Unanimous statement of the Senates of the University Mozarteum and the University of Salzburg on the planned UG amendment
11.11.2020
Press release
In a meeting with the presidents of the senates of Austrian universities at the end of October, representatives of the Ministry of Education provided information about a planned amendment to the Universities Act. The intention to disempower the senates and thus to massively restrict the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of science and art is evident.
The planned interventions in the balance of power of the university's governing bodies are highly problematic. Until now, the system of checks and balances has been guaranteed by the three governing bodies of the rectorate, the senate and the university council. The Senate, composed of elected representatives of teaching staff, students and administration, is endowed with far-reaching powers. This includes, among other things, the participation in the election and reappointment of the rector. The Senate is now to be deprived of the right to decide, together with the University Council, on the extension of the contract of an incumbent rector. In the future, the University Council (whose members are partly delegated by the respective governing parties) will make this decision alone. In this way, the members of the university are deprived of central co-determination rights. Another alarming project is the drastic restriction of the Senate's autonomous rights to shape curricula. In the future, the structural design of curricula is to become part of the performance agreement concluded between the rectorate and the ministry. The Ministry intends to secure direct and immediate access to the funding and to undermine the autonomy of the universities. The Senates of the Mozarteum University and the University of Salzburg vehemently reject these encroachments on autonomy and the shift in the balance of power between the governing bodies and finally demand that the Senates be involved in the law-making process in a spirit of partnership. The aforementioned points of criticism are shared by the Conference of Senate Chairs (SVK), in which all Austrian universities are represented.
