The Faculty of Management was established in 1991 and made history as the first higher education faculty in Slovakia to specialise in teaching business management. The faculty was able to do this with the extensive support of foreign universities such as Cornell University, Montclair State University, University of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University.
The faculty was founded with the following intentions:
- To operate in the field of management in the same way as the worldleading business schools.
- To increase its competitiveness through international relations and partnerships.
- To make its study programmes compatible with international universities to support study mobilities to and from abroad for grad students.
Today, the faculty offers two study programmes in the field of Economics and Management: Management and International Management. The study programme Management is also offered in the English language while the International Management programme is offered in German or French.
The Faculty of Management also provides an interdisciplinary study programme, offered in English, with the Faculty of Law of Comenius University in Bratislava, named Management and Law.
In honour of the 30th anniversary of the Faculty of Management, we spoke with the dean of the faculty, prof. RNDr. Michal Greguš, PhD.
What do you evaluate as the faculty’s most outstanding achievements within the 30 years of its existence?
I am honored that I have been able to work at the faculty since its foundation. Looking back over this long period, I must say that the faculty have been able to fulfill its original intentions. We have managed to build the image of a quality faculty with a great reputation on the national and international level. Every year since 2008, we are the only Slovak faculty to be named by the independent ranking agency Eduniversal among the 1,000 best business schools in the world as an Excellent Business School.
What do you rate as the most significant success of the faculty?
The competitiveness of our graduates. They are employed to work in top companies and abroad, both in the commercial sphere and at universities. I see it as our certificate of quality.We have successfully built excellent international relations in student and teaching mobility with over 180 partnership agreements. We are also working on international research projects. Regarding mobility, we are clearly the most successful faculty in Slovakia in terms of incoming and outgoing students within the Erasmus+ mobility.
Do these international mobilities still work currently?
Yes, we try to be flexible and mindful of our students’ needs even in this unprecedented time. We immediately switched to online mode and changed the organisation of our studies, so students could study with the online study materials and lectures provided; we strengthened online seminars and consultations. Our teachers have international experience; therefore, it was not a problem for them to teach online. I am glad that we can ensure Erasmus+ mobility even during these restrictions.
What is the main competitive advantage of the faculty today?
Well, I see it as a combination of several qualities. We have an excellent team of teachers with international and practical experience. In education, we respond to development and global trends, which are also transferred to companies operating in Slovakia. In response, we develop and innovate study programmes to provide our graduates with a top-quality education. We emphasise graduates’ language readiness by increasing the number of professional subjects taught in world languages (English, German, French). At the same time, we support and invest in teaching with a connection to modern information and communication technologies and software applications. Our students excel when it comes to logical, critical, entrepreneurial, and systematic thinking, and most of them can communicate in several world languages. These are the reasons that our graduates are so successful in practice, and we are proud of them.
You have many international students. Which countries do they come from?
Students from all over the European Union study with us through Erasmus+ mobility. We also have students from all over the world for full-time study, especially from Asia and Africa.
Bratislava is a lovely city with many opportunities, so it is a lucrative place for foreign students to come to study. Today, young people are looking for a pleasant, green, and safe environment with opportunities for part-time jobs and promising career opportunities. Bratislava fulfills these requirements.
Do you still have foreign lecturers?
When the faculty was established, many foreign lecturers from the USA and Western Europe worked here. They were financed through grants and programmes such as USAID. Gradually, we built a team of teachers, most of whom came from abroad through exchange programmes. Of course, we still have teachers from abroad in full-time positions, while we also continue to use grants for guest lecturers from abroad.
You present the faculty as a modern one. Can you give us examples?
We were able to quickly adapt our teaching methods for the online environment, and we support teachers who create online study materials and video lectures. We have purchased online licenses for teaching software applications. We have shifted the emphasis to teamwork and the support of students’ key competencies. Our students perceive it positively that we have drawn them into interactions in this virtual online world, where classic interpersonal connections have been interrupted.
What are the faculty’s visions or plans for the coming years?
The faculty responds to the vision of digitisation and digital transformation of companies. Therefore, we have plans in digital skills development and preparation for the future labour market. We expect big changes in the company’s environment, so we try to innovate subjects, and we also open new specialised subjects focusing on new trends, such as virtual reality.
Our intention is to offer education with strong online support to overcome various barriers for international students and working students studying part-time. And, of course, we want to continue to internationalise the faculty, both in the field of teaching and in international research projects.
This article was created with the help of the Faculty of Management, Comenius University in Bratislava
