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Carolina (English) No 055A
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STUDENT'S E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA
School of Social Science of Charles University
Smetanovo nabr. 6
110 01 Prague 1
C.S.F.R.
e-mail address: CAROLINA@CSEARN.BITNET
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
C A R O L I N A No 55, Friday, December 18, 1992.
THE UNIVERSITY OF TRNAVA IN DETAILS
AND ALSO DIFFERENTLY
By Lenka Klasterkova
Ondrej Such
Robert Lahoda
The University of Trnava (UT) was founded as early as 1635. At the
beginning it had only two Faculties: Faculty of Philosophy and Faculty
of Theology. Later Faculty of Law was added and the number was completed
to required four by addition of Faculty of Medicine. Thus, UT became the
first complete Hungarian university. Prompted by complaints of citizens
of Trnava, the empress Marie Tereza decreed in 1777 that the university
be moved to Budin.
Who assisted at the re-birth of UT this year? The answer is one of
a few things all involved parties can agree upon. It was professor RNDr.
Julius Kovac, CSc (although what was his motivation is interpreted by
all involved in rather different ways, we shall discuss is it as well).
Thus, the initial part of the following discussion is based primarily on
his recollections as it was recorded by Slovak press and by us
personally.
How it started
Mr. Kovac was trying to renew UT for over 12 years. He found
a place and started to prepare the concept of the university. Right
after November 1989 events he visited then the chairman of VPN (Public
Against Violence) in Trnava Mr. Oktavec with a complete proposal for UT,
but to no avail.
Together with his team of associates they modified the proposal to
its final form calling for re-establishment of a university in Trnava
carrying name of Anton Bernolak. This proposal was then submitted to the
ministry of education of Slovak republic in 1992 by a group comprising
Julius Kovac, Jan Sokol, the Archbishop of Trnava and the Patriarch of
Slovakia, Arpad Matejka, the director of the ONV (Regional National
Council), ing. J. Borbely, the director of the MNV (City National
Council), and Karel Kabat, a representative of coalition parties in the
region of Trnava. Then the minister of education Ladislav Kovac reacted
favourably (as did later his replacement Jan Pisut), and so the
Accreditation Commission approved the proposal, of course with some
modification.
Changes
The proposal as submitted called for establishment of four
Faculties - Faculty of Theology, Faculty of Education, Faculty of
Ecology, and Faculty of Humanities. The Faculty of Ecology was not
approved on the grounds that it involved a multi-discipline study which
would be available in parts in other Faculties. The existence of
a Faculty of Theology in Bratislava precluded the establishment of
a similar Faculty in Trnava. It was, though, assumed that UT would be
later extended by a Jesuit Faculty of Theology and by a Faculty of
Nursing and Social Sciences.
In this way the Christian spirit of the proposed university was to
be established, even though the university was planned to become a state
university later on. The Faculty of Education was to focus on 1st
(junior) and 2nd (intermediate) level of elementary school teaching, the
Faculty of Humanities was to include the disciplines of philosophy,
psychology, classical languages, and social and health sciences. The
individual disciplines were profiled in such a way as to fit to the
established system if universities in Czechoslovakia and to avoid
duplications with other universities.
The particular needs of Trnava region were also included in plans,
together with the realities of the job market in the region, and so
every discipline was assigned after a competition a particular
guarantor. The educational plans and curriculums were made, instructors
hired with at least one third of them coming from the public sector
(i.e. state employees). To assure the appropriate real estate for the
university, some of the buildings proposed for the university were
removed from the privatization process. For historical reasons, the name
of the university was changed to University of Trnava.
The Accreditation Commission approved this modified proposal and
the minister of education Pisut was to submit it to the next session of
SNR (Slovak National Council - Slovak parliament). In fact, it was
submitted by members of SNR and not by the minister. Why? Jan Pisut
offered an explanation, he had intended to do so, but as a part of
a complete plan of development of universities, and that had caused the
delay, the members of parliament had been just plain quicker. On March
15, 1992, the bill establishing the University of Trnava to the date of
July 1, 1992, was adopted.
A secret weapon of KDH and ODU?
