The universities will have a new law. It will enter into force, being optimistic, in the first half of 2023. The first draft of the regulation (baptized as the organic law of the university system, Losu) was drawn up by the team of former minister Manuel Castells and had the disagreement of the rectors, dissatisfied with the fact that the text specified in detail the rules to aspire to be rector. Also they students showed their rejection because, in his opinion, it did not improve anything to the current law (Lou, 2001). When he was awarded the minister’s portfolio, Joan Subirats wanted to make the legislative text his own. The head of Universities has withdrawn articles and added others. Have the rectors and students been pocketed? Not at all.
Castells’s team proposed that members from outside the university monopolize the 30% from the selection committee to rector, a position that is accessed by weighted universal suffrage. Besides, they did not ask for previous category to aspire to the position (to be a professor) but merits: an experience of 18 years in research, 15 in teaching and 4 in management. Faced with the anger of the rectors’ conference (Crue), Castells removed the former but kept the latter. In an attempt to continue ‘making peace’ with the rectors, Subirats has also suppressed the latter and has proposed that they be the universities themselves -autonomous institutions- those that decide the minimum requirements that the candidates to occupy the rectorate must have, non-renewable and non-renewable six-year position. The only thing the law says is that the candidate must be official teacher.
At an official level, Crue – whose leadership met with Subirats on Monday – does not want to comment on the new text yet. They will do it later, when they have analyzed it in detail. The minister will hold a meeting this Friday in Barcelona with the Catalan association of public universities (Acup). At the moment, and personally, Joan Guàrdia, rector of the University of Barcelona (UB), assures that he finds it shocking that a contracted teacher cannot be rector. “Okay, it’s a legal issue, but it’s surprising & rdquor ;, he comments to EL PERIÓDICO. “It also perplexes me that the aspiring rector has to be a civil servant or a professor. This will cause shocking situations. For example, will a rector be able to initiate a file on a professor, who has a higher category? I understand that there are elements that are part of the logic of the legislator, but a rector should have the highest category. This is absolute evidence & rdquor ;, he assures.
“The project does not modify the current governance system”
Joan Guàrdia, rector of the UB
The head of the UB explains that, in general terms, the Losu fits in well with the requests that the rectors made to the minister: a basic organic law, general, that allows the coexistence of diverse university models and that does not imply a break with the previous one. “It does not modify the current governance system”explains the rector.
On microforming that from now on the faculties must teach -courses of between 4 and 30 credits that can be accessed by students who are holders of a previous degree or people who have accredited professional experience-, Guàrdia sees it as feasible and easy given that the universities are already offering short-term training, lasting two or three months. “It is not that new nor will it be anything disruptive in our daily life & rdquor ;, she affirms. “The market has been asking for this flexible training for a long time and the universities are already offering it & rdquor ;,” she remarks.
As rector of a private university (Blanquerna-Ramon Llull), Josep Maria Gatell praises that the Losu is a law “for all universities, both public and private.” Another aspect that they had claimed and that the norm, indeed, includes is that the aspects that affect each type of center are very clear. “The first seven chapters refer to the entire system. The eighth title, very long, is for public companies, and the ninth title, shorter, for private ones”. The rector of Blanquerna-URL is satisfied with the fact that the text is more generic than the previous legislation and offers more margin to the autonomous communities. Another aspect that is highly valued is that related to the rights and duties of students. “We are happy because it recognizes everyone, including those from private schools, something that did not contemplate the previous project”.
three-year degrees
Regarding three year courses -of the 3,880 university degrees that there are right now in faculties throughout Spain, only 24 are for three years (180 credits)- the rector of Blanquerna-URL points out that the law “leaves the issue open”. The initial objective of the ministry was, through a royal decree, to end these degrees so that only four-year degrees exist, except if the 180-credit degree is framed in international studies. “At a European level, the duration of the degrees is flexible and there are many countries that have three years,” explains Gatell, who trusts that the ministry will be “more flexible” later.
Gatell admits that an “improvable” article of the standard is the one that alludes to the research. “It requires the private companies to carry it out, but it is not said how they are going to facilitate it, something that is clarified for the public ones & rdquor ;, she regrets. To finish, the university manager does applaud that Losu confirms the idea that “you don’t go to university just once in your life but you can enter and leave several times” thanks to training recycling.
The students
The students feel more disappointed that the rectors with the eraser. During the meetings with the minister, they thought that the new text would clearly increase their rights in such a way that their voice would be much more taken into account in the governance of the campuses. However, once they have read the preliminary draft, they consider that the changes introduced are timid. “It is a law made for the rectors & rdquor ;, criticizes Nico Hernandez, president of the coordinator of student representatives of public universities (Creup).
“It is a law made for rectors. The students wanted to gain weight to transform the university but we see that it will not be possible”
Nico Hernández, president of Creup
A Chemical Engineering student in Madrid, Hernández explains that the Subirats team has not granted their request to reach a 35% in the governing bodies of the campuses. In the faculty and department councils, the percentage will be 25%, while in the governing council (the most powerful body) it will be 10%. “We are 90% of the universities but we are going to have little room for manoeuvre. In the weighted universal suffrage to elect the rector our percentage is not specified and that of the permanent faculty (51%) & rdquor ;, highlights the representative of the students.
The future legislation decrees as binding the presence of the students in the syllabus commissions and teaching guides, but their opinions will not be binding. “It was sold to us in another way & rdquor ;, comments Hernández. The students will have a voice in the commissions in which the teaching given by the professors is evaluated (those who achieve the best evaluations may receive economic incentives for their excellence). However, the Creup representative assures that if the students are in the minority in these commissions, it will be like having a voice but not a vote.
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“The university has to change, it is not responding to the needs of the students. In many cases, teaching is outdated and teachers remain in an ivory tower. We wanted to gain weight in the law to transform the faculty, but it will not be possible & rdquor ;, concludes Hernández.
The draft bill does include one of the historic demands of the student body: the right to academic unemployment (technically it is not called a strike because they are not workers), a practice that is carried out normally but that most universities did not include in their statutes.