On the January 1st 1996 the University of Trondheim and the Norwegian Institute of Technology were officially amalgamated to form the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). According to the new University Act adopted by the Norwegian Parliament in May 1995, all Norwegian universities shall have no more than three levels of organisation (university, faculty and department). The old University of Trondheim had actually four organisational levels, so it was decided in March 1995 that the University of Trondheim should be restructured to conform to the new University Act.
As a result of these changes, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology now consists of the faculties that previously comprised the Norwegian Institute of Technology, The College of Arts and Science, the Museum of Natural History and Archeology and the Faculty of Medicine, as well as the Trondheim Academy of Fine Arts and the Trondheim Music Conservatory; these latter two institutions not having been part of the main university structure prior to establishment of the new university.
Another feature of the University Act is the new national educational and research network known as The Norway Network.. In conjunction with the passing of the University Act, the Norwegian Parliament decided that the new Norwegian University of Science and Technology would be given a special national responsibility for technologically oriented research and education., hence the name of the new amalgamation.
The Norwegian University of Science and Technology is the only Norwegian University to have been given a particular political mandate of this kind upon its establishment. The mandate was approved by Parliament and is formulated in the Parliamentary Bill no. 24 (1995-1996), forwarded for Parliament by the Ministry of Education, Research and Church Affairs in January 1996. The Bill ratifies eight main points for the development of the academic profile for the new university recommended by a consultative group named the Underdal Committee, which presented its recommendations to Parliament in Norwegian Official Report 1995: 28.
These were as follows[4]:
In the Charter for the University[5], it is stated that the main challenge for NTNU is to be the interaction between technology, nature, society and culture. This challenge is to be be met through the distinctive institutional profile within technology and the natural sciences, combined with a broad range of academic subjects including medicine, the social sciences, the humanities and artistic disciplines. Mastering of the interaction between factors requires a comprehensive, coherent perspective which will enable the university to contribute to societal development in sustainable balance with nature.
The main goal of the university is to encourage the free and independent quest for true knowledge, new understanding and insight, and to develop scientifically based competence and professionalism. Further, to cultivate the ability to exercise critical judgement and a constructive approach to solutions.
In the strategic plan developed in conjunction with the amalgamation of the university[6], and building upon the premises laid out in the Charter, a series of objectives are laid out. These are:
* to offer a broad disciplinary education and to be characterized by a degree of quality comparable to international standards in all areas of activity;
* to be a university with international standing in its main area of concentration which is education and research in technology and the natural sciences;
* to break new ground with regard to university education and co-operation across disciplinary boundaries;
* to be a critical and positive force in society, with a reflected and comprehensive approach to the tasks and challenges of society;
* to actively make use of the competence of women in academic development.
In order to meet the objectives outlined above, a number of institutional strategies have been developed. They are as follows:
* to secure and further develop high quality academic activities in technology, the natural sciences, medicine, the social sciences, the humanities and the performing arts;
* to develop education and research programmes which utilize the academic pluralism and special expertise of the institution;
* to reduce administrative and technical barriers which hinder the selection of non-traditional studies and degrees, and also actively promote new combinations of disciplines:
* to secure the admission of capable students in all disciplinary areas;
* to actively work in recruitment to provide the university with the best in human resources, and particularly improve the recruitment of females in education, research and management;
* to strengthen and promote the visibility of institutional activities through active co-operation with the authorities, the research council, industry and society.
The University Senate has agreed to promote the following four disciplinary areas at NTNU:
* Sustainable production and consumption
* Infrastructure and quality of life
* Technology, the arts and cultural change
* Information, communication and competence.
As part of the on-going process of constituting and developing the new university structure for NTNU, a strategy is being developed for electronically representing the university as a unified institution both internally and externally by means of the World Wide Web.
A Governing Body for the NTNU Electronic Information Initiative was appointed by the University, with a mandate to develop a set of basic policy guidelines for the implementation and further development of this initiative[7]. This body began working in March 1996, and presented a preliminary set of findings and recommendations to the University Director in September of the same year. It's mandate, which was formulated after an internal prioritering within the group based on the extended mandate provided by NTNU, was to:
"...consider a high-level set of objectives for NTNU's contribution to, and use of, the World Wide Web within research, teaching, presentation, external profiling and administration. It has been considered of importance to recommend a unified structure for content and layout for information from NTNU, while at the same time wishing not to hinder a more creative utilisation and expolitation of this important tool." (Section 3.1)
At this stage I shall not go into any great detail about the all various recommendations made by the Governing Body - those who are interested in this are referred to the Web-version of the document metioned in footnote 6(@@check), but only mention some of the more relevant key points which may be of interest in relation to the perspectives inherent in this present research.
One aspect of this publication that it seems important to look at more closely in this particular connection is mentioned in the section of the report where the concept of the World Wide Web is defined and discussed in some detail. Here the group states:
"The World Wide Web (WWW) represents a way to store and disseminate information so that it is easy for others to access it by means of the computer network Internet. The types of information that may be stored and disseminated are formatted text, images, sound and live video." (Section 4.1: "What is the World Wide Web or WWW?")
