Open University of Greece

The Open University of Greece (Hellenic Open University - HOU) is a multi-school university run by the Greek State. The institution, which is based in Patras, is unique in the Greek context in that it exclusively provides distance education at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

History

The Hellenic Open University was founded in 1992 in Patras, but remained defunct until 1997 at which time legislation was enacted (Act 2552/97) regarding its operation. The first cohorts of students were admitted in 1999. Further legislation amended the operation of the university by further specifying "inter alia" its scope, admissions, tuition and academic recruitment procedures (Article 14 of Act 2817/2000, Article 3 of Act 3027/2002 and Article 13 of Act 3260/2004).

Academic Profile

The university comprises four schools, namely a School of Humanities, a School of Social Science, a School of Science and Technology and a School of Applied Arts. Degrees include studies in European or Greek Civilisation, Spanish Language and Culture, Natural Sciences, Computer Science and Business Administration. Postgraduate degrees are also offers in various subjects such as Master in Education, Adult Education, Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Teaching German as a Foreign Language, Teaching French as a Foreign Language, Quality Assurance, Environmental Design of Cities and Buildings, Environmental Design of Infrastructure, Tourist Business Administration, Health Care Administration, Health National System Services Administration, Banking, Orthodox Theology, Graphic Arts - Multimedia, Waste Management, Construction Management, Earthquake Engineering and Seismic Resistant Structures, Advanced Studies in Physics, Catalysis and Environmental Protection, Masters in Mathematics, Masters in Information Systems, MSc in Natural Sciences for Educators, Administration of Cultural Units, Master in Business Administration.

In 2008, it was estimated that around 25,000 students were registered in the HOU [Citation| last=Katsikas|first=Christos
title=Ανοικτό Πανεπιστήμιο: 72.000 υποψήφιοι για 7.200 θέσεις
newspaper=Ta Nea
publication-place=Athens, Greece
date=August 28, 2008
year=2008
month=August
url=http://www.tanea.gr/default.asp?pid=2&ct=1&artid=83637 .] . Older data suggests that the majority of them are mature students (over 35 years old) [Citation| last=Nanouris |first=Dimitris
title=Το ΕΑΠ σε αριθμούς
newspaper=Ελευθεροτυπία
publication-place=Athens, Greece
date=December 17, 2006
year=2006
month=December
url=http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=112,id=12236884 .] . Admissions take place randomly through a lottery process [Citation| last=Grapsas |first=Marinos
title=65.572 υποψήφιοι
newspaper=Ελευθεροτυπία
publication-place=Athens, Greece
date=December 13, 2006
year=2006
month=December
url=http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=112,id=46624068 .] , at which nearly one out of ten applicants is granted a place at the university. [Citation | last=Oikonomou | first=Anastasios | title=Π. Σιαφαρίκας: Κοινωνική ανάγκη το Ελληνικό Ανοικτό Πανεπιστήμιο | newspaper=Kathimerini | publication-place=Athens, Greece | date=January 29, 2007 | year=2007 | month=January | url=http://portal.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathextra_11_29/01/2007_179871.] [Citation| last=Katsikas|first=Christos
title=Ανοικτό Πανεπιστήμιο: 72.000 υποψήφιοι για 7.200 θέσεις
newspaper=Ta Nea
publication-place=Athens, Greece
date=August 28, 2008
year=2008
month=August
url=http://www.tanea.gr/default.asp?pid=2&ct=1&artid=83637 .] Attrition levels are high [Citation
last = Vergitis, Dimitris and Panagiotakopoulos
first = Chris
year = 2002
title = Student Dropout at the Hellenic Open University:
periodical = The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning
volume = 3
issue = 2
url = http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/101/180
issn = ISSN: 1492-3831
accessdate = June 22, 2008] : for instance, out of more than 500 students who registered in the School of Sciences in 2000, only 8 had graduated by the end of 2006. [Citation| last=Nanouris |first=Dimitris
title=Το ΕΑΠ σε αριθμούς
newspaper=Ελευθεροτυπία
publication-place=Athens, Greece
date=December 17, 2006
year=2006
month=December
url=http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=112,id=12236884 .]

Unemployment rates among the graduates of the HOU are significantly higher than similar rates among the graduates of other universities in Greece. It is estimated that 35% of the students who had graduated with an MA from the HOU were unemployed in 2006, compared to 9% in the more 'traditional' universities. [Citation| last=Nanouris |first=Dimitris | title=Το ΕΑΠ σε αριθμούς | newspaper=Ελευθεροτυπία | publication-place=Athens, Greece | date=December 17, 2006 | year=2006 | month=December | url=http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=112,id=12236884.]

With the exception of a small number of tenured academics, the overwhelming majority of teaching staff works on short-term (<12 months) contracts. [Citation| last=Nanouris |first=Dimitris
title=Το ΕΑΠ σε αριθμούς
newspaper=Ελευθεροτυπία
publication-place=Athens, Greece
date=December 17, 2006
year=2006
month=December
url=http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=112,id=12236884 .] In addition to their teaching role, the staff of the university are expected to produce research which primarily focusses on issues of distance education, according to the university mandate. In terms of research output, the 27 tenured academics of the university published 188 articles between 2002 and 2006 in peer-reviewed journals, including the ones affiliated to the university. Including self-references, these articles had generated 233 citations as recorded on the ISI Web of Knowledge. Using the ratio of citations per publication as a criterion of research quality, the university ranked at the 14th place out of 19 state-run universities in Greece. [cite web |url=http://greekuniversityreform.wordpress.com/2007/10/20/%CE%BA%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%AC%CF%84%CE%B1%CE%BE%CE%B7-%CF%84%CF%89%CE%BD-%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%BB%CE%B7%CE%BD%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8E%CE%BD-%CF%80%CE%B1%CE%BD%CE%B5%CF%80%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%AF%CF%89/#comment-16843|title=Κατάταξη των ελληνικών πανεπιστημίων με βάση το ερευνητικό έργο στην πενταετία 2002-06|accessdate=2008-07-30 |last=Lazarides|first=Themis|date=October 20th, 2007]

References

External links

* [http://www.eap.gr]