The Senate approves of Rector Joan Elias' first annual report

During the presentation of the report, the rector highlighted that, during 2017, the UB maintained its leading position in many aspects within the Catalan university system, despite having a finance model which is “absolutely outdated and does not favour the UB”.

After going through the current situation of the University, he reminded the attendants that the UB is still representing a third part of the Catalan university system, regarding academic performance, and it holds the leading position in Spain regarding research in many international rankings, Elias mentioned the two challenges he considers to be more important at the moment: funding and generational relief.

The first issue he touched on was the area of economics, heritage and society, from which he highlighted the policies on equality and social action. Some examples of these policies are the creation of the UB Equality Commission, the Sustainability Plan and Retorna UB project, and some actions from UB Solidarity Foundation, such as the Support Program of the University of Barcelona for refugees and people coming from conflict areas, or activities in Voluntariat UB and some of their campaigns, such as “La fam no fa vacances” or “Recicla cultura”. The rector described this as a strategic point, which should be “a leverage for a cultural change in equality”.

Regarding economy, the actions were focused on two strategic lines: increasing the funding and setting an economy policy to set criteria on efficiency and equity. The UB budget for 2017 was € 371,6M, “almost the same as in 2016” said Elias, who highlighted the difficulties of the important reduction in public funds over the economic crisis -not less than € 40M-, as well as the loss of 22,4 % of the resources the institution used to receive before the crisis. Other actions in this area were the creation of a regulation on UB chairs and rooms or a new travel policy.

Preservation of the UB Heritage

The area of arts, culture and heritage was divided into two lines: one to strengthen the feeling of belonging to the UB and participation in all its collectives through arts, culture and heritage, and its repercussion on society, and a second one on the reinforcing and widening of the tools for the preservation, valuation and enrichment of the UB heritage. Elias also mentioned specific actions in this area, such as the agreement with Victoria de los Ángeles Foundation, exhibitions such as “Els plaers de mirar” in the Museum of Catalan History, or the preservation of the UB Heritage.

Excellence policy on research and promotion

In the same line that started years ago for a policy on scientific excellence, the rector highlighted, regarding the field of research, the implementation of the Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R), the launch of a welcome pack for Ramón y Cajal researchers -to be spread among other researchers, reinforcement of research structures and the creation of two UB institutes, BEAT and UBICS.

Building strategic alliances

The action on internationalization was focused on creating strategic alliances, and in this first stage, efforts were focused on the Mediterranean area, with the participation in the creation of the Northern Mediterranean Campus, among others.

The launch of the compliance system and the creation of a new organizational framework for the governing bodies were the most highlighted actions regarding organization. Regarding the area of digital transformation, initiatives were leading to the optimization of administrative structures and the improvement of the user experience for students, PDI and PAS.

Action plan for the research and teaching staff

Regarding the area of the teaching and research staff, the rector mentioned the Action Plan, which will have two main areas that will respond, on the one hand, to the stabilization and promotion, and on the other, the rejuvenation of the staff, bringing new teaching staff for the essential generational relief.

Regarding teaching and academic arrangements, the rector highlighted the Program on research, innovation and improvement of teaching and learning (RIMDA). This program is based on the three areas that are present in the teaching innovation programs: innovation, research on the innovative practices, and improvement on the teachersʼ pedagogical and educational training.

Regarding the UB academic offering, the rector highlighted that, between May 2014 and November 2017, a total of 138 bachelor and master degrees completed the accreditation process. The 30 % of assessed studies obtained the Progress to Excellence qualification (24 % for bachelorʼs degrees and 35 % for masterʼs degrees).

Regarding the students, Elias explained the actions that were carried out for grants, student support, SAE, and the policy on employment integration.

The rector finished his speech mentioning the current political situation and repeated the support to the five basic principles: dialogue as a way to solve political problems; fundamental rights and democratic freedom; Catalan institutions; the need to keep a good cohabitation and safety for all members of the university community, and the support to the university autonomy.

The university community speaks

Some members of the Senate took speaking turns after the rectorʼs speech. Among the commented issues was the current political situation in Catalonia, on which some members asked the rector to be more severe, despite highlighting the complexity of this situation; the functioning of the Equality Unit, and the situation of the administration and services staff.

Ombudsman report

After the rectorʼs speech, the acting ombudsman, Lluís Caballol, valued the activity of Sindicatura during the academic year 2016-2017. He said that during this period, 94 documents were opened on different topics, and most of them, 74, were started by students, 13 by teaching and research staff, 7 by PAS members and one more by someone with a different relation to the UB. Many questions were related to the assessment, registration and grants. Caballol went through the main recommendations of the Sindicatura on different issues, such as the assessment, language issues, and university electoral processes. The acting ombudsman also mentioned the institutional activity of the body and the several meetings in which it participated with homonymous entities from other universities within the framework of the Conferencia Estatal de Defensores Universitarios and the X Trobada de Síndics de la Xarxa Vives. The thirtieth anniversary of the creation of the figure of the UB ombudsman will be commemorated next February. In his report, Lluís Caballol reminded those who held position, and in particular, a sentence from the second UAB ombudsman, Artur Juncosa: “More justice than law; more humanism than bureaucracy; more authority than power”.