Just before Christmas, WU's Performance Agreement for the years 2025 to 2027 was published in the WU Bulletin (in German). WU’s budget specified therein results in a nominal increase of around 27% compared to the last performance agreement period 22-24. The increase in funding will primarily enable an improvement in the strained staffing situation due to an improvement in the student-teacher ratio. However, there is also potential scope for improvement in other areas.

The total of EUR 654 million granted for the next three years can be used to finance up to 67 new full-time equivalents in academic staff at WU (in selected personnel categories that are specified in the Intellectual Capital Report/Wissensbilanz). In conjunction with the fact that the personnel budget has not been fully utilized in recent years, this means that a total of 15 new professorships and 16 additional tenure track positions can be filled in the coming years. In addition to fundamentally improving the student-teacher ratio, this increase in staff will allow to create a new department at WU. Further funds will be used to increase research strength. Additionally, a new structured PhD program in Business will be established and further pre-doc and post-doc positions will be advertised in the existing and new departments.

For those already employed at WU, this increase in staff will hopefully lead to noticeable relief in their daily workload by spreading the teaching burden over more shoulders, which will hopefully leave more time for research in general. Short-term additional workloads due to committee and commission work will accompany the expansion though. The additional space requirements are to be covered in the short term by renting office space in the Krieau grandstand.

However, the wissBR has collected further ideas for the use of the additional funds from the Performance Agreement, especially for those already employed at WU, and submitted them to the Rector's Council during their decision making process. Unfortunately, the final plans currently only include one of the wissBR’s suggestions, a newly planned coordination office for employees with special needs. However, negotiations are planned for the performance bonuses defined in the Operational Agreement Performance Bonuses and will hopefully begin soon. In the past, the valorization of theses bonuses has been rejected by the Rector's Council with reference to a tight budget. In any case, the conclusion of the Performance Agreement should provide the budgetary framework for improvements in this area.

The Performance Agreement also lays out WU’s intention to convert four third-party funded employment contracts into open-ended contracts until 2027. This low number clearly falls short of the expectations of the wissBR. Neither the announcements made by Minister Polaschek in summer 2024 nor the demands of NUWiss are sufficiently met. Hopefully, the problem of the high number of precarious fixed-term employment contracts will be addressed in the future.

It remains to be seen to what extent the other ideas of the wissBR will be addressed in the specific use of funds. In any case, social benefits such as job tickets or an increase in meal allowances will continue to be on the wissBR's to-do list, as will an increase in the employment level of pre-docs or the continuous valorization of teaching allowances.

^30.01.2025

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