Hellenic Open University

Hellenic Open University
Ελληνικό Ανοιχτό Πανεπιστήμιο
Established	1992
Type	Public
Chancellor	Charalampos Kokotsis
Location	Patras, Greece

The Hellenic Open University (Greek: Ελληνικό Ανοικτό Πανεπιστήμιο - ΕΑΠ) 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 Culture, Spanish Language and Culture, Natural Sciences, Computer Science and Business Administration. Postgraduate degrees of nominal value are also offered 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.^[1] Older data suggests that the majority of them are mature students (over 35 years old).^[2] Admissions take place randomly through a lottery process,^[3] at which nearly one out of ten applicants is granted a place at the university.^[1][4] Attrition levels are high^[5]: 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.^[2] The high attrition rate has been attributed to a combination of the demands posed by the students' non-academic commitments and inappropriate teaching provision,^[6] such as, possibly, the inability to create uniformly successful electronic fora for student collaboration.^[7] A university culture that is reluctant to use ICT,^[8] and embraces distance-learning (rather than e-learning) as a preferred teaching methodology^[9] is also cited as an example of practices that depress learning outcomes.

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.^[10] As a result, the ability of the university to attract stutents for its programmes has declined sharply in recent years.^[11]

With the exception of a small number of tenured academics, the overwhelming majority of teaching staff works on short-term (<12 months) contracts.^[2] 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.^[12] Formal self-evaluations and external reviews, which are mandated by legislation (PL 3374/2005) for all public tertiary institutes, were not taking place in the HOU as of 2009,^[13] despite support offered by the Hellenic Quality Assurance Authority and EU funding.^[14]

Partly because of these problems, the HOU is not generally viewed as a 'legitimate' university in the eyes of the Greek academic community,^[8] despite legal recognition. For instance, the Chairman of the Administrative Committee of the HOU was refused entry in the Council of Rectors of Greek Universities from 1997 to 2003, at which time his access was granted by ministerial decree,

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Katsikas, Christos (August 28, 2008), "Ανοικτό Πανεπιστήμιο: 72.000 υποψήφιοι για 7.200 θέσεις", Ta Nea (Athens, Greece), http://www.tanea.gr/default.asp?pid=2&ct=1&artid=83637  .
2. ^ ^{a b c} Nanouris, Dimitris (December 17, 2006), "Το ΕΑΠ σε αριθμούς", Ελευθεροτυπία (Athens, Greece), http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=112,id=12236884  .
3. ^ Grapsas, Marinos (December 13, 2006), "65.572 υποψήφιοι", Ελευθεροτυπία (Athens, Greece), http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=112,id=46624068  .
4. ^ Oikonomou, Anastasios (January 29, 2007), "Π. Σιαφαρίκας: Κοινωνική ανάγκη το Ελληνικό Ανοικτό Πανεπιστήμιο", Kathimerini (Athens, Greece), http://portal.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathextra_11_29/01/2007_179871. 
5. ^ Vergitis, Dimitris and Panagiotakopoulos, Chris (2002), "Student Dropout at the Hellenic Open University:", The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 3 (2), ISSN 1492-3831 ISSN: 1492-3831, http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/101/180, retrieved 2008-06-22 
6. ^ Pierrakeas, C., Xenos, M., Panagiotakopoulos, C. and Vergidis,, D. (2004), "A Comparative Study of Dropout Rates and Causes for Two Different Distance Education Courses", The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 5 (2), ISSN 1492-3831 ISSN: 1492-3831, http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/viewArticle/183/265, retrieved 2009-01-04 
7. ^ Panagiotakopoulos, Chris, Lionarakis, Antonis, and Xenos,, Michalis. (2003), "Open and Distance Learning: Tools of Information and Communication Technologies for Effective Learning", Proceedings of the sixth Hellenic European Research on Computer Mathematics and its Applications Conference, HERCMA2003, Athens, Greece, 2003., http://quality.eap.gr/Publications/XM/Conferences%20English/C21%20-%20ODL%20Tools%20of%20ICT%20for%20Effective%20Learning.pdf, retrieved 2009-01-04 
8. ^ ^{a b} Koustarakis, G, Panagiotakopoulos, C. and Vergidis,, D. (2008), "A Contribution to the Hellenic Open University: Evaluation of the pedagogical practices and the use of ICT on distance education", The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 9 (2), ISSN 1492-3831 ISSN: 1492-3831, http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/viewArticle/424/1044, retrieved 2010-08-30 
9. ^ Valasidou, A., Makrdiou-Bousiou,, D. (2006), "Satisfying distance education students of the Hellenic Open University", e - mentor (2), http://www.e-mentor.edu.pl/artykul_v2.php?numer=14&id=284, retrieved 2010-08-30 
10. ^ Nanouris, Dimitris (December 17, 2006), "Το ΕΑΠ σε αριθμούς", Ελευθεροτυπία (Athens, Greece), http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=112,id=12236884 .
11. ^ Mastoras, Nikos (December 14, 2010), "Η κρίση χτύπησε και το Ανοικτό Πανεπιστήµιο", Τα Νεα (Athens, Greece), http://www.tanea.gr/default.asp?pid=2&ct=1&artid=4609014  .
12. ^ Lazarides, Themis (October 20, 2007), Κατάταξη των ελληνικών πανεπιστημίων με βάση το ερευνητικό έργο στην πενταετία 2002-06, 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, retrieved 2008-07-30 
13. ^ Hellenic Quality Assurance Authority 2009 Report p. 24
14. ^ Hellenic Quality Assurance Authority 2009 Report pp. 7, 14

External links

• Official Website
• EAP-Forums