Editorial

2002/2003 ISSUE 6

The collaborative effort between the Inter University Centre (IUC), Bemidji State University (BSU), and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) materializes in this issue of the journal.

The sixth issue of the IUC Journal of Social Work Theory and Practice contains nine articles based on presentations at three courses/symposia held in June 2002:

Social Work and Spirituality – (Martin Connell; Lennart Nørreklit; Therese Marie Sacco)
Social Work with Children and Youth – (Sonia Jackson)
Social Work and Social Policies – (Helene Hanssen & Mari-Anne Zahl; Juha Hämäläinen; Esko Kalevi Juntunen; Vlado Puljiz; Horst Sing).

NTNU is a partner in the journal through faculty members at the Department of Social Work and Health Science and the administrative staff at the university library, and it is therefore considered appropriate to give a short factual introduction to the university, which is located in the city of Trondheim.

Norwegian University of Science and Technology
As the name states, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology
http://www.ntnu.no is a centre for technological education and research in Norway,
with a solid foundation in the natural sciences.

The main campus Gløshaugen is close to the city centre.

This tradition is interwoven with broad-based expertise in the classical university disciplines of the humanities, medicine and the social sciences. At the same time, NTNU offers the widest range of education in art subjects - music, the visual arts and architecture - of all the universities in Norway.
NTNU has about 85 project contracts in the 5th Framework Programme run by the European Commission. In addition, NTNU scientists are involved in c. 150 further projects through cooperation with the SINTEF Group.
The University has formal cooperation agreements with all leading Norwegian industrial companies. Contracts for R&D and educational programmes have also been signed with a range of international companies.
One of the main goals of NTNU is to provide Norway with an internationally competitive level of technological competence. The University is targeted to become among the internationally leading universities and accordingly, has given priority to five strategic areas:

Energy and the Environment
Medical Technology
Materials Technology
Marine and Maritime Technology
ICT - Information and Communications Technology

NTNU’s Centres of Excellence
The goal is to create Norwegian science of high international standard.

Centre for Quantifiable Quality of Service in Communication Systems
Centre for Ships and Ocean Structures
Centre for the Biology of Memory

The university and research:

NTNU is the second largest university in Norway. It has 53 departments, seven faculties, and 3300 employees. About half of these are in research positions.
At any given time, students and scientists are involved in around 2000 research projects.
NTNU is state funded. The annual budget for 2002 was approximately 2, 4 billion Norwegian kroners, or roughly $ 330, 000 000, or € 300 000 000 (March 2003).
400 million kroners was derived from external research funds.
NTNU has a close relationship with SINTEF, Scandinavia's largest independent research foundation. SINTEF Group had 1,929 employees in 2001, which produced a turnover of 1, 7 billion Norwegian kroners.
There are 20 000 registered students at NTNU. The university offers more than 2000 taught subjects.
NTNU provides the country with roughly 80 percent of its civil engineers.
In 2001, more than a thousand candidates graduated from one of the professional studies (civil engineering, civil architect, medicine, art and music).
250 completed a Masters degree in the humanities and the social sciences.
NTNU produced 203 PhDs in 2002.

NTNU Library has an important role to play in research, education and dissemination activities at the university. The library provides a range of courses as well as information search and document supply services for business and industry. It offers electronic library services 24-hours a day. There is systematic expansion and new electronic services will soon be available.
NTNU Library is the oldest academic library in Norway and its origin can be traced back to 1768.

NTNU has two main campuses: Gløshaugen and Dragvoll. The Department of Social Work and Health Science is located at Dragvoll.

Dragvoll campus.

Department of Social Work and Health Science

The former Department of Social Work admitted its first students in January 1975 to the first master’s degree program in social work in Norway at the then University of Trondheim. Today, NTNU is still the only university offering master’s and doctoral programs in social work. Within the Norwegian system, basic training in social work is completed as a 3-year college course not tied to a university. Some colleges will offer master programs in social work.

The department is currently undergoing reorganization as part of national level changes in higher education and also related to the recent incorporation of health sciences. The new faculty and its students are a welcomed addition. The number of courses offered is rising to meet a more complex composition of students. With 190 master’s students and 23 doctoral candidates, the 9 full-time and 3 part-time faculty members face considerable challenges.

The profile of the recent Department of Social work and Health Sciences focuses on four research areas:

Theoretical base of social work and health science
Disability
Social welfare and health services
Psychosomatic phenomena

Copyright for the I.U.C. Journal of Social Work Theory and Practice is owned by the Social Work Program, Department of Social Relations and Services, Bemidji State University, Bemidji, Minnesota, USA. One copy may be made (printed) for personal use; teachers may make multiple copies for student use if the copies are made available to students without charge. Permission must be secured from the editors for sale of any copies of articles or for any commercial use of the material published in the Journal.