The University of South-Eastern Norway ( no, Universitetet i Sørøst-Norge), commonly known as USN, is a Norwegian state university. It has campuses in
Bø, Telemark
Bø is a village and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Midt-Telemark, but was historically regarded as part of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bø i Telema ...
,
Porsgrunn
is a city and municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn.
The municipality of Porsgrunn w ...
,
Notodden
Notodden () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Øst-Telemark. ...
,
Rauland
Rauland is a former municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1860 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Vinje Municipality. The administrative centre was the village of Raulandsgrend (also known ...
,
Drammen
Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken (county), Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and village ...
,
Hønefoss
__NOTOC__
Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2008, ...
,
Kongsberg
Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and municipality in Buskerud, Viken county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. Kongsberg has been a centre of silver mining, arms production ...
and
Horten. USN is a continuation of the three former
university colleges,
Telemark University College
Telemark University College (TUC, no, Høgskolen i Telemark, HiT) was, until its merger, the fourth largest university college in Norway. The University College had about 7000 students, split between four different locations in Bø, Notodden, Por ...
,
Buskerud University College and
Vestfold University College
Vestfold University College ( no, Høgskolen i Vestfold, abbreviated as HiVe) was a university college in the county of Vestfold og Telemark, Norway. The university college's campuses were formerly located in Borre and Eik. From 2010 the whole ...
, which merged between 2014 and 2016 to form the University College of South-Eastern Norway. The institution was granted the status of a full university by the
King-in-Council on 4 May 2018. It has 1,360 employees and 17,152 students.
USN has 88
undergraduate programs, 44
master's programs and 8
PhD programs. Measured in the number of students, USN is among the largest in higher education in Norway. The university is exclusively offering several courses in Norway, such as
optician
An optician, or ''dispensing optician'', is a technical practitioner who designs, fits and dispenses lenses for the correction of a person's vision. Opticians determine the specifications of various ophthalmic appliances that will give the nec ...
study in Kongsberg and writer's study in Bø.
History
Buskerud University College and Vestfold University College merged to Buskerud and Vestfold University College in 2014. On 4 June 2015, the boards on University College in Buskerud and Vestfold approved a proposal along with Telemark University College to ask the government to merge the educational institutions. The
Storting
The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...
's consideration of Report to the Storting no. 18 (2014–2015) ''Konsentrasjon for kvalitet – strukturreform i universitets- og høyskolesektoren'' found place on 11 June. The institutions were formally merged on 19 June through Royal Decree with effect from 1 January 2016.
The merger decision from the respective directors at Buskerud and Vestfold University College and Telemark University College, asked that the name of the merged school should be University College of South-Eastern Norway with merger date 1 January 2016. It was also specified in the board decision that the purpose of the merge was to become a university. An application to be granted status as a university was sent for assessment by
NOKUT
The Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education, NOKUT is a Norwegian government agency, established in 2003 as part of the Quality Reform. Its areas of responsibility include quality assessment of Norwegian universities, university coll ...
in 2017, and NOKUT issued its recommendation that the institution meet the criteria for university status in April 2018. The institution was granted status as a university under the name University of South-Eastern Norway in King-in-Council on 4 May 2018 and is usually referred to by the abbreviation USN.
Organization
Management
The rectorate at USN consists of rector Petter Aasen, vice-rector Nils Kristian Bogen and vice-rectors Ingvild Marheim Larsen and Heidi Kristin Ormstad. The chairman of the board is Professor Tore Isaksen.
In addition to the rectorate, USN's management team consists of the four deans, six directors and a chief of staff.
Faculties and departments
From 1 January 2017, the former 8 faculties at Telemark University College, Buskerud University College and Vestfold University College became 4 faculties and the former 36 departments became 20.
Faculty of Health and Social Sciences
The Faculty of Health and Social Sciences offers studies in nursing, social care, child welfare, radiography, lighting design and optometry. USN is also the only Norwegian educational institution that offers optician education. The faculty is led as of 16 August 2018 by Dean Heidi Kapstad and Deputy Dean Pia Cecilie Bing-Jonsson. The faculty director is Kjetil Horgmo.
The faculty has the following departments:
* Department of Nursing and Health Sciences. Conducts the third largest bachelor's program in nursing in Norway on three campuses Porsgrunn, Vestfold and Drammen) The department also offers master's programs (clinical health work, advanced clinical nursing, midwife, intensive care, anesthesia) and further educations as a nurse and geriatric assessment competence.
* Department of Health, Social Affairs and Welfare.
* Department of Optometry, Radiography and Lighting Design.
In addition to the professional studies, the faculty offers a number of master's programs, and a PhD program in person-oriented health work.
Faculty of Humanities, Sports and Educational Sciences
The Faculty of Humanities, Sports and Educational Sciences offers both studies in major professional educations such as primary school teachers and kindergarten teachers and studies in disciplinary traditions such as art, culture, folk music and sports. As of 16 August 2018, the faculty is headed by Dean Arild Hovland, Deputy Dean for the primary school teacher education and PPU, Anne Fængsrud, and Deputy Dean for the kindergarten teacher education, Hege Hansson. The faculty director is Bent Kristiansen.
The faculty has the following departments:
* Department of Mathematics and Science.
* Department of Language and Literature.
* Department of Culture, Religion and Social Sciences.
* Department of Outdoor Life, Sports and Physical Education.
* Department of Aesthetic Sciences.
