Profesionālā maģistra studiju programma

1.9.Form of examinations

The different forms of examination are as follows:

* written exams,

* oral exams.

A writ­ten ex­ami­na­tion shall mean an ex­ami­na­tion, dur­ing which stu­dents an­swer ex­ami­na­tion ques­tions or carry out ex­ami­na­tion tasks in a writ­ten form on pa­per or com­puter. Ex­ami­na­tion pa­pers sub­mit­ted in writ­ten form shall be as­sessed and graded in the ab­sence of the stu­dent. For pur­poses of the as­sess­ment of stu­dent’s pa­pers, the teach­ing staff shall be per­mit­ted to ask any ques­tions nec­es­sary to clar­ify the tasks car­ried out or an­swers given in a writ­ten form.

An oral ex­ami­na­tion shall mean an ex­ami­na­tion, dur­ing which the teach­ing staff assesses the oral an­swers and ex­pla­na­tions of a stu­dent. An oral ex­ami­na­tion may also in­clude a task to be car­ried out in writ­ten form ei­ther on pa­per or com­puter.

The form of the con­clud­ing ex­ami­na­tions of a study course shall be de­ter­mined by the de­part­ment, sub­ject to the ap­proval of the Stud­ies De­part­ment.

1.10.Quality management

A quality management system has been designed at SBAT for quality assurance that provides for the documentary regulation of the whole study process and regularly updates the documentary regulations. An internal audit system that foresees annual audit of all structural units exists in SBAT that ensures the effective implementation and management of study processes.

Heads of department and programme directors make regular hospitality visits to lectures to ensure the continuous control of study content quality. The observations made during the hospitality visits are then discussed with the lecturer.

A written student questionnaire was carried out during the 2^nd semester of the academic year 2008/2009 involving 2 students from the 1^st study year and 3 from the 2^nd study year. The main results are as follows:

Why did you choose to study this particular programme?

Assessment of academic staff (10 point system):
average – 8.5
Are you satisfied with the Doctoral study programme "Communication Management"?
Fully satisfied– 1
Mostly satisfied– 4
Are you satisfied with lectures on weekday evenings?
Fully satisfied – 2
Mostly satisfied – 3
Are you satisfied with the opportunity to attend lectures and seminars conducted by visiting lecturers?
Fully satisfied – 4
Mostly satisfied – 1
Are you satisfied with the opportunity to present your research results and participate in conferences?
Fully satisfied – 4
Mostly satisfied – 1
Are you satisfied with the opportunity to publish your research results in proceeding?
Fully satisfied – 2
Mostly satisfied – 3
Are you satisfied with the cooperation with scientific advisor?
Fully satisfied – 4
Mostly unsatisfied – 1
Are you satisfied with the accessibility to literature necessary for studies at SBAT library and access to databases?
Fully satisfied – 3
Mostly satisfied – 2
Evaluate on whole satisfaction with the choice of study programme:
Fully satisfied – 2
Mostly satisfied – 1
Can’t tell – 2
Is it difficult to combine studies with work?
No difficulties – 1
Almost easy – 1
Difficult to tell – 2
Difficult – 1
How many hours per week do you spend on independent studies for research?
More than 20 hrs – 2
9 – 3 hrs – 2
Less than 3hrs – 1
Will you finish the doctoral thesis within the duration of the study programme?
Definitely – 3
Maybe – 1
No – 1
It should be concluded that the doctoral students are satisfied with the study programme and its organisation. The study programme profile is the strong point whereas cooperation with scientific advisor and compilation of doctoral theses is a weak point where student progress is inconsistent. The ESF scholarships (European Social Fund project “Doctoral study support at SBAT”) will hopefully help solve the problem with the best doctoral students receiving scholarships allowing them to successfully complete studies and defend their doctoral theses.

A survey among all SBAT staff is carried out annually where the personnel can express their opinion on various processes at SBAT, on professionalism of management, one’s wishes regarding work organisation and development of motivation system, recommendations for increasing efficiency of SBAT etc. The results of the survey are available at the Personnel department.

SBAT regularly monitors the satisfaction level of students and staff and is ready to introduce the latest quality management system principles. SBAT was awarded the Latvian quality award for small and medium sized enterprises in 2002.

4. ACADEMIC PERSONNEL INVOLVED IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME

The academic personnel of School of Business Administration Turiba has been formed since 1994. With the growth of SBAT there has been considerable staff turnover, however the situation has stabilised and 73% of the academic workload is carried out by permanent personnel elected at SBAT.

The academic personnel at SBAT are elected by the Senate in accordance to SBAT regulations and Academic personnel election regulations. SBAT publicly announces the position before the election. The Senate sitting on election of academic personnel is open and the results are fixed in the minutes. The academic personnel conclude an employment contract with SBAT upon election.

SBAT pays considerable attention to the further qualification and professional development of its academic personnel. SBAT has designed and implemented an academic personnel further education system. The academic personnel further qualification and lifelong learning system includes:

• 
  Discussions and consultations during department meetings and in everyday meetings;
  
• 
  Interdepartmental methodological seminars;
  
• 
  Courses and seminars in the particular branch;
  
• 
  Professional further development courses;
  
• 
  Studies in postgraduate and doctoral programmes.
  

The further qualification of permanent academic personnel is financed by SBAT and studies in postgraduate and doctoral programmes are financed by loans. The loans are repaid by the respective SBAT academic personnel working a number of years at SBAT. This opportunity is being availed by the Doctoral study programme "Communication Management" students. Academic personnel regularly participate with reports at conferences; attend courses and seminars on topical issues in the given branch that strengthen the link between theory and practice. With the activation of international cooperation academic personnel conduct visiting lectures abroad. Academic personnel practitioners enhance their pedagogical skills and knowledge at departmental meetings and interdepartmental methodological seminars. The lectures conducted by academic personnel are regularly observed during hospitality visits and the observations are discussed later with the respective personnel. Regular student surveys are carried out at SBAT on the performance of academic personnel that are taken into account while enhancing professional development.

