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Åbo Akademi University moves forward with the education reform and initiates change negotiations

Work on the education reform currently being prepared at Åbo Akademi University is moving forward.

At its meeting on 28 August the University Board authorised Rector Gunilla Widén to initiate and conduct change negotiations concerning the consequences a potential implementation of the reform may have for the university and its personnel.

Yesterday, 31 August, Rector submitted a formal request for negotiations to the chief shop stewards.

At this stage, the change negotiations do not include any proposals for redundancies or substantial changes to employees’ terms and conditions of employment.

For the students the teaching that has been planned for the academic year 2026–2027 is still in effect.

The education reform currently being prepared at Åbo Akademi University is an important development and renewal initiative aimed at strengthening the quality, relevance and future readiness of the university’s degree programmes. The proposed changes also seek to ensure long-term financial sustainability.

The subject of the negotiations is the employer’s planned education reform, with the objective of introducing broad bachelor’s programmes from the academic year 2027–2028 onwards.

The planned reform also aims to reduce overlapping in the educational offering, increase the proportion of joint studies within the programmes, improve student completion rates, and make more efficient use of teaching resources. Åbo Akademi University also seeks to strengthen its cooperation with other higher education institutions and partners.

Earlier today, on 1 September, Rector Gunilla Widén held an information session for personnel and students where the background to the change negotiations and the planned education reform was presented. Participants also had the opportunity to ask questions.

The negotiations will formally begin on 7 September and are expected to be completed by mid-October at the latest.

The education reform and future personnel resources

If the planned education reform leads to a reduced need for personnel in the longer term, the objective is to manage this primarily through natural attrition, such as fixed-term employment contracts ending as planned, without redundancies.

Should there later be a need for redundancies or other substantial changes to employment terms and conditions, these would be addressed in a separate round of change negotiations, no earlier than 2027.