Rector Paulo Águas took stock and looked at the near future, focusing his speech on the three main pillars of Teaching, Research and Resources, in his speech on the occasion of the 44th anniversary of the University of Algarve, which was celebrated yesterday.
The rector pointed out the price of accommodation in the city of Faro as the main brake on attracting displaced students and promised to continue fighting for more justice in the distribution of State Budget (OE) funds.
In the solemn session, which took place this Wednesday, December 13th, in the Caixa Geral de Depósitos Grand Auditorium, on the Gambelas Campus, the rector began his speech starting with Teaching, the first of the University's missions.
By way of example, he mentioned some important data: in 2022/23, the number of students, including 320 mobility students, exceeded 10 thousand, 4,7% more than in 2021/22 and 33,9% more than the previous year. registered in 2015/16.
“In 2022/23, for the first time, the number of foreign students was more than 2 thousand, more precisely 2.175, distributed across 101 nationalities, also the highest number ever”, he added.
Paulo Águas assured that UAlg will continue to work to continue this trajectory and reach 3% within two to three years, and in the medium term, it will have to approach 4%, in order to increase its contribution to qualification Of region.
To this end, he believes that “it will be essential to expand UAlg’s activity in the western Algarve, which requires the completion of the project already started for the development of new infrastructure in Portimão”.
In addition to the growth in the number of students, Paulo Águas highlighted the increase in the number of graduates which, in the last two years, approached 2000/year, almost 40% above the records of five years previously.
Along this path, the rector highlighted the importance of the Impulsos Programs, financed by the Recovery and Resilience Program, which made it possible to mobilize approximately 2 million euros for the acquisition of equipment for teaching activities.
Furthermore, through the PRR, it is being possible to mobilize resources to modernize teaching conditions, and, among other aspects, accommodation conditions for displaced students, in particular scholarship holders, are also being improved.
“In 2023 it was possible to carry out the renovation of three residences, totaling 237 beds, representing an investment of 4,4 million euros, and to date the financing secured still does not exceed 2,4 million euros. In 2024 we intend to renovate another 195 beds and begin the construction of two new residences that will add another 287 beds to the existing 550.”
However, the rector is convinced that “increasing the supply of social accommodation by more than 50% will not be enough to substantially reduce the main barrier that displaced students face in attending higher education: the cost of accommodation”.
“The price of accommodation in the city of Faro constitutes the main brake on attracting displaced students”
According to data from the Student Accommodation Observatory, the average price per room in Portugal increased by 25,7% between September 2021 and September 2023, from €268 to €337. In the case of the city of Faro, in the same period, the average price per room increased by 40%, from €250 to €350.
For Paulo Águas, the price of accommodation in the city of Faro constitutes the main brake on attracting displaced students. “If it is true that higher education is a responsibility of the central government, its impact on the locations where the institutions carry out their activity is indisputable.”
In the rector's opinion, “UAlg has contributed to transforming the Algarve and, in particular, the city of Faro. There is an increasing number of municipalities, starting with Lisbon, which have been contributing directly to the increase in the supply of accommodation for students at moderate prices”.
Regarding the Research & Transfer activity, “for the period from 2022 to 2025, the strategic plan set as an objective an average annual execution value of 10 million euros, +16,6% compared to the previous four years, in activities classified as follows typologies: community support and scientific extension; technology transfer; institutional projects; postgraduate training; services provision; investigation and development; and investigation units”.
In 2022, he explained, “execution exceeded 14 million euros, and by October 2023 we had a year-on-year growth of 5,7%”, explains Paulo Águas, noting that “it has been increasing, well above expectations” .
Aware that rigor is often wrongly associated with restrictions, with “blind cuts”, with “tightening the belt”, the rector warns that the rigor of the last six years will continue until the end of the term, in 2025.
He further explains that “rigor is the main responsible for the 2023 budget execution, which could reach 70 million euros, which compares with the 60,5 million executed in 2022 and the 55 million executed in 2018. In 2023, the wage bill will grow above 7%, which should happen again in 2024.”
Admitting that rigor was responsible for many of the decisions and measures taken, Paulo Águas has no doubt that “today we are more efficient”, exemplifying: “with the same resources we can have more students, more graduates, more projects, more research and more impact on the community.”
“More fairness in the distribution of OE funds”
But, on a day of celebration, the rector did not forget the guardianship, for whom UAlg continues to be inefficient, as the Teaching activity only justifies 85% of the OE allocation.
“It is us and the majority of institutions with up to 10 thousand students, who have been wrongly referred to as the institutions that were benefiting from the distribution of OE funds”.
