25 March 2009
Others
Starting next September, as has been set out by the European Higher Education Area, these newqualifications awarded at Deusto will be Undergraduate or First-Cycle Degrees.Therefore, all diploma, bachelor, engineering and technical engineering degrees will disappear.In order to successfully complete a first-cycle degree, students will have to obtain 240 ECTS credits, which will be distributed over 4 years.Each ECTS credit corresponds to 25 hours of student workload. Therefore, during the first-cycle degree course, students will obtain a realistic idea of what a real working day involves.
New undergraduate degrees, five main areas of knowledge
The new undergraduate degrees at the University of Deusto are structured into five main areas of knowledge in which Deusto excels.On the one hand, the Economics and Business area, in which Deusto is leader thanks to the experience of La Comercial faculty in Bilbao, and the ESTE faculty in San Sebastian. In addition, it is further strengthened by Deusto Business School and the Basque Institute of Competitiveness.The first-cycle degree in Business Administration and Management falls within this area.
Another area is Social and Human Sciences, whose courses are included within Humanities, International Studies and Social Sciences, with seven undergraduate degree programmes:on the one hand, Social Work and Tourism, which have been strengthened on this new stage, and on the other, the strong support given to Languages and Humanities, whose degrees include Basque Philology-Euskal Filologia, Humanities, Modern Languages, and Modern Languages and Management; and finally, a new undergraduate degree in Communication.
The area of Psychology and Education builds upon Deusto?s long tradition of training psychologists and teachers, and it includes the undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Social Education, and a new degree for the 2009-2010 academic year such as the undergraduate degree in Primary Education.
The area of Law is still one of Deusto?s strong commitments.The new Undergraduate degree in Law maintains the prestige built up over 120 years without losing the hallmark of graduates in Law from Deusto, while at the same time enhancing its international dimension as well as the importance of legal Basque.
Finally, the Engineering area builds upon nearly 30 years of work in the field of Computing and the spectacular increase in new Engineering degrees, to which initiatives like Deusto Tecnológico, carried out in the last few years should be added.Deusto offers the following undergraduate degrees in the area of Engineering:Computer Engineering, Industrial and Automation Electronics, Industrial Organisation, Telematics, and the new degrees in Audiovisual Systems and Industrial Technologies.
At this University, these Undergraduate degrees can be complemented with Deusto?s Own Degrees, like, for example, Law, with a Specialism in Economics, and in the area of Business Administration and Management, Deusto?s own degrees in Innovation and Entrepreneurship and in Executive Development.
Joint Degrees
In addition, the new degrees include combined degree programmes made up of two undergraduate degrees (?joint degrees?). This is a pioneering experience at Deusto, which will enable students to develop specific competences in two areas of knowledge over the 5 years of the programme.These ?joint degrees? have been designed to meet the need for graduates with specialist skills in companies and institutions. The following are offered at Deusto: Business Administration and Management + Law, Business Administration and Management + Computer Engineering, Business Administration and Management + Industrial Technology Engineering.
Honours programme
In addition, a new ?Honours Programme? will be offered at Deusto for the first time next academic year. This distinction is awarded to the most outstanding students, and it has a long-established tradition at British and North American universities, particularly at those run by Jesuits, and it is awarded to students with the best academic records.Students pursuing an Honours Programme are expected to choose a number of electives, some of them in English, to take part in volunteer activities, in exchange programmes at national or international level, and to demonstrate that they have a high-level research capacity.
A decade preparing for the European convergence
The University of Deusto has a very good grasp of the Bologna process thanks to the University Learning Model (MAUD).Most of what is being proposed by the new education system has already been implemented through this Model at Deusto nearly for the past 10 years. This is an original and own teaching method that gives special emphasis to very similar aspects to those set out in the Bologna process, such as the fact that students are the real protagonists of their own learning, the importance of providing individuals with a comprehensive education where, apart from knowledge, they may also acquire competences and values; the European credit transfer system (ECTS), the international mobility of both students and staff, etc.
