GENERAL INFORMATION Name of the institution : University College Ghent Faculty of Business and Public Administration ERASMUS Code B GENT25 Address : Kortrijksesteenweg 14 Post code, City 9000 Ghent, Belgium Web Site: http://english.hogent.be/ Contact persons ERASMUS Veronique L Ecluse Nick Provoost - Address : Schoonmeersen C, Voskenslaan 270 - Post code, City 9000 Ghent - E-mail : Veronique.lecluse@hogent.be Nick.provoost@hogent.be - Tel. : +32 9 243 87 90 +32 9 242 42 07 - Fax : +32 9 242 42 09 Type institution : Higher education, University College Association : Size of institution (number of students) Course Programmes : Faculties/departements (+ERASMUS subject area code!) Degrees Student services (sociale service, accommodation, restaurants, associations, ) Academic calendar : 21 Sept 30 June Association University Ghent 17000 student of which 2000 at our faculty 04.0 Business studies and management sciences Bachelor/master in public administration Bachelor/master in business administration Social service Accommodation Restaurants on campus Student associations PRESENTATION OF THE INSTITUTION
With almost 17,000 students and 2,000 staff members, Hogeschool Gent is without any doubt the largest university college in the country in terms of budget, staff and student population. University College Ghent has a strong technological tradition in the field of research and service, and also in economics, life sciences, linguistics, health care and the practice and development of the arts. It offers the widest range of subjects compiled in 24 professional bachelor programmes, 14 academic bachelor programmes and 22 master programmes. It is a member of the Ghent University Association, incorporating about 60.000 students in Flanders, Belgium University College Ghent offers students an international learning environment with a wide variety of studies at the higher-education level. This international cooperation is realised in the field of student and teacher mobility, as well as in curriculum development and research. With 1,807 students (first of February 2009), of which 239 in Public Administration and 1,568 in Business Administration, the Faculty of Business Administration and Public Administration (BAPA)) is the third largest faculty of Hogeschool Gent. Of its 120 staff members about 100 are involved in teaching and researching. The Faculty offers 2 academic bachelor programmes (3 year s study) en 6 master programmes (1 year study). Business Administration is a varied study with a wide range of subjects; in the bachelor years there are economic subjects, legal subjects, mathematics, statistics, computer applications, psychology, sociology, economic history and languages. The 5 masters are: Accountancy and Taxation Finance and Risk Management Management and IT Marketing Management Strategic Management In the master year students are assigned a three month s internship and a final essay. Graduates work in both the profit and the non-profit sector: they hold management positions in big and smaller companies, in governmental institutions Although more practically oriented, the Business Administration programme is equivalent to that of Applied Economic Sciences at the University. Public Administration offers a varied study with a wide range of subjects. In the bachelor years political science, public administration and public policy, management, law (administrative, private, economic), social science, sociology, psychology, computer applications, languages, political history, are on the curriculum. An internship is organized in the third year. In the master year students get scientific and systematic training in the different fields of policy and management disciplines and they write their final essay. Graduates hold management positions in local, regional and national institutions, as well as in European and international institutes and in the subsidized sector of educational and cultural organizations, hospitals, The curriculum is in Dutch, except for the English courses belonging to a one-semester International Management Program at the upper undergraduate level. See http://habe.hogent.be/imp/ In addition, FBPA has a School for Public and Social Profit Management offering a one-year postgraduate programme for persons holding a master and having experience in managing the public or social profit sector, and a Center for Entrepreneurship designed for Bachelor and Master students of Business Administration. View of the institution on internationalisation and mobility in particular FBPA has a strong interest in expanding international relations and co-operation in the following domains: 1. Research exchange 2. Student exchange 3. International internships 4. Entrepreneurship 5. Curriculum development
6. Residential programmes 1. Research exchange FBPA solicits international cooperation with researchers from institutions abroad in the conduct of its research. This may also include faculty advising the other institution s students in their research projects for the Master dissertation. FBPA is involved in the following research areas: Financial Institutions and Markets Aspects of the functioning of financial institutions and the dynamics of financial markets are studied with the aim of deriving policy recommendations. One part of the research concerns the way the risk-return relation for financial institutions is affected by bank capital, market discipline and bank efficiency. The other part investigates the basic economic drivers of international stock and bond markets, and their linkages. This research is meant to have implications for a number of the financial system s main agents, ranging from institutional and other investors to supervisors and monetary authorities. Socio-economic policy, policy instruments and taxation Research concerning fiscal legislation, jurisdiction and legal theory on taxation is conducted in three domains: the micro-economic and macroeconomic effects of taxation, the use of local taxation as part of policy strategies (e.g. on the municipal level), and the interaction between the national and international framework regarding taxation and financial reporting, both with respect to private persons and companies. In addition, the opportunities for tax payers to adopt this framework in their strategies are explored. Management Informatics Fundamental research on aspects of information and communication technology within and between organizations follows two lines: Business Intelligence (BI) and Business Process Management (BPM). In BI the focus is on the development of data mining techniques with applications in credit risk management (default prediction within Basell II regulation), marketing (response modeling, churn prediction and customer lifetime value estimation), and information management (business/ict alignment and software mining). Other research includes the modeling of the financial system as a network model and subsequent simulation analysis for determining factors of systemic risk. The BPM research concerns the quantitative verification of business processes as well as the development of a barometer for scoring the efficiency of process enactment, e.g. in tax collection. The modeling power of different business process modeling languages, business process management suites, and techniques for inducing process models from events logs are studied as well. Consumer Behavior Empirical research is conducted to gather information about various consumer related issues: sustainable consumer behavior, kids and seniors marketing, individual decision making, effects of marketing communications and advertising on consumer behavior, the relationship between personality, motivation and consumer behavior, and the influence of service and process recovery on consumer behavior. