On December 22, the government decided on regulatory letters regarding higher education assignments. The universities (where the majority are authorities) as well as authorities such as the University Chancellor's Office, the University and Higher Education Council and the Central Student Support Board will be tasked with implementing the plan in 2023. We have collected all regulation letters current for students here.
Politicians have two primary ways of governing the authorities, this is (1) through the state budget and (2) through regulation letters, both of which are decided on annually. The Riksdag decided on the state budget and in the regulation letters, the operational management of the authorities' activities and the implementation of the government's policy take place. The regulatory letter is thus a governing document as well as a government decision, it states, among other things, the business's goals, budget and how funds are to be distributed.
Support for student influence
The state subsidy for student influence remains at a total of SEK 55 million! In previous budget proposals, it was stated that the increase would be temporary, but in the regulation letter, the same amount is stated as the previous year, which is a win for the student unions! My colleague Simon Edström commented on the increase in 2020 in the post 25 million more for student influence.
Assignments to universities and colleges
The general regulation letter for universities and colleges regarding budget year 2023 is extensive. Some of the assignments have been completed and it is therefore logical that they are not extended, a number that have been over a longer period of time remain until the deadline has expired and some new assignments have been added. In addition to the common regulation letter, each higher education institution has a specific one for itself, where some higher education institutions receive supplementary assignments.
A new but expected task was the universities' work to adapt and/or develop the offer for lifelong learning and adjustment. One consequence of the introduction of the transition study support is that the universities need to develop courses to be attractive to this so-called new student group. Developing courses takes time and must be done with thought. It is partly about the education being relevant and responding to the students' demand and the needs of the labor market, and partly about the education having resources, including in the form of teachers, and being relevant in the higher education institution's educational profile.
Horizon Europe is a research initiative of the European Union for the years 2021-2017, it replaces the Horizon 2020 program and the previous framework programs for research and technological development. In the regulation letter, it is stated that the higher education institutions must report which efforts have been deemed relevant and have been taken for participation. Of course, it is important that Swedish higher education institutions are involved and take part in Horizon Europe, and the spring of 2023 will be particularly marked by it the Swedish presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Universities and colleges must continue to work with equality integration. SFS believes that it is good that this mission remains in order to, among other things, make gender-related study choices visible. The equality integration will also show whether or what impact gender has on career paths and throughput. It is the higher education institutions themselves that have been involved in and influenced the direction of the continued work with equality integration in the years 2023-2025, in which the mission now starts.
I The Tidal Agreement it was stated that misuse of residence permits for studies should be reduced, as expected, assignments will now come to universities and colleges and the Swedish Migration Agency. It is of great importance that those who apply for higher studies in Sweden do so with the intention of pursuing studies. For those who want to study in Sweden, SFS believes that it should be a simple process to get a residence permit - provided that criteria for studies are met. Unfortunately, it is currently a complicated procedure, which is further complicated by long processing times, which means that some students only get their permits to come to Sweden after the education has started. It shouldn't be like that. SFS wishes to continue to contribute to the work and extra efforts that are now being made to reduce the abuse of residence permits for studies.
Responsible Minister Mats Persson announced in the media on December 21 that "the government requires stricter IT security at universities" and the regulatory letter now states the task of information security. The educational institutions must give an account of how they work and how they plan to work to meet future needs.
Tasks that were included in the regulation letter for 2022 were, among other things, to report information on the number of program beginners, the number of full-year students and the number of graduates in the last three years on educations that lead to a number of degrees, including subject teacher degrees, nursing degrees and architectural degrees. In 2016, quality was strengthened and another assignment the higher education institutions received in 2022, which does not remain, is to "report and analyze how the increased compensation amounts have contributed to higher quality and how funds have contributed to more teacher-led hours within the relevant educations, including the teacher educations". SFS will also follow up on how the universities have worked with the mission for reduced emissions from business trips that was included in the previous year's regulation letter.
Assignment to the University Chancellor's Office
In the research proposal and previous political discussions, it has been brought forward that UKÄ would thematically review the collaboration, in the regulatory letter for 2023 the assignment is stated and it must be reported at the end of 2024. The thematic evaluation of the collaboration must be done based on the requirement in the Higher Education Act which states that in the universities' task must include collaborating with the surrounding community and is the only new assignment. UKÄ has 18 ongoing assignments as well as recurring assignments regarding forecasts.
Assignment to the University and College Council
The ongoing assignments that UHR has must be completed, SFS is involved in several of these. Some examples are the task of increased quality and throughput in distance education, the task of promoting joint higher education pedagogical development work between universities and colleges, and the task of developing a web portal for student health care.