Inženiring in vozila

When the Faculty of Industrial Engineering in Novo mesto was founded, its vision stated, among other things, the desire to become a recognized and prominent higher education institution in the field of technical sciences, focusing on achieving high-quality levels of pedagogical and professional work through innovative and internationally comparable study programs. The professional higher education study program in Engineering and Vehicles was launched at FINI in the academic year 2011/12. While the program title may imply innovation, unfortunately, the same cannot be claimed for its content, especially since the Faculty consistently promotes it as a mechanical engineering study, which, in terms of content and international comparability, it is not. The program has not met expectations in terms of recognition, as enrolment numbers have sharply declined. In the academic year 2017/18, a total of 104 students were enrolled in the program, but by the academic year 2023/24, the number had decreased to only 51. The programme under assessment is delivered as a part-time programme, mainly by distance learning. It is very difficult to speak of a combined form of study, as most of the laboratory exercises, which are already very sparsely timetabled in the curricula, are also carried out at a distance, which is unacceptable in a technical course. The recent curriculum overhaul, which was carried out without a thorough analysis of the existing situation and has not yet been put into practice, has not brought about any significant improvement in this area. On the other hand, by changing the programme's orientation from automotive to sustainable economy, it represents a departure from the strategic objectives set without documented reasons and without a revision of the strategic documents, including a change in the programme's name. Considering the underutilized material resources, available human potential within the institution and the environment (experts in companies), and, not least, the interest of potential students and the industry, the evaluated higher education professional study program certainly has prospects for further development. However, to realize this potential, the institution must conduct a thorough self-evaluation of the study program involving all stakeholders. Based on this evaluation, an appropriate action plan for necessary measures should be developed, providing the program with a new impetus, and enabling the institution to fulfil its stated vision. This report contains numerous recommendations that should be considered in this process.