Prof. dr. Ludvik Toplak, president of Alma Mater Europaea – ECM, thanked the best and most deserving students of the final year of studies as well as some professors for their contribution to the development of Alma Mater. The guests enjoyed a festive concert of the trio Katrinas.

Distinguished representatives of academic, governmental, local and religious institutions, dear professors and students of AMEU, dear guests,

The end of the year gives us a chance to make conclusion on the year that has passed, summarising its successes and celebrate. This is the time when we look back at the year that has passed, express our gratitude and make plans for the future.

Alma Mater Europaea – ECM enrolled the 11th generation  of students. It is with great pleasure, that we can say that Alma Mater has fulfilled its mission to develop interdisciplinary study programmes that are highly employable; study programmes that are complementary to the existing ones and highly competitive on the domestic and international market.

Given that Alma Mater Europaea is an internationally oriented institution, the European Academy of Sciences  and Arts gave it the academic and institutional patronage in 2012 because of the high quality of its work. On this basis, the European Center Maribor was renamed Alma Mater Europaea - ECM and continued to work according  to the principles of transnationality, interdisciplinarity  and building bridges, especially in the Danube area. 

Alma Mater Europaea has dedicated its work and programmes to the basic challenges of the Central  European space such as ecology, transition and reintegration, intercultural communication, health,  social and demography and digital technologies.

For the past eleven years, Alma Mater Europaea has accredited, re-accredited and developed undergraduate, master and doctoral degree programs in health sciences, in particular nursing and physiotherapy and integrative health sciences. Faced with demographic trends, scholars and experts have developed and accredited social gerontology programmes at all three Bologna cycles, with a particular focus on active and productive aging.

After 1990, the Danube countries were confronted with the issues of transition and reintegration, thus Alma Mater Europaea developed the study programs European Business Studies and Management programmes, including Project Management and Strategic Communication Management at the doctoral level.

The changing circumstances of the economic and political system also pose a new challenge for the humanities. Alma Mater Europaea integrated the Faculty of Humanities Institutum Studiorum Humanitatis from Ljubljana into its programme group, the later providing an extensive library and more than 150 Doctors of Science. The younger humanists and intellectuals want to give new content to the experience of global trends in the digital humanities.

The development of new technologies in the world presents a new challenge. Alma Mater Europaea has enrolled the first generation of undergraduate students in the undergraduate degree program in Web and Information Technologies, while working on the master and PhD programme in Web Sciences, including Information security and Artificial intelligence.

New technologies have created the conditions for the development of a new independent academic discipline of Archival studies and records management. Alma Mater Europaea accredited the undergraduate and master study programmes in this field, while also enrolling in the first generation into the doctoral program in Archival sciences.

During this calendar year, we welcomed the first graduates of the Dance Academy and accredited a new Master study programme within the Dance Academy. After more than half a century of efforts, Slovenia has finally received a study of dance, ballet and choreography at the highest academic level, since the Faculty of Humanities also includes arts at the doctoral level. Alma Mater has furthermore also applied for and received a patent document on medical technology.

Alma Mater is particularly involved in research work in Slovenia and in international projects through its master and doctoral studies. We publish books within ISH and Alma Mater Press. We strive to raise scientific journals to the highest level of internationally ranked journals, as we have successfully done with the Journal of Comparative Politics, and which we continue with the journals Antlanti, Informatology, Media, Culture and Public Relations and Monitor. This provides a great platform for researchers and doctoral candidates to become involved in international scientific publishing.

We would like to express our pride in our students and graduates who are successful in their studies, in the volunteer work and other humanitarian initiatives they perform in all fields, including outstanding results in sports and culture. We are also proud of all the graduates who hold important and responsible jobs and who have carried the good name of Alma Mater Europaea to many, especially social and health care institutions. The annual scientific conference of Alma Mater Europaea  All about people has attracted the attention of the academic public from Slovenia and from all around the world, including North America and China. The next conference will traditionally be on the second weekend of March; 13-14 March 2020 in Maribor. In August, AMEU will organise the International Conference on Higher Education, where we will host representatives from universities from all continents. AMEU has thus opened the door to join the international association of universities such as the Magna Charta Universitatum in Bologna, the Danube Rectors’ Conference and others.

Alma Mater Europaea follows the needs of the society in all academic fields in accordance with the principles of quality, relevance and rationalization. Quality can only show through competition; the relevance of education is measured by the employability of graduates who create added value, and the relevance of science is seen through the implementation of scientific achievements in the economy and in the social standard, where value is created. The rationalization of education is measured by the contribution made by a graduate; while the rationalization in science is measured by the use of resources in terms of added value. With this we have to emphasize that Alma Mater Europaea has the highest employment rate of graduates among Slovenian higher education institutions. We expect the government to recognize and provide equal opportunities for studying to all citizens in Slovenia in accordance with the constitution and to follow the principles of the Bologna process, such as autonomy with responsibility, compatibility, mobility, quality, deetatisation, rationalization and employment opportunities. Only by doing so will the young generations be guaranteed equality and equal opportunities for studies in all regions of Slovenia, as well as receive respectful status in Europe. We also expect the state, governmental institutions and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia to implement the Bologna Process, to ensure that European standards are comparable and that they will include and transfer internships and final examinations to be included within the competences of universities, as is the case in other EU countries.

At the end of this year, I would like to express my gratitude to all professors, researchers and other colleagues for their efforts. My gratitude goes likewise to all our business partners, clinical and other institutions where our students perform their practical training, and mentors who enable our students to practice in the real environment. Last but not least, I would like to thank students and their parents  for their trust.

today we have a special opportunity to give recognition to a few students, colleagues and professors. Let me congratulate all of you.

Dear colleagues, students, dear guests, I wish all of you a nice evening, Merry Christmas and a Happy year 2020.

Sincerely,

Prof. dr. Ludvik Toplak President Alma Mater Europaea ECM Vice-President Alma Mater Europaeas

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