things are bad all over :-(
gary
shank@duq.edu
----------forwarded message---------------------
Danger for academic freedom in Austria
We, the undersigned academics, are deeply concerned about the threats
against academic-self-government in Austria. We want to inform the
international academic community as well as the general public about the
ongoing developments. .In spring 2002 the right-wing Austrian government
wishes to introduce a new University law proposing(among other) the
following changes:
1) The long-standing procedure concerning promotions to associate
professorships, tenure reviews and appointments to chairs by faculty
committees of professors, assistant and associate professors and students
is to be abolished. Generally speaking, peer review and self- government in
the sciences and humanities have been the core of university autonomy in
many European states and in the United States since the Enlightenment.
Now such decisions are to be taken over mainly by the Head of the University
(Vice Chancellor, the Rector), on the advice of four in part internal and in
part external "experts".
The Rector of the authoritarian University in this new regime will not be
elected and legitimised by free elections through representatives of all
groups of the university as until now, but will be appointed by a
governmental board.
The intention of the Austrian government is clear. It wants to take away
participation of faculty in promotion reviews and calls to chairs.
2) The influence of university teachers on internal university matters and
student participation are to be reduced to a minimum. The government plans
to abolish this hitherto successful system of participation even at the
departmental level.
3) Tenure is to be reduced or even abolished completely - a process already
well on its way. There will be no more provisions against arbitrary
dismissals of Austrian academics. In addition, the present Austrian
government has already introduced a law which allows it to pension off
academics (as well as other civil servants) at the age of 61, without giving
any concrete reasons.: We are deeply concerned about the possibility of
unjustified interferences of the government into the Austrian universities
and scholarly work particularly about arbitrary and enforced pensionings.
4) The government defames its academic critics (see homepages listed below)
and there is a feeling of general threats against civil liberties and of
intimidation. Some of our colleagues, whose work the international academic
community values highly, are subject to political pressure and defamation.
Academic freedom in Austria is in danger!
We ask the international community as well as the general public to protest
- particularly in international committees - against these developments and
express our high appreciation and support with the ongoing protest
activities of the two university unions (both academics and staff) and of
the present Austrian students' union (÷H).
We ask our colleagues to sign this letter and return it to Michael
Weinzierl, the contact person in Vienna. Please forward it also to your
friends and colleagues.
PS. Details of these proposals are accessible in the internet publications
of the government. Please click "projekte" and follow the links on the
following homepages: www.bmbwk.gv.at and www.weltklasse-uni.at
We would like to draw your special attention to the footnotes in the second
part of the proposals and to the link "universit”ten im wettbewerb".
But please read also the opposite view (Declaration of the present
Rector[(Vice Chancellor],his team and of the academic senate of Vienna
University)- homepage www.univ.vienna.ac.at
Contact person in Vienna: Professor Michael Weinzierl, Institut f¸r
Geschichte, Universit”t Wien, 1010 Wien. Luegerring 1
Fax: 0043 1 4277 9408 (home: 0043 1 4057334=
Phone: 0043 1 4277 40810, 0043 1 4277 40805 (department office)
Home phone: 0043 1 4057334
e-mail: michael.weinzierl@univie.ac.at
Austrian steering committee:
Professors
Josef Ehmer(Dept.of History,Univ.of Salzburg)
Fritz Peter Kirsch (Dept. of Romance Studies,Univ.of Vienna))
Margarete Rubik (Dept. of English and American Studies,Univ. of Vienna)
Edith Saurer (Dept. of History,Vienna)
Andreas Schwarcz(Department of History Vienna)
Michael Steiner (Department of ecology and environment,University ofVienna)
Kenneth Thau(University Clinic of Psychiatry,department of social psychiatry
Vienna)
Birgit Wagner (Dept. of Romance Studies,Vienna)
Ernst Wangermann(Dep.of History,Univ.of Salzburg)
Michael Weinzierl (Dept. of History,Vienna)
Hans Winkler(Univ of Innsbruck,Department of pharmacology)
Ernst Berger (Univ. Clinic of Neuropsychiatry for Children / Adolescents,
Vienna)
---
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Dec 01 2001 - 01:01:13 PST