UB Rectorate elections
A few months before the end of his three-year term of office, the rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Guàrdia, announced today, at the Governing Council, that he is bringing forward the elections for the Rectorate. The reason for this decision, as he explained, is the need to face the major challenges facing the institution in the coming years, including the Hospital Clínic extension project, the confirmation of the Campus of the Arts project and the deployment of the MIES project, among many others. In addition, the UB must implement the Organic Law of the University System (LOSU), which will entail changes in the governance model and the drafting of a new statute. For this reason, on Tuesday 17 October the Governing Council will meet in extraordinary session to approve the call for elections and the electoral calendar.
A few months before the end of his three-year term of office, the rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Guàrdia, announced today, at the Governing Council, that he is bringing forward the elections for the Rectorate. The reason for this decision, as he explained, is the need to face the major challenges facing the institution in the coming years, including the Hospital Clínic extension project, the confirmation of the Campus of the Arts project and the deployment of the MIES project, among many others. In addition, the UB must implement the Organic Law of the University System (LOSU), which will entail changes in the governance model and the drafting of a new statute. For this reason, on Tuesday 17 October the Governing Council will meet in extraordinary session to approve the call for elections and the electoral calendar.
The rector spoke at the Governing Council from Madrid, where he is taking part in a meeting between the Ministry of Universities and representatives of the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE). When explaining the opportunity to call elections, he said that currently, "projects are beginning to take shape for which a strong and robust UB is necessary". In this sense, he stated that "deploying the LOSU requires a government team that is not waiting for elections" and pointed out that during 2024, it will be necessary to work on the reform of the Statute for the institution to gain in agility.
In the usual report presented at the Governing Council, Guàrdia highlighted some of the work being carried out to implement the LOSU. Examples include the preparation, in the context of the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP), of a reference document for drafting the new statutes of the Catalan universities, or the shock plan for administrative and services staff (PAS) approved by the Catalan Government to apply this law in a way that allows for the reorganization of services, the provision of new professional profiles and the generational replacement, among others.
In his report, the Rector also referred to progress in the deployment of the MIES project, which should enable the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) and the research areas of the Faculty of Economics and Business to be extended, and the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science (now located in the Historic Building) to be moved to the Diagonal Campus. Discussions are also underway with the Barcelona Provincial Council to propose an improvement plan for the Mundet and Torribera Campuses, the project with Barcelona City Council for the Arts Campus and the Barcelona Knowledge Alliance, among others.
The Governing Council was also informed of the actions and activities carried out in recent months in the different areas of governance. The Statute of the UB's teaching and research staff; the second Plan to improve the salaries of associate lecturers; the public offer of employment for the UB administrative and service staff for 2023; and the regulations for the creation and operation of the UB's internal structures and cross-cutting research alliances (HUBs) have been approved.