The UVic-UCC has 3% more new students this academic year, the first in which UManresa students will be UVic-UCC graduates

The number of new entrance registrations for official degrees at the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC) has increased by 3% in the 2018-19 academic year, and the total number of students by 10%. This includes the bachelor's degree courses at the UVic, UManresa, official master's degrees and doctorates at the UVic-UCC, the Professional Campus, students on the blended learning Bachelor's Degree in Translation, Interpreting and Applied Languages and Speech Therapy offered jointly by the UVic and the UOC, and the BAU, EADA and ESERP affiliated centres.

These are some of the registration figures for the 2018-2019 academic year, which were presented at noon today by the rector of the UVic-UCC, Joan Masnou, at a press conference which took place on the Manresa campus. According to Masnou, "the UVic-UCC is no longer a small university, and has now become a mature university, which is consolidated and recognised within the Catalan, Spanish and European university system. It has become the university of Central Catalonia," he said. The rector also emphasised that after the federation agreement which was signed in 2014, this academic year will be the first in which the first year group of students will graduate from the Manresa campus with a degree from the UVic-UCC.

UManresa: more students - more international

A total of 516 new students have registered on the Manresa campus this year - 6.6% more than a year ago. This is the fourth consecutive year that the number of new admissions has increased, and this consolidates the trend towards growth which began with the university's federation in 2014. The number of newly admitted students has increased in the two faculties on the Manresa campus, the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Health Sciences, although the larger increase is in the latter faculty. This is mainly due to the appeal of the blended learning bachelor's degree in Speech Therapy, which is taught jointly with the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). Nursing has become consolidated as a course in great demand, as has Physiotherapy, for which all the places were filled in July, with a minimum entrance mark of 5.6. In the Social Sciences field, the bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Management has experienced an increase of 24% compared to the previous year.

35% of UManresa's new students come from outside Spain, and come mostly from France and Italy for the Physiotherapy and Podiatry courses, respectively. There are also international students on the Speech Therapy and Nursing degree courses, albeit to a much lesser extent. On the Manresa campus as a whole, the international population among undergraduates currently accounts for 37% of students, and this proportion rises to 44.6% among new students.

66% of the students who joined this course on the Manresa campus are women. They are clearly a majority on the courses in Speech Therapy (where they amount to 92%) and Early Childhood Education (where they account for 94%). Business Administration and Management and Physiotherapy are the only two bachelor's degrees with more male than female students. Meanwhile, the most common means of access to bachelor's degree studies on the Manresa campus is passing university entrance examinations, after having completed higher secondary education, which accounts for 62% of the cases. However, 22% of students join the courses from higher level vocational courses. On the Speech Therapy course, 39% of newly registered students have previous university studies.

Masnou referred to the reduction in students registering for the courses in Early Childhood Education (at Manresa and Vic) and Primary School Teaching (in Vic), which is closely linked to the new criteria for access and has led to a general decline all over Catalonia. The rector said that it is necessary to look beyond the figures, and to understand that "the system asks the university to train better teachers, and to prioritise quality over quantity, and we agree with this."

UVic: growth in engineering and semi-distance courses

The Vic campus has seen an increase of 2% in new registrations, to 1,081 students compared to 1,059 last year, and of 1% in the total number of students at the UVic, which has now reached 4,377. This is an "outstanding" increase taking into account that the demand in Catalonia for the studies taught by UVic has fallen by 4%. Masnou also pointed out that 79% of the registrations at the Vic campus this year are by students who chose the UVic as their first preference in pre-registration.

Some of the reasons that account for this increase are the high level of demand for the Mechatronics, Multimedia and Automotive engineering degree courses that have been taught at the Granollers campus since last year, for which registration increased by 41% this year. This means that new entrance registrations in the Faculty of Science and Technology have increased by 13% compared to last year. The degrees in Occupational Therapy, with a growth of 53% and Human Nutrition and Dietetics, with an increase of 31%, which are both in blended learning format, have also increased new entrance registrations in the Faculty of Health Sciences and Welfare by 11%.

