Standing up for public universities
There has been some press information over the last days, which put the license of a Spanish public universityʼs masterʼs degree in doubt. The Rectorʼs Office of the University of Barcelona wants to clarify some aspects to avoid any kind of doubt that can come up about the credibility of the public university system after this incident:
There has been some press information over the last days, which put the license of a Spanish public universityʼs masterʼs degree in doubt. The Rectorʼs Office of the University of Barcelona wants to clarify some aspects to avoid any kind of doubt that can come up about the credibility of the public university system after this incident:
- Without assessing the particular case which is currently being looked at, the Rectorʼs Office of the University of Barcelona asks for all doubts to be solved in order to clear up the matter. If any irregularity is found, it is necessary to settle some responsibilities.
- In any case, we do not doubt about the credibility and honorability of our public university system. A case of mala praxis cannot create any mistrust on the reputation and model functioning of higher education institutions in Spain.
- Public universities have to provide a higher education to the public through teaching, the study, research and transfer of knowledge. As part of these functions, all university masterʼs degrees, as well as bachelorʼs degrees and PhD studies, are under a legal framework that strictly controls the conditions to be fulfilled and guarantees the educational rigor of teaching programs. In the University of Barcelona, we have a set of tools and systems on quality management which are perfectly approved of at an international level, which care for efficiency and transparency as the management principles in the study degrees.
- The academic and scientific integrity builds up one of the basic principles of the university life. In this sense, all decisions are taken seriously and management processes are guaranteed to be carried out with the necessary steps, transparency and respect towards the involved people.
- Our students, academic staff, administration and services staff, and direction and management positions, act accordingly to the corresponding rules and the principles that have to inspire the behaviour of the members of our university.
The universities of this country have always guaranteed the education of different generations over decades, and reached high and deserved satisfaction and recognition indexes from people. We are sure that our trust on the public university and its principles is shared with the rest of higher education institutions.