The second day of the 27th BOKU–UBT Mission continued with one of the key processes of academic reform at the Agricultural University of Tirana: the reorganization of departments and the definition of their role within the University’s new structure.
Unlike the first day, which focused on the new Bachelor’s and Master’s study programs, the work shifted to the departmental level. Through two parallel sessions, their representatives presented the work carried out so far on the new structure and organization, while, together with experts from BOKU University of Vienna, they discussed the issues requiring further improvement and the concrete steps needed to implement the new model.
The first session brought together departments and units covering fields such as environmental and natural resource management, agronomic sciences, plant protection, horticulture and landscape architecture, aquaculture and fisheries, animal science, agri-food technology, food science and biotechnology, chemistry, as well as units related to Veterinary Medicine.
In parallel, the second session included the departments of agribusiness management, rural tourism, mathematics and computer science, foreign languages, finance and accounting, economics and rural development policies, forestry and the wood industry, as well as other academic and research units.
The discussions focused specifically on how the departments will be organized to support the new Bachelor’s and Master’s programs, the allocation of academic responsibilities, staff coordination, and the adaptation of existing structures to the University’s new model. For each department, the work completed so far, the issues that remain unresolved, and the steps that need to be finalized going forward were identified, with the aim of implementing the academic reform and the UBT 2030 Strategy.
Another important focus of the second day was the administration of the new study programs. Throughout the day, a dedicated working session was held with the teaching administration staff, during which they discussed procedures related to managing the new academic offering, organizing teaching processes, administrative requirements for implementing the programs, as well as the next steps and deadlines to be followed.
In this context, the software of the Academic Secretariat was also presented. It will be used to manage and digitalize processes related to students and teaching. The presentation focused on the system’s functionalities and how it will support the work of the academic secretariats and enable more efficient management of academic processes within UBT’s new structure.
The second day of the mission thus moved the discussion from the conceptualization of the new study programs to the concrete organization of the academic and administrative structures that will implement them, taking the reform into the practical implementation phase.
