University of Agder
Coordinates: 58°9′46.82″N 8°0′11.6″E / 58.1630056°N 8.003222°E
| Universitetet i Agder | |
 | |
| Type | Public university |
|---|---|
| Established | 2007 (1994, 1839) |
| Rector | Frank Reichert |
Administrative staff | 1100 |
| Students | 11879 |
| Location | Kristiansand & Grimstad, Norway |
| Campus |
Gimlemoen Grimstad |
| Website | www.uia.no |
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The University of Agder (Norwegian: Universitetet i Agder), formerly known as Agder College and Agder University College, is a public university with campuses in Kristiansand and Grimstad, Norway. The institution was established as a university college (høgskole) in 1994 through the merger of Agder College and five other colleges, including a technical college and a nursing school, and became one of Norway's new universities in 2007. It is among the youngest and smallest of Norway's eight universities.
History
The idea of a university in the Agder region is not completely new. In his short period as ruler of the union of Denmark–Norway, Johann Friedrich Struensee planned on reforming the University of Copenhagen. He gave Bishop Johann Ernst Gunnerus of Trondheim the task of developing more detailed plans. Gunnerus presented a proposal in 1771 in which he suggested establishing a new university in Norway, and placing it in Kristiansand.
The motives for suggesting Kristiansand as a university town have been debated. Regardless, the idea was soon discarded as planning began for the first Norwegian university. In 1811, a resolution was passed to establish Norway's first university in Christiania (Oslo).
Even without a university in the region, and as the need for better educated employees rose, several smaller colleges were established throughout the Agder region. The first, Kristiansand Teacher Training College was originally founded at Holt, Aust-Agder in 1839, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Norway. It was followed by Arendal College of Nursing (1920), Agder Music Conservatory (1965), Agder Regional College of Technology (1967), Agder Regional College (1969) and Kristiansand College of Nursing (1976).
Agder University College was established by a merger in 1994, when the six public regional colleges in the Agder counties became one institution. The University College received full university accreditation and became the University of Agder on 1 September 2007. In 2015, the University of Agder has approximately 12,000 students and 1,100 employees.
Organisation and administration
UiA has a shared leadership. The dean is elected by the students and members of staff and faculty, who becomes the head of the university board, and is responsible for the academic programmes and activities. The university director is the head of administration, and is responsible for all economic and administrative affairs.
Faculties and Academia
The University of Agder has six faculties as well as an own unit fior teacher education.
Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences
- School of Business and Law (from 1 Jan 2014) (University of Agder)[1]
- Faculty of Social Sciences (from 1 Jan 2014) (University of Agder)[2]
- Department of Economics and Business Administration (Gimlemoen)
- Department of Development Studies (Gimlemoen)
- Department of Information Systems
- Department of Political Science and Management (Gimlemoen)
- Department of Sociology, Social Work and Welfare Studies (Gimlemoen)
- Department of Working Life and Innovation (Gimlemoen)
Faculty of Fine Arts
Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences
- Department of Public Health, Sport and Nutrition (Gimlemoen/Grimstad)
- Department of Health and Nursing Science (Gimlemoen/Grimstad)
- Department of Psychososial Health (Gimlemoen/Grimstad)
Faculty of Humanities and Education
- Department of Foreign Languages and Translation (Gimlemoen/Grimstad)
- Department of Nordic and Media Studies (Gimlemoen)
- Department of Education (Gimlemoen)
- Department of Religion, Philosophy and History (Gimlemoen)
Faculty of Engineering and Science
- Department of Mathematical Sciences (Gimlemoen)
- Department of Natural Sciences (Gimlemoen)
- Department of Engineering (Grimstad)
- Department of ICT (Grimstad)
Teacher Education
The teacher training programmes are organized in an interdisciplinary fashion.
Research Centres
- Achieving Accountability in School Practice
- Centre for Business Systems
- Centre for Care Research
- Centre for Cultural Studies
- Centre for Development Studies
- Centre for Didactics
- Centre for Entrepreneurship
- Centre for European Studies
- Centre for Gender Equality
- Centre for Innovation and Work Life Studies
- Centre for International Economics and Shipping
- Centre for Multicultural Activities
- Centre for Norwegian Studies Abroad
- Centre for Real Estate
- Center for Sustainable Energy Solutions
- Norwegian Centre for Offshore Wind Energy (NORCOWE)
Library
Agder University Research Archive (AURA) is a full text digital archive of scientific papers, theses and dissertations from the academic staff and students at the University of Agder. The University Library administrates AURA.