The rules for distributing OE funds are based on “economies of scale”, which led, in the dean's opinion, to “between 2022 and 2024 the percentage of OE allocated to UAlg had dropped from 3,18% to 3,06 .XNUMX%, and that it will continue to fall in the coming years if the methodology applied by the XXIII Constitutional Government, which is in management roles, is continued by the next Government”.
“What’s left for us to do?” he asks. “Continue to fight for more justice in the distribution of OE funds”.
“The cultural, social and economic reality of the Algarve and Portugal has benefited from UAlg’s activity”
Ana Jorge, in her speech as president of the General Council, recalled that UAlg “over its 44 years, has been on a remarkable journey and has established itself in the national Academy and internationally. Purpose fulfilled, because the University of Algarve is today a reference and a driver of great development”.
Ana Jorge referred to the importance of UAlg joining the European Alliance of Universities from the beginning of 2023, the European University of the Sea (SEA-EU). “Once again, the strategy of local valorization and the international activities of the University of Algarve were evident.”
In his opinion, “the construction of a European university space, rooted in nine contexts close by its maritime heritage identity, from the Ria Formosa to the seas of Norway and from the Polish coasts to the Mediterranean, and the connection to partners from other parts of the world is, today, also a goal of the University of Algarve”.
For the president of the General Council, “the cultural, social and economic reality of the Algarve and Portugal have unequivocally benefited from the activity of the University of Algarve in all its areas of intervention, be they training, research and transfer or of interaction with the community, constituting one of the good examples of this interaction in the country”.
Representing non-teaching staff, Celeste Garcia thanked everyone who helped her at this stage and the opportunity to contribute and share a little of their knowledge. “Today I end a happy experience in this house that welcomed me for so many years. Here I became a better, competent and responsible human being.”
Rita Tavares, president of the Academic Association, in her first speech, committed to working in close collaboration with all educational agents.
For the student representative, UAlg is the fundamental pillar of regional development, the driving force of the economy, culture and progress. Rita Tavares focused on some aspects that would help improve the lives of students and the academic community itself, referring to infrastructure for sports as something imperative, and the improvement of accessibility, such as the railway line and the implementation of the metro bus.
Representing the teachers, Efigénio Rebelo, from the Faculty of Economics, focused his intervention on the financial results of recent years. In the professor's opinion, the good results achieved are “fundamentally due to the dynamism of the institution and its governance, mobilizing and respectful of the autonomies of the organic units and research centers, statutorily enshrined, and based on a good institutional relationship with the functional units , with services, with the student representative structure, but also with the institution's other stakeholders, namely the CCDR, city councils, other regional bodies, NGOs, companies and business associations and our Alumni community”.
In the opinion of Efigénio Rebelo, “the successful implementation of an organizational culture based on motivation, a sense of belonging and internal cohesion, with equal appreciation of the two subsystems, different levels of training and types of research and with the valorization of social responsibility of the Institution, will allow us to do more and better, ensuring the sustainability of our balances…”
For the second time, the UAlg Researcher Award was awarded, which translates into a grant worth 5 thousand euros and aims to distinguish and publicly recognize the researcher from the University of Algarve who, through his work in the area of scientific research, stood out nationally and internationally.
Jorge Manuel Ferreira de Assis, researcher at the Center for Marine Sciences (CCMAR), was the big winner, out of the 14 applications received.
During the ceremony, the first teachers and employees of UAlg were also honored, and the University's medals were awarded to employees completing 25 years of service.
On the day of celebrations, the winners of the Participatory Budget were also announced. In 2023, the University of Algarve made 80 thousand euros available to the academic community in favor of projects that improve the community's well-being.
UAlg was the first Portuguese university to promote a participatory budget for the entire institution: 40 thousand euros for students and 40 thousand euros for teaching, non-teaching staff and researchers.
The students saw two of their proposals selected: “Space for Living, Studying and Food”, with funding of €9.337,22; and “Installation of urban furniture”, with a budget of €30.662,78.
Among the proposals from teaching, non-teaching staff and researchers, and with funding of 40 thousand euros, the winner was “We Follow Together! Psychological support in the transition to Higher Education”. As this is an intangible proposal, the project “Raising External Resources for OP-UAlg” will also be carried out.
During the ceremony, the following awards were also presented: Teaching Learning Award – Teacher of the Year distinguished by Students; UAlg Good Practices Award; and, with the support of Caixa Geral de Depósitos, the “University of Algarve Award” for graduates with merit in the 2021/22 academic year.
The session featured two musical moments by “Suricata”, a fusion between Fado, Jazz and Blues.
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