The Technological Educational Institute of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (TEIEMT; ; formerly Technological Educational Institute of Kavala, TEIK; ) was a public higher institute providing university-level education in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. The institute has three campuses; the main campus in St. Lukas, Kavala, and additional campuses in Drama and Didymoteicho. The TEI of Kavala had 13,500 registered students in the academic year 2007–08, ranking seventh among the 16 technological educational institutes in Greece in terms of students.
History
The Technological Educational Institute of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (TEIEMT) was founded in 2013 by the Presidential Decree 87/4-6-2013 (Government Gazette 129/A/5-6-2013). Originally established as Center for Higher Technical Education (ΚΑΤΕ) of Kavala in 1976 by Presidential Decree 748/13-10-1976 (Government Gazette 272/A/14-10-1976) and by the Legislative Decree 652/29-8-1970 (Government Gazette 180/A/29-8-1970), after re-established as Center for Higher Technical-Vocational Education (KATEE) of Kavala (1977–1983) by the Law 576/7-4-1977 (Government Gazette 102/A/13-4-1977), after re-established as Technological Educational Institute of Kavala (TEIK) by the Law 1404/22-11-1983 (Government Gazette 173/Α/24-11-1983). In 2001 it was upgraded to a higher educational institute by the Law 2916/1-6-2001 (Government Gazette 114/Α/11-6-2001), and its current form is a result of many institutional reforms and changes.
In 2019, the Technological Educational Institute of Central Macedonia, the Technological Educational Institute of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, and the Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki merged into International Hellenic University.
Departments In its earlier (1976–1983) forms, the TEI of Kavala consisted of six departments: Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, Sciences, Accounting, and the Foreign Languages and Physical Education Centre. In 1983, the first four were allocated to the newly formed School of Engineering Sciences and the remaining two to the School of Business and Economics. In 1985 the first campus outside of Kavala was established in the nearby city of Drama; the Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management was the first department that established there. In 1986, the Department of Business Administration was founded and integrated into the School of Business and Economics.
During the period 1999–2007, the institute underwent an expansion, with the creation of four more departments, originally financed by the European Union through the Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training. The new departments are Industrial Informatics (1999) and Information Management (2000), located in Kavala; Landscape Architecture (2003), located in Drama; and Nursing (2007), located in Didymoteicho, in the eastern part of Evros regional unit of Thrace.
Following the establishment of the Department of Landscape Architecture, a third school, the School of Agricultural Technology, was established in the Institute. In 2009, the Department of Oenology was founded and integrated into the Drama Branch.
Facilities
TEI of Kavala's facilities were originally located in leased buildings around Kavala. In 1992 these facilities relocated to the new main campus in St. Lukas. Developed by Michaniki S.A., the campus buildings were arranged in an amphitheatre-style structure, overlooking the gulf of Kavala. The campus area is approximately with buildings covering .
The Drama Campus is located in Microchori, Drama. The Departments of Forestry and Oenology and administration services, the Museum of Natural History, and the Botanical Gardens are located within the campus area of with buildings covering . The Department of Landscape Architecture is located in the city of Drama, in facilities granted by the regional unit of Drama. The Didymoteicho Campus is accommodated in the historic Primary School in the centre of Didymoteicho.
The main library, in operation since 1988, has a collection of over 32,000 volumes. It subscribes to 17 electronic sources (on-line databases, digital libraries, statistical databases) and provides access to 550 scientific journals. The study room area is , has seating capacity for 200 people, and provides access to 22 computers. In comparison with other TEIs, the library in Kavala is ranked sixth in number of books. Libraries are also located at the Drama and Didymoteicho campuses.
Academic evaluation An external evaluation of all academic departments in Greek universities will be conducted by the Hellenic Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency (HQAA) in the following years.
Department of Information Management (2010) Department of Business Administration (2011) Department of Accounting (2011) Department of Oil and Natural Gas Technologies (2011) Department of Electrical Engineering (2012) Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management (2010) Department of Landscape Architecture (2011)
Academic structure and administration The institute comprises three schools and thirteen departments. The following provides an overview of this structure and the number of students entering the institute per annum.
