Growth and Growth Pains
The year 2022 for Jamk University of Applied Sciences was built as a year of growth. The end of the pandemic and the recovery of the economy was anticipated. Indeed, the growth in activities and the economy was at all-time high, but Russian military action led to a general increase in costs as inflation accelerated and growth slowed down.
Jamk's net yield rose to a new record with a turnover above EUR 74 million. The growth took place in RDI and service sales. Jamk is an expert community where all the results are generated by the staff. Thus, the number of RDI staff in particular was increased. At the end of the year, there were in total about 900 of us.
In the personnel survey of 2022 staff satisfaction increased throughout the organisation and in all the main categories measured. The overall result of Jamk clearly exceeded the average result among Finnish organisations in the field of education.
More than one third of Jamk's funding is not funded by the Ministry's budget. Therefore, our university must be dynamic, competitive and interactive in order to obtain external funding.
The financial result for the year 2022 was clearly in deficit. The main reason was the revaluation of the investment assets in the balance sheet as the investment rates went down. A sound balance sheet, a shared commitment and a vision of future competence will provide a basis for a long-term correction.
Jamk has more students than ever, nearly 10,000. The number of students has increased in all forms of education. Continuous learning, consisting of different modules of study, is growing strongly.
Nearly one in ten of our degree students are international students. Internationalism is a strong factor in Jamk, which was significantly confirmed by Jamk's membership of the European University EUDRES. This university alliance of nine universities will be important to us from the point of view of education and regional development as well as funding.
The effects of the global pandemic were reflected both as a delay in studies and as an increased need for support and guidance. The atmosphere created by the war in Ukraine tested the mental well-being of the community. The key question for all universities after the pandemic is remodeling the distance learning and studying on campuses – considering the needs of students. An important contribution to the development and coordination of our educational efforts was the creation of the position for a Vice Rector of Education.
Jamk's RDI activities, which mainly focus on our strategic choices, have been soaring to a total volume of over EUR 20 million. At the same time the strategic choices have become sharper with the change in the operating environment and in the crises of recent years. Slightly less than half of the growth in applied research and development at Jamk is explained by the integration of Likes Research Centre to our university community.
In addition to education and RDI, Jamk’s third role is in the service business, which both brings income and deepens partnerships and enhances the quality of our operations. The service business also saw a significant increase of one third in relation to the previous year. Half of the EUR 10 million yield was made in Finland and half abroad. In the production and sale of higher education competence services, Jamk is in the top three among the Universities of Applied Sciences. Ultimately, the services integrate and produce the skills generated in education and RDI tasks.
In the mid-term review of the strategy carried out in autumn 2022, we summed up key factors for the future. The most important issue is the well-being of the Jamk community and thus the modelling of a university that emphasises interaction. We are looking for solutions for green transition, demographic impacts and security. In these areas, we can only succeed together with our partners and networks.
I want to thank the Jamk community and Jamk's partners – effective expertise requires cooperation and interaction!