Altogether 21 academic personnel are involved in the implementation of the programme (refer Table 2).

Table 2. Academic personnel involved in the programme

No.	Name, Surname	Degree, Permanent or visiting lecturer	Study course (the respective mandatory (A) or elective part (C) is shown in brackets)
1.	Jaakko Lehtonen	Dr. phil., Prof., permanent staff member	Integrated marketing communication (A), Risk and crisis communication (C), Scientific research methodology and research methods (A)
2.	Gundar J. King (Gundars Ķeniņš-Kings)	PhD, Dr. hab. oec., Prof., visiting lecturer	Strategic issues management and communication management models (A)
3.	Ieva Kalve	Dr. oec., Assist. Prof., permanent staff member	Strategic issues management and communication management models (A)
4.	Andris Pētersons	Dr. sc. soc., Assist. Prof., permanent staff member	Strategic issues management and communication management models (A)
5.	Jānis Načisčionis	Dr. iur., Prof., permanent staff member	Public administration and government communication (A), Commercial law and communication law (C)
6.	Stephan Russ-Mohl	Dr. rer. soc., Prof., visiting lecturer	Economic analysis of interaction of public relations and journalism (C)
7.	Mārtiņš Boiko	Dr. phil., Dr. filol., Prof., visiting lecturer	Scientific research methodology and research methods (A)
8.	Ainārs Dimants	Dr. phil., Assoc. Prof., permanent staff member	Contemporary mass communication theories (A), Communication Science and journalism (C)
9.	Deniss Hanovs	Dr. art., Assoc. Prof., visiting lecturer	Public administration and government communication (A), Advertising and brand management (C)
10.	Sergejs Kruks	Dr. phil., Assoc. Prof., visiting lecturer	Contemporary mass communication theories (A), Business communication culture (A)
11.	Marlis Prinzing	Dr. rer.pol., visiting lecturer	Business communication culture (A)
12.	Aldis Baumanis	Dr. paed., Assoc. Prof., permanent staff member	Higher education pedagogy and management (A)
13.	Valdis Blūzma	Dr. hist., Prof., permanent staff member	International politics and communication (C)
14.	Jānis Broks	Dr. phil., Assoc. Prof., permanent staff member	Contemporary social processes and social management (C), Scientific research methodology and research methods (A )
15.	Guntis Zemītis	Dr. hist., Assoc. Prof., permanent staff member	International politics and communication (C)
16.	Vilis Daberts	Dr. phil., Assoc. Prof., visiting lecturer	Scientific research methodology and research methods (A)
17.	Sandra Mihailova	Dr. psych., Assoc. Prof., visiting lecturer	Higher education pedagogy and management (A)
18.	Anna Ābeltiņa	Dr. oec., Assoc. Prof., permanent staff member	Knowledge and innovation management (A)
19.	Daina Škuškovnika	Dr. psych., Assist. Prof., permanent staff member	Management and communication psychology (A)
20.	Ineta Lūka	Dr. paed., Assist. Prof., permanent staff member	Foreign language (A)
21.	Aija Poikāne-Daumke	Dr. phil., visiting lecturer	Foreign language (A)

The academic personnel involved in the implementation of the programme are as follows (refer SBAT Personnel department report in appendix):

• 
  Academic personnel with PhD degrees – 21;
  
• 
  Academic personnel, permanent staff members – 12;
  
• 
  Academic personnel involved in implementation of mandatory part of the programme, permanent staff members – 10 (out of 17);
  
• 
  Communication Science professors and associate professors – 5 Jaakko Lehtonen, Stephan Russ-Mohl, Ainārs Dimants, Deniss Hanovs, Sergejs Kruks;
  
• 
  Communication Science professors and associate professors, permanent staff members – 2 (Jaakko Lehtonen, Ainārs Dimants);
  
• 
  Professors and associate professors, permanent staff members – 8 (Valdis Blūzma, Jaakko Lehtonen, Jānis Načisčionis, Anna Ābeltiņa, Aldis Baumanis, Jānis Broks, Ainārs Dimants, Guntis Zemītis);
  
• 
  Assistant professors, permanent staff members – 4 (Ieva Kalve, Ineta Lūka, Andris Pētersons, Daina Škuškovnika).
  

The main directions of academic personnel selection renewal, training and development policy over the next 6 years are as follows:

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  Develop methodological work with scientific advisors of doctoral theses, including those working in related fields and programmes by activating not only their participation in doctoral theoretical seminars but also in the further development of the programme and the interdisciplinary profile of the academic personnel with a focus on Communication Science;
  
• 
  To unite the academic personnel involved in the programme from various SBAT departments in joint communication research projects thereby developing productive synergy, competence and expertise in Communication Management as well as providing doctoral students the opportunity of participating in such projects (e.g., compilation of Latvian Communication terminology dictionary);
  
• 
  Involve young teaching staff with PhD in Communication Science, who are able to lecture in Latvian language as academic personnel for the programme (e.g., on going negotiations with Baiba Pētersone who obtained PhD in public relations from the University of Georgia (USA) in 2009;
  
• 
  Further the implementation of cooperation programme with Riga Stradins University, incl. those with young doctors who have defended their theses in communication topics (e.g., Anda Rožukalne, who has lectured at SBAT Department of Communication Science on a temporary basis);
  
• 
  Develop the cooperation with other Latvian higher education academic personnel in particular with scientific advisors for doctoral theses (e.g., Sandra Veinberga, senior researcher in Communication Science at University of Liepāja).