The activities of Jamk University of Applied Sciences began already at the very beginning of the 1990s as part of the historical transformation of the Finnish higher education system, when universities of applied sciences were established through a pilot phase. Now half of Finland's higher education students study at universities of applied sciences. There are 9,549 degree students in Jamk this year.
Chamber of Commerce Silver Medal of Merit for 97 staff members
On Friday 18 November, Jamk University of Applied Sciences awarded 97 staff members at an event held at the Finnish Music Campus. They were awarded the Silver Medal of Merit awarded by the Finland Chamber of Commerce for 20 or 25 years of meritorious and committed work at the University of Applied Sciences.
"Jamk University of Applied Sciences is proud and grateful to be able to commemorate its committed personnel with significant competence and experience capital with the Chamber of Commerce's badges. Those who have had long careers at Jamk have played a key role in building our university for three decades. They have established and maintained central Finnish, national and international partnerships and networks on which our education and applied research are built. It is also important for work communities to have Jamk employees with a long perspective," Rector Vesa Saarikoski said in Jamk's greeting.
Jamk's Community Award for Music Department
To celebrate a quarter of a century of official activities, the Jamk University of Applied Sciences has decided to award a Jamk's Community Award to a particularly distinguished work community of the University of Applied Sciences.
Jamk's 25th Anniversary Community Award is awarded to the School of Health and Social Studies music department. The prize is accompanied by a reward of EUR 1,500 for a community recreation event and support for staff well-being.
The choice of a music department is justified as follows:
Jamk University of Applied Sciences awards the 2022 Community Award to the School of Health and Social Studies Music Department in recognition of the work done to develop the well-being of the community and ensure fruitful operations.
At the beginning of the 2010s, there was a significant resource battle in Finland for the future of music education. Jyväskylä succeeded in building a cooperation between the University of Applied Sciences, the University of Applied Sciences and upper secondary education, known as the Finnish Music Campus. It ensured all levels of education and versatile music education and research in Jyväskylä. The contraction in music funding also led to a difficult cycle of adaptation and staff reductions. This had a very negative impact on the Jamk's music education community.
Against this background, the result seen in large-scale employee surveys is emphasized – whether looking at numerical data or open-ended answers. In 2022, the department music will be at the top of the Jamk's results in these measurements, and its development has been particularly positive. In a few years, employee satisfaction has risen to the AA category and Jamk's overtakes the general level and even the Finnish expert norm. All measurable entities have improved tremendously in a few years, and the participation of the personnel in the result area in the survey has been very active. In a word, leadership and work community culture have developed positively.
The activities have also been able to develop RDI activities that are important to the university and created a strong outlook on art pedagogy and thus on development and service activities that support well-being.
Jamk's work community award was received by Eva Halme, head of department of the music department.
