first Slovene nanosatellite going into space, the success of the students participating in the Student Formula project, permanent high scores in the Imagine Cup international student competition for innovativeness, technological solutions, and development, the prestigious Reimagine Education award for the Demola project where students work on concrete solutions to problems found in companies – placing the University of Maribor alongside the most prestigious universities – are only a few examples of UM's most notable achievements.
The University of Maribor is developing new fields, testing new teaching and learning methods, and continually searching for new cooperation methods with its environment. Various international awards prove that the university is on the right track. This year, UM was ranked among the best global universities and earned the highest score among Slovene universities on Times Higher Education World University Rankings, examining how universities fulfill their primary mission in different areas. In 2014, UM also received an award for the well-being of international students at HE institutions.
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