Last Governing Council session of the academic year 2019/2020

 
 
Institutional
(23/07/2020)

On July 23, the members of the Governing Council of the UB gathered in ordinary session for the last time this academic year. In this sessions, all attendants were informed about the Survey on services, activities and facilities UB - COVID-19 edition, and the 7th AQU Survey on employment for Catalan university graduates. Other actions treated in the session, which were also mentioned in the Senateʼs session on July 15, were for instance the current situation of the work in the alliance CHARM-EU and the recently approved program UB Laptops 2020 for the TRS and AdSS members, as well as the resolution of some calls in the field of research.

 
 
Institutional
23/07/2020

On July 23, the members of the Governing Council of the UB gathered in ordinary session for the last time this academic year. In this sessions, all attendants were informed about the Survey on services, activities and facilities UB - COVID-19 edition, and the 7th AQU Survey on employment for Catalan university graduates. Other actions treated in the session, which were also mentioned in the Senateʼs session on July 15, were for instance the current situation of the work in the alliance CHARM-EU and the recently approved program UB Laptops 2020 for the TRS and AdSS members, as well as the resolution of some calls in the field of research.

According to the vice-rector for Students and Language Policy, Mercè Puig, the 9th survey on services, activities and facilities UB - COVID-19 edition, received a 32% of participation (about 16,000 students), a positive percentage regarding the moment in which it was taken; from June 5 to 15, examination period, pandemic situation, and after three months of lockdown. Among the collected evaluations in the survey, those referring to the UB and the student support services were the most positive ones. Although the satisfaction regarding the actions of the UB during the pandemic were evaluated with an average score of 5.46, the 63% of the obtained answers approved how it was all managed.

The last AQU survey on employment, which gathers data from the Catalan university system graduates every three years, registered an improvement in participation and evaluations. According to the vice-rector for Academic Planning and Quality, Amèlia Díaz, the percentage of graduates in bachelor and master, and doctoral studies who are now working has increased, and those jobs include specific functions of the obtained studies and better hiring and salary conditions.

Regarding the current situation of the work in the alliance CHARM-EU, the director of the project, Meritxell Chaves, went over the closed aspects, such as the educational principles in CHARM-EU, the structure of the master in global challenges for sustainability, a joint pilot program that will be a model to design future bachelorʼs degrees and other training modalities. She also talked about the tasks carried out at this moment, which are focused on the creation of multidisciplinary teaching teams.

The general manager, Oriol Escardíbul, told the Council about the Investment plan on laptops 2020 for TRS and AdSS members, in order to ease face-to-face work and teleworking, in case there are future emergencies, apart from speeding up the renewal of the equipment. This action will invest 1.8 million euros (one million for TRS and 800.000 euros for AdSS staff and cross-sectional units and services).

Regarding Research, the vice-rector Domènec Espriu announced the concession of an ICREA position to Dr. Dan Dediu, who would join the Department of Catalan Philology and General Linguistics, as well as the resolution of the call for the grants for singular structures from the Catalan Government, granted to a first phase of renovation of research spaces and stables of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences.

In this last session of the Governing Council this academic year, the following were also approved: the Regulations of high-level sports at the UB, the Academic and economic regulations of the academic year 2020/2021, presented by the director of the Academic Area of the General Managerʼs Office, Toni FOrés, and the proposals to award the honorary doctorate presented in the Advisory Board on July 8, which, as announced by the secretary-general, Maite Vilalta, will be given to the academics Robin W. Boadway, from Queenʼs University (Canada), in the field of Economy; Adela Cortina, from the University of Valencia, in the field of Ethics and Philosophy, and Robert D. Schreiber, from the University of Washington, in the field of Immunology.