Hence, the University has an outstanding position in this field.The implementation of the complex European credit system to measure student workload in terms of learning time and translate it into ECTS credits has been easy for the teaching staff at Deusto, since they started to implement it in 1994. In fact, Deusto is one of the universities that has promoted the Tuning programme.This programme has defined the competences for each degree programme at a European level.
The Advantages of Bologna:?know-how?, placement programmes, mobility?
One of the main advantages of the new system is that it enables students to become the real protagonists of their own learning, while the teaching staff act as their guides through the whole process.In addition, they acquire competences, a key element in the new system, which means that graduates will have learnt know how to give presentations in front of a large audience, work in teams, solve case studies, write reports, etc. With the old systeml, on completion of their studies, graduates ?knew?, and now they also have to ?know how to?, and be competent to enter the labour market.
In this regard, the new undergraduate degrees at the University of Deusto have been designed to be more responsive to the needs of the labour market and society at large. With this aim in mind, institutions, social groups, professional associations and companies in each sector have been asked to adapt competences to their individual needs.The aim is to prepare students so that they can easily enter the labour market.Hence, the new curriculum offers 100 per cent of students the opportunity to undertake a placement programme at national and international organisations.The number of exchange and international mobility programmes at Deusto is increasing every year, and it will be easier than ever under the Bologna process, especially for the promotion of multilingual teaching, with lectures in foreign languages, mainly in English.
Furthermore, with regard to student mobility, the new academic year will bring important changes since, from now on, Deusto qualifications will have European recognition, which will give students direct access to pursue their university studies in other European countries, or to enter the international labour market.Therefore, free student mobility is, in fact, the main aim to create a common higher education area across Europe.In line with this aim, the European Diploma Supplement has consolidated as an international document, which elaborates on a student's degree certificate and transcript and is aimed at potential employers. It provides a description of the nature, level, context, content and status of the studies that were pursued and successfully completed by the student in question. It also details the skills acquired and learning outcomes of the programme undertaken by the student.It is a kind of passport to move throughout Europe.
New Organisation and Infrastructures
The changes as a result of Bologna have also translated into the new organisational structure that the university will launch in the next few weeks as well as into the new infrastructures on the two campuses of the University of Deusto.One of the most noteworthy developments has been the new Library-RCLR in Bilbao, an essential learning space for students, the forthcoming upgrading of La Comercial building, whose aim is to provide more resources and facilities for the new undergraduate degrees and programmes at Deusto Business School, and the recently opened Psychology laboratories, featuring the latest technologies, which add to the existing 15 specialised labs for prospective engineering students.Then, at the San Sebastian campus, special mention should be made of the construction of three new buildings:a building for the promotion of business projects, another for the programmes run by Deusto Business School, and a third for teaching and learning adapted to the Bologna requirements.
New undergraduate degrees
San Sebastian campus
Business Administration and Management
Business Administration and Management + Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programme (Deusto?s own degree)
Communication
Tourism
Social Work
Joint degrees
Business Administration and Management + Law
Business Administration and Management + Computer Engineering
Undergraduate Degrees ? Bilbao Campus
Law
Law + Specialism in Economics (Diploma) (Deusto?s own degree)
Business Administration and Management
Business Administration and Management + Executive Development Programme (Deusto?s own degree)
Psychology
Social Education
Primary Education (Specialism in a Foreign Language and in Special Educational Needs)
Tourism
Social Work
Modern Languages and Management
Modern Languages (English Studies and Hispanic Studies)
Basque Philology-Euskal Filologia
Humanities (History; Philosophy and History of Religions)
Computer Engineering
Industrial Technology Engineering
Industrial and Automation Electronics Engineering
Industrial Organisation Engineering
Audiovisual Systems Engineering
Telematics Engineering
Joint degrees
Business Administration and Management + Law
Business Administration and Management + Industrial Technology Engineering