* Department of Traditional Art and Folk Music.
* Department of Education.
Faculty of Technology, Science and Maritime Studies
The Faculty of Technology, Science and Maritime Studies has the following departments:
* Department of Electrical Engineering, IT and Cybernetics. Offers education with a focus on automation, electric power technology, digitization, welfare technology, renewable energy and autonomy in the process industry.
* Department of Maritime Operations. The department offers education in shipping and logistics, nautical science, marine engineering, maritime management and nautical operations.
* Department of Microsystems. Offers bachelor's degree in engineering in computer engineering, electrical automation and robotics, applied micro- and nanotechnology, SMART product design, master in micro- and nanosystem technology and Joint International Master in Smart Systems Integration as well as PhD program in applied micro- and nanosystems.
* Department of Nature, Health and Environment. Has bachelor's studies with specialization in nature management or pollution and master's studies in nature, health and the environment.
* Department of Process, Energy and Environmental Technology. Offers bachelor in building design, machine design, plan and infrastructure, clean energy and process technology, master in process technology and in energy and environmental technology as well as PhD in process, energy and automation engineering.
* Department of Science and Industrial Systems. Has a bachelor's degree in computer engineering, electrical engineering, product development and mechanical engineering, and various master's degrees in Systems Engineering and the associate professor education in science.
USN Handelshøyskolen
USN Handelshøyskolen (USN Business School) offers bachelor's and master's programs as well as a PhD program in Marketing Management. In addition, several year studies and further education studies are offered.
* Department of Economics and IT. Offers a bachelor's degree in economics and management, innovation and entrepreneurship, real estate, international marketing and tourism as well as IT and information systems. Also offers one-year study in IT and information systems, information processing, geographical information systems and business economics.
* Department of Industrial Economics, Strategy and Political Science
* Department of Economics, Marketing and Law. Offers a bachelor's degree in visual communication, economics and management as well as political science. Offers master's in economics and management, and part-time study in Executive Master of Management, economics and management as well as social sciences.
* Department of Economics, History and Social Sciences. Has as stated core task to conduct teaching and research in economics, entrepreneurship, innovation, management, IT, history and sociology. In addition to year and bachelor's studies within this, the department also offers master's studies in innovation and management, associate professor education in history and social sciences.
Notable alumni
The University of South-Eastern Norway is a continuation of three former university colleges and one of the newest full universities in Norway, hence its academics and alumni include notable people from before the merging.
*
Sigve Brekke
Sigve Brekke (born 15 December 1959) is the President and CEO of Telenor Group, an international telecommunications company present in 13 markets across the Nordic region, Europe and Asia.
Telenor career
Sigve Brekke has been a member of the Exe ...
– President and
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of
Telenor Group
Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwide, ...
*
Eli Blakstad – Politician for the
Centre Party
*
Halvor Kleppen – Media personality, theme park owner and writer
*
Nicolai Houm – Novelist
*
Sindre Fossum Beyer
Sindre Fossum Beyer (born 10 October 1977) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party.
He studied economics and administration at Telemark University College from 1998 to 2000, and marketing at BI Norwegian Business School from 2000 to 2002. ...
– Politician for the
Labour Party
*
Trude Marstein – Author
External cooperation
USN collaborates with the region's business community on research, development and innovation projects, and employs people from the business community in assistantships at the institution in connection with such projects. These people are employed in a 20 percent position at USN, and work on projects that focus on practically useful issues for companies. As of 2018, USN has employed people from
FMC Technologies
FMC Technologies, Inc. was a North American company that produced equipment for exploration and production of hydrocarbons. FMC Technologies was incorporated in 2000 when FMC Corporation divested its machinery businesses. It exists today as a par ...
, GE Vingmed Ultrasound, Semcon Devotek,
Skagerak Energi
Skagerak Energi is a Norwegian utility company. The company's main focus is production and distribution of electrical power and other energy, in addition to business areas related to this. The group has about 600 employees, and an annual power pro ...
, Conexus AS,
TechnipFMC
TechnipFMC plc ( ) is a French-American, UK-domiciled global oil and gas company that provides complete project life cycle services for the energy industry. It was ranked 23rd among world's Top 225 International Design Firms in the year 2017 by E ...
,
Sopra Steria
Sopra Steria is a Paris-based consulting, digital services, and software development company. Sopra Steria has a new consulting wing under the “Next” brand. It employs 3,400 consultants across Europe, including 1,900 in the group’s native ...
and
Kongsberg Group
Kongsberg Gruppen is an international technology group headquartered in Norway, that supplies high-technology systems to customers in the merchant marine, defence, aerospace, offshore oil and gas industries, and renewable and utilities industr ...
.
Gallery
File:KRONA 4.jpg, Campus Kongsberg
Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and municipality in Buskerud, Viken county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. Kongsberg has been a centre of silver mining, arms production ...
File:Ypsilon i Drammen.jpg, Campus Drammen
Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken (county), Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and village ...
File:Høgskolen i Vestfold - Studiestart 2013.jpg, Semester start at campus Vestfold
Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered th ...
in Horten
File:HiTe Bö.jpg, Campus Bø
References
External links
University of South-Eastern Norway
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Universities and colleges in Norway
Education in Vestfold og Telemark
Education in Viken (county)
Bø, Telemark
Kongsberg
Educational institutions established in 2016
2016 establishments in Norway
Universities and colleges formed by merger in Norway