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used. Social Profit Sector and Public Governance This research group studies the social profit sector, its organizations, and their interaction with government. Social profit organizations are analyzed in their internal management aspects and their relation to overall performance. In addition, their interactions with government in the light of new governance models are studied. The research line collects the expertise of researchers from different departments while internationally it is embedded in the EGPA Study Group on Public Governance of Societal Sectors. Local government and local governance The research program focuses on aspects local government in Flanders in an international comparison. Current research projects concern the interplay between ICT implementation and organizational change; the impact of new forms of citizen participation on local governance in Flemish cities; the impact of governance in networks on the management of local government and on the accountability of local governors; the evaluation of the effects of a recent communal decree; the value of scenario building for urban policy. Research members are actively engaged in the public debate on local management, decentralization and urban policies in Flanders. Diversity in Politics and Policy This research line contains two strands. The first focuses on the political representation of women, blue collar workers, ethnic minorities, the elderly, and other social groups, analyzing the interplay between formal, descriptive and substantive dimensions of political representation. The second strand studies issues of equality policies, in Belgium as well as internationally. Three themes are central: gender mainstreaming; equality policies in multi-level settings; and recent evolutions in equality policies i.e. diversity policies and the institutionalization of intersectionality. Non welfarism This research focuses on the question of measurement of well-being employing concepts and hypotheses from a non-welfarist point of view. The emphasis is on empirical (survey) work, with the aim of operationalizing the framework of functionings and capabilities found in A.Sen. The theoretical and normative consequences for policy and policy evaluation are examined. This approach is combined with more traditional techniques for measuring well-being that depend on the revelation of preferences and satisfaction with life. Contact Prof.dr. Carine SMOLDERS carine.smolders@hogent.be Vanessa BOMBEECK Vanessa.bombeeck@hogent.be
2. Student exchange FBPA exchanges students with thirty international partner institutions. Almost all visiting students participate in its English-taught International Management Programme, which is offered at the upper undergraduate level. FBPA wishes to extend its English-spoken course offering to its programmes at the master-level, viz. in the domains of: Accountancy and Taxation Finance and Risk Management Management and IT Marketing Management Strategic Management Public Administration FBPA is open to suggestions from its partner institutions as to which courses from these programs should be offered in English. University College Ghent provides accommodation for international students. The Faculty intends to start a home stay program with selected families in the area. Veronique L ECLUSE Veronique.lecluse@hogent.be 3. Internships An internship for a period of up to three months is part of the regular curriculum of Bachelor of Public Administration and of Master of Business Administration. To enhance their value, FBPA tries to realize its internships according to one of the following formulas: 1. The internship is defined by the student as a constitutive part of his/her research project of his/her master dissertation. 2. The student applies for an internship project defined by the company or organization in consultation with FBPA, with the company or organization selecting on the basis of the students files. International students can participate in these internship programs; alternatively, special formula s may be developed on the basis of particular needs. Nick PROVOOST Nick.provoost@hogent.be 4. Entrepreneurship Students of Business Administration can elect a stream of Entrepreneurship starting in the second Bachelor year and continuing into the Master. Students start by developing business plans and gradually move into aspects of real entrepreneurship, either by starting their own company or by entering into entrepreneurial projects for existing companies. Students are coached both by faculty and by businessmen at the different stages of their analyses. Recent examples of students projects in the Center of Entrepreneurship are: Three students conceive a business plan for Flow Solutions, an international company wishing to extend its operation to Belgium, and help set up its Belgian business unit. Four Master students investigate the opportunities for the Dutch company Risk International to position itself on the Belgian market. The study resulted in the creation of a new company Crisis and Incident Management Strategies, operating with its own crisis team. The Consortium of Constructors employs two Master students to investigate the satisfaction of its members and to propose an action plan. The city government of Merelbeke employs two Master students to investigate the local economy and to produce an action plan. Three master students conduct a market research and produce a positioning report for Tagger FM, a company exploring social network communication of live music on the model of Facebook.
Students conduct various feasibility studies for new companies and growth companies. Prof. dr. Johan VERRUE Johan.verrue@hogent.be 5. Curriculum development FBPA is currently exploring joint Bachelor and Master degrees in Public Administration with a number of Central-European and East-European universities. On a more modest scale, joint courses may be organized in which students cooperate internationally via Internet. 6. Residential programmes FBPA has a tradition of organizing short residential programmes with other institutions. This has included business simulation games with participating students from several European schools, and study weeks on public policy issues with students from Swedish, Polish and German universities. FBPA plans to expand its offer of residential programmes in cooperation with partner schools.