An amendment to the Universities Act (UG) is currently under review, that provides for some important changes in organizational law and to admission regulations for master's programs. However, the amendment does not address the much-discussed problem of precarious employment in the academic sector.

The amendment is minimalist with regard to employment relationships. Fundamental corrections to the chain contract regulation and the high level of precarious employment, as demanded by representatives of university employees, are not provided for in the draft. The issue of reducing fixed-term employment is only addressed in connection with the preparation of Strategic Plans. It explicitly calls for "a description of the reduction in the number of fixed-term employment contracts (tenure models)". However, it only mentions the presentation of models for reducing fixed-term contracts, not about restrictions on fixed-term contracts.

So far, the planned changes to the admission regulations for master's and doctoral programs have caused the most controversy. Section 63a of the Universities Act proposes, that qualitative admission requirements can be introduced not only for foreign-language academic programs, as is currently the case, but also for German master's and doctoral programs. In a statement to the radio station Ö1, the Rector of WU expressed his clear support for this planned new regulation, which he considers to be particularly suitable for dealing with highly frequented master's programs. Not all Rectors of Austrian universities would want to apply the new regulation, though. The Austrian Students' Union (ÖH) sharply criticized this new regulation of the amendment. For them, it would be "a massive setback in the fight for a fair university access for all."

Another controversial aspect of this amendment is a change in the appointment of Rectors. This concerns the question of the Senate's three-person proposal for the election of the Rector by the University Board. The Senates at Austrian universities have recently submitted shorter nomination lists in some cases, which has led to controversy. Section 23 para. 3 Universities Act should therefore stipulate that the University Board can insist on a three-person proposal from Senates in future. This proposed new regulation strengthens the University Board vis-à-vis the Senate when appointing the Rector. This applies in particular to controversial candidates and in the event of divergent ideas about the professional profiles of suitable candidates for the position of Rector. This legislative proposal is also met with criticism, as it weakens university self-governance. If this amendment is implemented, the number of applications will probably play an even greater role in the Rector’s election and thus the activities of the search committee to activate suitable candidates are becoming more important.

A change is also planned for job advertisements for academic positions. Here, the minimum advertising period - except for professorships - is to be reduced from 21 to 10 days. This aspect is viewed skeptically by the representation of academic staff in the Civil Service Union (GÖD), as it reduces the time for intervention by the Equal Opportunities Committees.

The amendment is minimalist with regard to employment relationships. Fundamental corrections to the chain contract regulation and the high level of precarious employment, as demanded by representatives of university employees, are not provided for in the draft. The issue of reducing fixed-term employment is only addressed in connection with the preparation of Strategic Plans. It explicitly calls for "a description of the reduction in the number of fixed-term employment contracts (tenure models)". However, it only mentions the presentation of models for reducing fixed-term contracts, not about restrictions on fixed-term contracts.

^01.02.2024

back to the top