ELEMENTS OF QUALITY ASSURANCE   

With a view to achieving a greater quality of education, it is necessary that observations and opinions of students regarding classes attended, contents of subjects, competences they gain, and other important issues be continually collected by means of surveys conducted or similar methods. The goal of these activities is not only to help us improve the teaching process and adjust it to the needs of students, but also to the needs of society itself. In this respect, maintaining communication with interested parties who have been involved in designing of the Study Programme is considered highly important. Furthermore, the feedback from internship proves to be another significant source of information having a huge impact on the quality of teaching process and professional careers of graduates.

For that reason, the achievements of our alumni are going to be monitored in order for data on their employment to be gathered, especially in terms of their professional field, with most visible indicators being the number of students enrolled and their respective duration of studies. In addition, the figures to be considered are the exam pass rate on their freshman year and the number of students who have completed their studies on schedule.

In the end, the Study Programme is going to design a questionnaire for employers, companies, institutions, agencies, and other business and social entities concerning the quality and competitiveness of the programme when the first class have left it. It is important to point out that any shortages observed are going to be addressed over the course of the first class already, due to the 20 ECTS workload being at disposal for the management of the Study Programme for necessary amendments to the curriculum, should there be any.

CONDITIONS FOR TRANSFER FROM OTHER STUDY PROGRAMMES

Candidates from other study programmes of the University of Banja Luka are allowed to make a transfer to the Study Programme of Applied Sociology in accordance with the Rulebook on First and Second Cycles Academic Studies at the University of Banja Luka.

Along with an application form for transfer submitted, a candidate is required to present a piece of evidence on their exams passed, that is, academic achievements at the study programme in question. This process is realised prior to the onset of a new academic year, with the decision being made by the Dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences, based on the opinion of the Head of the Study Programme.

The said decision defines the year of study and respective semester the candidate enrolls on, as well as the list of remaining exams to be passed. The duration of studies at the previous study programme is calculated into the overall duration of studies at the Study Programme of Applied Sociology.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The Study Programme of Applied Sociology featuring a BA degree in Sociology – Organisation, Labour, and Human Resources is a specific one, since it offers fundamental general knowledge on working organisations as forms of collective enterprise within which there is social life going on labeled with certain labour specifics that, depending on the quality of human assets, well assessed and planned, exert influence on the effects of labour process. In addition, this study programme is specific in terms of its design as well, by offering, over the course of first two years, the quantum of sociological knowledge from various disciplines necessary for understanding the two most important social sub-systems, social and economic ones, whereas the third and fourth years represent a synthesis of inter-disciplinary subjects carefully designed to meet the needs of students. That way, certain intellectual and practical skills, such as applying the theoretical knowledge into practice, resolving disputable situations, dealing with human resources issues, understanding of labour process organisation, establishing communication in a working environment, building team spirit and solidarity among co-workers, negotiating etc. are developed. It is of utmost importance to point out that students will have gained competences regarding human resources management as well. With regard to the degree obtained, the knowledge of labour law, economics, and personality psychology basics is considered an important qualification.

The students who gain their BA in Sociology – Organisation, Labour, and Human Resources should be capable of the following:

– featuring knowledge and understanding of organising labour, of the role of labour, of functioning of organisational units, of managing human, that is, labour potential, with a view to achieving greater efficiency, and of creating conditions for more comfortable working environment;

– featuring knowledge and understanding of the very process of labour and of the effects achieved through that process by means of applying professional, scholarly, and humane approach to human potential management;

– featuring knowledge and understanding of social life and of the influence of personal traits, of individual character, as well as of family and social ambience on the effects of labour, along with the knowledge and understanding of the impact of working environment on the aforementioned aspects of public and private life;

– featuring knowledge and understanding of the manner of monitoring the performance of organisational units, of labour processes, and of workers;

– featuring knowledge and understanding of economics and labour legislation, as well as of personality psychology;

– featuring knowledge and skills regarding recruiting new employees for companies and organisations;

– featuring the skill of balancing human potential according to personal inclinations and capabilities;

– featuring intellectual skills of producing motivational factors in labour process;

– featuring intellectual skills of building up collective, that is, team spirit in a working organisation;

– featuring communication skills;

– featuring intellectual skills of peacefully resolving disputes in working environment;

– featuring and developing teamwork skills, as well as skills of active listening and negotiating;

– applying the acquired knowledge in the process of recruitment of employees for certain positions within the organisation;

– applying the acquired knowledge while creating motivational factors during labour process;

– applying the acquired knowledge while resolving conflict situations and making a dialogue;

– applying the acquired knowledge of labour legislation and business policy;

– applying the acquired knowledge during in-house training;

– applying ethical principles in labour process and in interpersonal relations;

– critically thinking of, analysing, and making judgments on the relation of employees towards labour, working tasks, and, consequently, labour effects;

– critically thinking of, analysing, and making judgments in the form of oral or written reports on working conditions, working atmosphere, labour results etc;

– critically thinking of, analysing, and making judgments on interpersonal relations within the organisation for the purpose of establishing better working environment.

The Study Programme of Applied Sociology featuring a BA in Sociology – Social Analysis is specific, since it offers certain theoretical and practical knowledge from sociology necessary for understanding social ambience, causal relations, and their mutual explanation. A special value of this degree refers to developing knowledge and skills from the area of research work and research results application to creating strategic goals, action plans, concept designs, public policies, or programme tasks.  Acquiring practical skills over the course of research work enables graduates to apply their knowledge on job market in all organisations (businesses, agencies, ministries, public administrations, institutes etc.) that deal with studying society and social phenomena. In addition, graduates will, through the internship programme, gain their competences in the area of creating digital research results bases, with a view to their further usage. Upon the completion of their studies, we want our graduates to understand the complexity of research work, as well as possibilities of research results application in order only not to comprehend society but develop it as well. In the end, students will be equipped for conducting  an independent research project.

The students who gain their BA in Sociology – Social Analysis should be capable of the following:

– possessing knowledge as regards application of methodologies in social research, implying qualitative and quantitative research utilising digital technologies for the purpose of data processing and analysis;

– featuring understanding of practical application of research results for the purpose of designing public policies, strategies, action plans, programme tasks etc;

– featuring understanding of mutual influence of digital technologies and society, as well as possessing knowledge from the field of public relations as regards running campaigns of various kinds;

– possessing knowledge of the latest programme languages designed for analysing, processing, and releasing research results;

– possessing skills of launching research projects based on specific research topics;

– offering causal explanation of certain social phenomena, along with developed sociological imagination;

– featuring understanding of the complexity of social relations and processes based on fundamental sociological knowledge.

In addition, the students holding this BA degree are trained for the following:

– application of the acquired knowledge and skills from the field of social research to social phenomena analysis, as well as to examining public opinion on various topics;

– application of the acquired knowledge from the field of economic research to researching into labour market, consumer society, working relations within an organisation etc;

– application of the acquired knowledge to offering solutions to various issues;

– application of the acquired knowledge from the field of social research methodology to designing digital data bases, as well as to keeping various records and statistical indicators;

– application of the acquired knowledge for the purpose of explaining certain phenomena and processes, as well as designing all forms of politics, strategies, plans;

– critically thinking of, analysing, and making judgments on the phenomenon and process examined as a research topic;

– critically analysing causal relations in society by making comparison to the previous, current, and future social trends.