Further:
"The Web is in the process of developing into the most important reference work in the world. It may be reached by all kinds of computer systems: PC, Mac, UNIX, etc.. It is those who the information is related to - be they institutions or private persons - who are responsible for making it accessible and for maintaining it. The Web is an important tool for attracting attention - for showing that one exists. This is normal mass communication in the sense of selling wares, services or oneself as a potential employee. For NTNU the use of the Web will be an important means of making ourselves known and attractive for new students and employees. But in relation to traditional mass-media the Web is both to-way oriented and selective. [...] The most important characteristic of the Web is that it integrates all known forms of communication." (Section 4.2: "The Web tells who you are (or want to be)")
Seen within the context of our present research agenda, the point made above about the two-way and selective nature of the Web is probably the most relevant, together with the comment that its most important characteristic is that it integrates all known forms of communication, which although being a very sweeping statement, and thus rather anomalous, is correct to at least some degree. Here it would seem useful to specify that the World Wide Web, rather than integrating all known form of communication, in fact merely makes possible the integration and use of certain forms of technological mediation of all known forms of communication. How this is done, how this technologically mediated communication actually functions in practice for those who choose to use it, and what effects this technological mediation of communication has on the systems of norms traditionally associated with such communication practices depends to a large degree on user experiences, perceptions and understandings of the mediating potential of the technology over time, and is, as such, one of the main focal points for this present research agenda.
Without a doubt too, the basic information storage and retrieval potential of the World Wide Web is enormous and thus an extremely important factor within this whole general picture, but the description given above neglects to draw in the potential for direct, quasi-simultaneous two-way communication that lies in the specific kinds of DMCE augmentations of the basic Web technology and infrastructure such as those that we have been using within the framework of the Hypermedia in the humanities course described and discussed in this report series.
If we now go on to look at the list of general high-level objectives recommended by the governing body for the use of the World Wide Web in research, teaching, presentation, administration and institutional profiling we find the following areas listed:
Research:
* retrieval of disciplinary information, publications and news
* access to library services
* presentation of research results
* disciplinary contact fora
* developing contacts between society and research environments
* making research accessible to the outside world
Teaching:
* teaching programs with exercises, handing in and correction
* active use of the Web as a source of disciplinary information
* access to internal and external teaching staff, with possibilities of interaction
* discipline specific discussion fora
* distance education, especially in relation to up-grading and further education courses
* course enrollment and registration
* course administrative information
* presentation of workshops, colloquia etc. which are part of specific course curricula
* promotion of a unified student environment
Presentation:
* presentation of updated research results
* publication of research catalogues etc. with overviews of scientific activities
* information on library collections and access to them (excluding loan-services for researchers asscoiated with NTNU)
* information on archives, museums, collections, exhibitions, databases etc. at NTNU, and access to their use.
Administration:
* updated sets of regulations, routines and handbooks
* retrieval of structured information
* student enrollment at NTNU, employment applications, course material
* meeting agendas, participants and locations
* effectivisation, processing of forms and applications
Profiling:
* recruitment of students to and from NTNU
* augmentation of networks for disciplinary and administrative competence* presentation of research and teaching at NTNU
* making it easy for internal and external users to get in touch with staff and research environments at NTNU
* making visible and profiling the educational environment
During the course of the last two years I have spent a considerable amount of time each year working in Italy, while at the same time attempting to maintain a certain degree of contact with colleagues and students in Norway. This kind of working situation is not new in academia of course, but one might assume that that the spread and integration of new forms of asynchronous communication such as those made possible by the introduction of electronic post and the World Wide Web and the kinds of semi-synchronous communication made possible by the kind of DMC environments being explored in this study will have consequences for how this kind of working situation will function in practice for all those involved.
During these two years a lot has been going on at NTNU. In many senses the whole institutionalised university structure may be said to be in a three-tiered process of systemic change.
Relating to a developing virtual institution through technology: WWW, e-mail (+ telephone + fax).
Personal visits.
Reflections on the role of personal presence in maintaining a voice in institutional affairs.
Reflections on taking part and playing a role at a distance.
Reflections on the role of the institution as information provider, circulator, regulator and facilitator.
Reflections on the role of individual and institution in processes of norm system change and constitution.
Pedagogical roles, changing perceptions of teaching practices and systems of norms for scientific and pedagogical communication.
Observation of and/ or participation in networked discussion groups and conferences. A look at some models for this and some reflections around actual experiences of how these function in practice.
1. The Peirce-L discussion list 1990-1996
2. World Bank TechNet Think Tank on Learning Nations: How Developing Countries Acquire and Diffuse Knowledge, June - July 1996
3. The World Bank TechNet Think Tank on Education and the Role of Technology, September - October 1996
4. The ECCS Workshop on Context e-mail pre-conference, November 1996 - January 1997
