Academic Staff Council

Dialogue Forum “The Art of Making a Living in Academia: Are Universities Good Employers?”

DIALOGUE

While the first Dialogue Forum addressed the systemic problems surrounding Section 109 of the Universities Act and the second dealt with the knock-on effects of chronically underfunded public universities, we now turn to the question of whether Austrian universities are doing all they can to foster working conditions in which employees can thrive. The event is organized by the Academic Staff Council of the University of Salzburg in hybrid form.

Date: Wed. May 15, 2024, 2:00-4:00 p.m.

Location: Unipark Nonntal, Erzabt-Klotz-Straße 1, 5020 Salzburg - also accessible online as a video conference. The link to the event will be published on the BV13 homepage: unigewerkschaft-bv13.goed.at.

The way universities use the Collective Bargaining Agreement (KV) can justifiably be described as arbitrary:

Universities hew strictly to the minimum salary rates while saddling employees with the maximum allowable teaching loads. To secure academic talent at bargain-basement prices, they create pseudo-tenure-track positions (like WU does with the development agreements) that aren’t reflected in the KV and run counter to the spirit of the Universities Act.

The reasoning for these austerity policies is often pseudo-economic at best. What they really amount to are unsustainable, across-the-board cuts.

This Dialogue Forum will discuss the pros and cons of possible solutions, for instance, career models based on of operational agreements and the (re-)establishment of democratic processes (e.g. hiring decisions by committee).

Confirmed panel members so far:

  • Interim Rector Martin Weichbold (Salzburg),

  • Vice Rector Mario Kostal (Mozarteum),

  • Astrid Reichel (HRM professor; Deputy Chair, Academic Staff Council, Salzburg),

  • Angela Wegscheider (Deputy Chair, Academic Staff Council, Linz),

  • Martin Tiefenthaler (Chairman, Austrian Universities Union)

Planned short presentations include:

  • analysis of a new survey of senior lecturers in Salzburg,

  • report on Salzburg’s pseudo-tenure-track position,

  • explanation of development agreements in Graz,

  • overview of democratic personnel management models (Stefan Schön, MDW)

Panel moderator: Peter Holubar (Boku Vienna)

02.05.2024

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