Dean’s Welcome Message at the Beginning of the 2026/2027 Academic Year

Dear Students, Colleagues, and Partners,

We are beginning the 2026/2027 academic year with a new identity – a new name, a new university environment, and new opportunities.

With the Statute of the University of Novo mesto taking effect on 16 July 2026, followed by the University’s registration in the Court Register on 17 August 2026, our Faculty officially became part of the new public university. We are now the University of Novo mesto, Faculty of Organizational Studies.

This is a moment when we can rightly take pride in everything we have achieved together, while also looking to the future with curiosity, confidence, and anticipation.

Our name and organizational framework may be new, but our values, mission, and culture remain unchanged.

We remain a community where we know one another by name; where students learn from professors, professors learn from students, and all of us learn from one another. It is a community that makes space for questions, diverse perspectives, new ideas, research, and the courage to think and act differently. We continue to be guided by our mission: “We develop the creative potential of individuals and organizational sciences and contribute to the continuous improvement of quality of life.”

What does the new public University of Novo mesto bring?

Above all, it brings more opportunities for connection and collaboration – among faculties, study programs, research fields, students, teachers, and the wider community. Organizational studies teach us that through collaboration, people can achieve more than any of us could accomplish alone. This year, we have the opportunity to put that principle into practice ourselves.

The late American Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan is often credited with the thought: “If you want to build a great city, create a great university – and wait two hundred years.” With the new public university, Novo mesto has taken the first step. Two hundred years is a long time, but every great story begins with its first generation – and this year, we are that generation.

What awaits us in the new academic year? We are preparing topical and internationally oriented summer schools focused on issues that are becoming increasingly important both for individuals and organizations: entrepreneurship, environmental management systems, Organizational Development through Coaching, and Leadership Excellence.

We will also continue our monthly “Conversations with the Dean”, creating space for an open dialogue  among students, faculty members, and external stakeholders, as well as our free Academic Dialogues, where we explore current professional and societal topics. At the same time, we will further strengthen collaboration with alumni, researchers, organizations, and the wider community. A faculty does not exist in isolation – its value is also reflected in how effectively it connects knowledge with practice and contributes to the development of the community of which it is a part.

Research remains  a central part of our work. We encourage interdisciplinary research projects and the active involvement of students, while remaining firmly committed to open access of scientific knowledge. We believe that knowledge gains its true value when it is shared. For the past ten years, we have also put this principle into practice through our publishing activities, including scientific monographs and our journals, Journal of Universal Excellence and Challenges of the Future, the latter celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. Our free academic coaching for doctoral students also holds a special place in our activities, offering added value for both research and personal development.

We co-create our Faculty together, which is why I invite you to share your ideas and suggestions with us – for new programs, content, and forms of collaboration that respond to the needs of the economy, organizations, and society.

Dear Students, to those of you returning, I extend a warm welcome back. To those joining our community for the first time this year, I offer an especially warm welcome.

I hope this year will be about more than simply earning credits, passing examinations, and gaining new qualifications. Be curious. Ask questions. Discuss. Connect with others. Test your ideas. Give yourselves permission to make mistakes, because mistakes, too, are part of learning. Above all, use your time as students to discover what you are capable of, what inspires you, and how you can use your knowledge to make a meaningful contribution to others and to society.

Dear Colleagues and Staff Members: thank you for your dedication, adaptability, and for everything you continue to contribute as we enter this new university environment together. We have come through a period of significant change that has required considerable adjustment, cooperation, and collective reflection. Your contribution has been, and continues to be, an important part of our shared path of development.

Esteemed Partners and Stakeholders: thank you for your trust, cooperation, and support in establishing the new public university in Novo mesto. I invite you to continue shaping its future together with us – by sharing examples from practice, participating as guest speakers, providing mentorship, and engaging in joint projects. As part of the University, we now have even greater opportunities to connect knowledge, research, and practice in ways that benefit our students, our organizations, and the wider community.

We therefore begin this new academic year at a new point on our shared journey, while remaining guided by the same fundamental commitment: to create a high-quality, open, and connected academic community in which knowledge is not only a goal, but also a path towards improving quality of life – for individuals, organizations, and the communities in which we live.

We are still a long way from the two hundred years in Moynihan’s thought. What will our University look like decades from now? The answer will depend not only on the passage of time, but also in us – on the ideas we develop, the partnerships we build, and the  decisions we make today.

I wish you all a curious, creative, and connected 2026/2027 academic year.

Prof. Dr. Annmarie Gorenc Zoran
Dean
University of Novo mesto, Faculty of Organizational Studies