Although the project of the new University Campus in Varaždin has been declared a strategic project by the Government of the Republic of Croatia, funding has not been secured at the national level for all these years. The new facility was supposed to be built on the site where the FOI 2 building currently stands, which is insufficient for the faculty’s needs. Marina Klačmer Čalopa, the new dean of Faculty of Organization and Informatics, says that they have done everything they could on their part. As she told us in an interview, her work and the work of the newly elected Management, which includes Zlatko Erjavec, Ivan Malbašić, Martina Tomičić Furjan, and Zlatko Stapić, will largely rely on the goal of ensuring that FOI continues to be recognized for the quality of education and research in the fields of informatics, organization, and business. Klačmer Čalopa has been working at FOI for 22 years and has a rich area of expertise in entrepreneurship, business finance, strategic management, and corporate governance. Therefore, as she revealed to us, her primary concern will be for students and employees.
What will be your first moves as the new dean of FOI?
– The emphasis will continue to be on the continuous modernization of study programs and the introduction and development of new models of learning and teaching. We will continue to develop project and international cooperation because we want to significantly increase the number of foreign students at our faculty and at the University. This needs to be accompanied by a larger number of teachers and experts, as well as spatial resources, so we will not give up on the realization of the University Campus Varaždin on the site of the current FOI 2 building, as well as the initiated idea of the Center for Pre-Incubation in the Smart Industry. Our goal will also be to connect with the strongest and most competitive representatives of the IT and business sectors, all with the aim of providing our students with the highest quality and most diverse knowledge, business, and generic skills. An important goal for us is to enrich FOI with two new internationally recognized and important accreditations for our study programs. Additionally, I will be more specifically addressing issues of gender equality. Namely, only 33 percent of students in the informatics study are female, and only 25 percent of students in the economics study. We want gender equality, and I believe we should be the ones who particularly promote women in STEM, women in informatics. Furthermore, in line with EU policies, the emphasis in this mandate will also be on increased application of ‘green’ measures with the support of ICT.
Your expertise is in entrepreneurship, business finance, strategic management, and corporate governance. How will FOI develop in that direction during your mandate?
– Given that I have experience in managing finances and human resources, which are areas for which I was responsible as vice-dean and a member of the FOI Management in the last four years, I will prioritize care for our students and employees. The student should be our focus, and therefore in my mandate, I want to particularly encourage young people towards student excellence and entrepreneurial initiatives with an emphasis on equality and inclusion of all students. I want students to be as involved as possible in projects that we can carry out together and to establish an even stronger bridge between students and teachers. Establishing an onboarding process, increasing the visibility of all employees in the academic and business environment, efficient management of workplaces, as well as representation in relevant university and other decision-making bodies will be my priorities, as we want FOI to be a place of inclusion, where every individual can realize their full potential and develop and grow in their careers.