Kavala Campus (Main):
School of Engineering Sciences Department of Petroleum Technology and Natural Gas (305) Department of Electrical Engineering (300) Department of Mechanical Engineering (300) Department of Informatics Engineering (300) Department of Sciences (–)
School of Business and Economics Department of Accounting (500) Department of Business Administration (330) Department of Information Management (300) Department of Foreign Languages and Physical Education Centre (–)
Drama Campus:
School of Agricultural Technology Department of Forestry & Natural Environment Management (150) Department of Landscape Architecture (150) Department of Oenology and Beverage Technology (independent) (100)
Didymoteicho Campus:
Department of Nursing (150)
Postgraduate studies The following Master's degree-level programmes are available: Master of Science (MSc) in Oil and Gas Technology. Master in Business Administration (MBA). Master of Science (MSc) in Management of Water Resources in the Mediterranean. Master of Science (MSc) in Management Science and Information Systems. Master of Science (MSc) in Accounting, Audit and International Transactions. Master of Science (MSc) in Innovation in Technology & Entrepreneurship. Master of Education (MEd) in Distance Education. Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Nanotechnology. Master in Planning and Urban Green Management. That is a Join-Master's degree-level programme between Department of Forestry & Natural Environment Management and School of Forestry and Natural Environment of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh).
Administration The institute is governed by the senate, the academic council, the president, and three vice-presidents. The academic council is composed of the president, three vice-presidents, three deans, the general secretary, and the student representative. Each vice-president deals with one of the following areas: academic affairs, economic affairs, and European and international affairs. Each school is governed by a dean that answers to a school board. The department heads and the student representatives participate in the school board. Each department is governed by a general assembly, a board, a general assembly, a head, and the managers of the sectors. Each department acts independently and has two or more sectors to which the members of educational staff of the department are allocated. Each department board consists of a head, sectors managers, and a student representative.
Academic staff Educational duties in TEI of Kavala are carried out by the members of the permanent academic staff, consisting of professors, associate professors, assistant professors, and lecturers. The members of academic staff cooperate with temporary staff such as scientific and laboratory associates, laboratory technicians, and administrative staff.
Ranking Technological Educational Institute of Kavala (TEIK) is ranked first among the 16 Technological Educational Institutes and 16th among 40 universities and institutes throughout Greece. Globally, it is ranked in the first third (2,076th) of the world's top 12,000 universities as determined according to the indexes of the Cybermetrics Lab, which are based on the production and publication of scientific knowledge.
Research and innovation The TEI of Kavala is actively involved in a variety of research areas, including computer science chemistry, chemical engineering, and material science. TEI of Kavala publishes two English-language scientific journals. The Journal of Engineering Science and Technology Review is edited by Prof. D. Bantekas. The journal's board includes Prof. D. Nanopoulos and Prof. E. Gazis. The journal is registered in research databases such as EBSCO Publishing and the Directory of Open Access Journals, and is included in CERN's recognised scientific journals. The International Journal of Economics Science and Applied Research is edited by Prof. Α. Κarasavvoglou from the Department of Accounting. Both journals are published in electronic and printed form and access to the journals is free.
TEI of Kavala has made significant investments in research infrastructure, including laboratory equipment for the promotion of knowledge in specific fields. Among those, the small-angle X-ray scattering and the scanning electron microscope in the Centre for In-Situ Studies permits the in-situ combination of different experimental methods for the static and dynamic (in process) study of nanomaterials. Others laboratories include the Water Quality Laboratory, the Petroleum Chemistry Laboratory, the Materials Laboratory, the Photovoltaic Laboratory, and the Microcomputers Laboratory.
In 2004, the academic staff founded the Technology Research Centre of East Macedonia and Thrace (Presidential Decree 36/ΦΕΚ 30/06-02-04). This is a legal entity of private law focused on innovation in the areas of radiation, fuels, marbles, new products design, marketing, informatics, and environment. The centre has overseen the development of innovative technologies, including the survivor-detection robotic vehicle R.OX.AN.E, for which the centre was awarded a prize at the Athens Digital Week 2009 exhibition. The centre has organised an Innovation Festival since 2010. The centre is a regular participant in exhibitions in Thessaloniki and Thrace; at a recent exhibition in Thrace, the Prime Minister of Greece, George Papandreou, inspected recent technological advances made at the TEI of Kavala.
KavTech has been actively involved in many international cooperative programmes over the past ten years, such as ERASMUS, COMETT, LINGUA, PETRA, TEMPUS, EUROFORM, TEXT, EURASHE, SOCRATES, and bilateral international cooperation programs with Slovenia and Georgia. It has been also actively involved in international research projects such as Alpha, EU DG-Research Vth Framework, (Medmont /QLK5-2000-01031), (Controcam /QLK5-2000-01684), Interreg IIIB CADSES, (Governet/3B084), Interreg III A Phare CBC Greece-Bulgaria (Dra-Smo 2.1–67), Interreg III B Archimed (Acronym Managmed A.1 113.31), Greece-Jordan Hellenic Aid (YDAS 44.8), and Interreg IV-C South East.
Student life