This growth in engineering courses has led to a slight increase in the number of male students admitted to the UVic this year. According to the figures, 53% of students at the UVic are female and 47% are male - 4 points up from than last year. The largest proportion (20%) come from Osona, 14% are from the Vallès Oriental, and 11% are from the Barcelonès. Finally, and as is the case in Manresa, most students joined the University after having taken university entrance examinations, but 23% did so after having completed an Advanced Level Specific Vocational Training Course.

The Faculty of Medicine grows by 24%

In the second year that the degree in Medicine has been taught at the UVic-UCC, registration has increased by 24% compared to the previous academic year, and the course now has 180 students, counting those in the first and second year. The minimum entrance mark rose from 11.771 last year to 11.941 this year, and it was the first preference choice of 136 students, with more than 800 applying to study Medicine at the University. According to the general manager of the Foundation for Advanced Health Sciences (FESS), Joan Guanyabens, these figures show that the Faculty is consolidating its position, and it will have two teaching units in Vic and in Manresa from next year onwards. Next academic year also sees the beginning of clinical internships, in which various students will be distributed across the Faculty's healthcare network.

The UVic-UCC Professional Campus consolidates the range of vocational training in a university environment

This year, the UVic-UCC Professional Campus has offered 7 higher vocational training cycles (CFGS), and two of these are new to the Manresa campus. These are the CGFS in Early Childhood Education - Science and Experimentation, and the CGFS in Administration and Finances - Sports Management, which have complemented the Dental Prosthetics course that was already being taught on the Bages campus, and the courses taking place in the towns of Vic (3D Animations, Interactive Games and Environments, Multiplatform Applications Development), Olot (Processes and Quality in the Food Industry) and Granollers (Marketing and Advertising). There has been an increase of 20% in these courses this academic year, and 249 students are now taking dual training in a university environment with a high level of practical content. For example, 16 students who completed some of the 7 cycles have begun studying a UVic-UCC degree this academic year after validating some of the subjects in the cycle. Joan Masnou emphasised the importance of the Professional Campus for the UVic-UCC, as it "acts as a bridge for many students who gain access to university studies from advanced level specific vocational training."

UVic-UCC strategic projects

The general manager of the Balmes University Foundation, Joan Turró, explained that the selection process for the new rector is proceeding on schedule, and said that the selection committee will send a proposal for the appointment to the Foundation's Board of Trustees before the end of November. An extraordinary meeting of the Senate will then be convened for the community to vote on the proposal for the new rector and if the proposal is approved, a subsequent meeting of the Board of Trustees will ratify the rector before the end of the year.

He also mentioned some of the major investments that the Balmes University Foundation will be making in the coming years. These include the BETA centre's to the Can Baumann facilities, where the new scientific and technical park will be built; the new health campus at Prat de Galliners, which will involve entail the construction of 16,000 m2 of new buildings in the Atlàntida area; and the final phase of the construction of the UVic sports facilities.

Turró explained that negotiations for the programme agreement had begun, and said he was satisfied with the fulfilment of the contract that ends this year: "after having achieved 107% of the objectives set, we have earned this grant." Regarding the new contract to be signed, Turró said that he was "aware of the situation in the country, but we need a programme agreement that recognises the positive contribution that we make to the territory."

Meanwhile, Valentí Martínez, general manager of the Bages University Foundation, explained that the extension of the facilities on the Manresa campus is one of the major strategic projects for this academic year. This includes the refurbishment-adaptation of the old modernista Escorxador building to move all theoretical-practical Physiotherapy studies there, the remodelling of the International Simulation Centre and High Performance Clinic, which will involve the incorporation of new facilities and equipment for simulation activities, and the extension of Lab 0-6, the science laboratory facilities for children aged from 0 to 6 years. The work on the Escorxador facility will also involve the development of new free spaces on the Manresa university campus. This physical growth will also enable other strategic initiatives for the Manresa campus to be launched, such as the consolidation of the commitment to for simulation as a distinguishing feature of the training range, the internationalisation of teaching, research and knowledge transfer, the development of distance learning as a response to new training needs, and the establishment of partnerships to make the university's activities more accessible to new groups and audiences.