At the same time another university - Academia Istropolitana whose
main task was to be preparation of experts for public administration
- was proposed to be established. According to professor Kovac this
university was conceived as an insurance for KDH (Christian Democratic
Union) and ODU (Civic Democratic Union) against a defeat in the coming
parliament elections. However, SNR did not pass a bill establishing the
university.
Two Steering Committees
At this juncture it is necessary to explain the existence of two
Steering Committees. Julius Kovac claims that the first committee
consisted of himself and his associates who prepared the original
proposal for University of Trnava. This group did exist, but was never
granted a legal status as a Steering Committee. The second (though
officially the first) Steering Committee was established by SNR and its
aim was to ensure high professional and moral standards for the proposed
university. Minister Pisut, himself a member of the committee, approved
the committee on June 1, and appointed Dr. Anton Hajduk, Dr.Sc. its
chairman. J. Kovac levels a lot of criticism at this committee, for its
members did not participate on the preparations of the proposal (some of
the members even directly refused any cooperation on the proposal in the
past, and Mr. Hajduk in particular with explanation that he had no
expertise concerning universities) and so they were taking over the real
doers who were shoved aside. That Mr. Kovac considers immoral. In
addition, Mr. Kovac thinks that there is no real need for the committee
as the proposal is completed and approved.
Appointment
On the request of the minister of education Pisut the president of
CSFR Vaclav Havel appointed by decree on May 15 RNDr. J. Hajduk the
rector of UT, while the university did not yet officially exist.
It is necessary to stress that according to the law a candidate for
rector of a university is chosen from among full and associate
professors of the university by the Academic Senate of the university,
and the selection is then submitted to the minister of education for
approval. The agenda for appointments of rectors is administered by the
Department of Universities and Adult Education at the Ministry of
Education. But the people at the department including its Head learned
about Hajduk's appointment only from the daily press.
Letters
The Ministry of Education of Slovak republic obtained inquiries
from the Council of Universities on June 26 and from the Ministry of
State Control on July 16 concerning the process of how the rector of UT
had been selected and appointed. Based on these inquires Mr. Slobodnik
(after June elections the acting minister of education till September
16 when Matus Kucera became the minister) wrote a letter on July 28 to
the Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia Jan Strasky (who as the Prime
Minister assumed most of presidential powers when the president
resigned) requesting nullification of the appointment of Dr. Hajduk on
the grounds of irregularities and the fact that Dr. Hajduk was neither
a full nor an associate professor. At the same time he requested that
professor Kovac be appointed as the acting rector until the Academic
Senate selects a new candidate.
Based on the reply of Mr. Strasky that the appointment was legally
invalid and hence not binding, Mr. Slobodnik asked Dr. Hajduk on August
25 to step down and hand over the office to professor Kovac who was
appointed by him to the helm of UT. Prime Minister Strasky refused to
appoint professor Kovac as the acting rector of UT on the grounds that
he was not selected by the Academic Senate. Mr. Hajduk refused to
officially accept the letter from minister Slobodnik and so the letter
had to be officially registered at the secretariat of UT.
The next day another letter from the minister arrives requesting
Dr. Hajduk to immediately cease performing any and all acts in the
capacity of the rector, as his appointment to the function bears no
legal authority. The letter also warns that Dr. Hajduk may be held
financially liable for any possible expenses incurred since that day.
The office and all material concerning the initial functioning of the
university was to be handed to a person with an authorising letter from
the minister.
Mr. Hajduk refused these requests on the grounds that Prime
Minister Strasky only expressed his personal opinions, (To illuminate
Mr. Strasky's position let us cite from his letter to the Chairman of
the Academic Senate of UT Mr. M. Slivka dated September 18: "...
I consider the whole process of the appointment legally invalid from the
start. My opinion, of course, is not taking into account the actual
ramifications following from its retroactive nature.")
Minister Slobodnik asked again on September 2 that the Prime
Minister makes a univocal decision on the matter. The Prime Minister
Strasky replied in a letter dated September 7 in which he reiterated
that the appointment had been legally invalid since the beginning.
Therefore minister Slobodnik requested on September 9 that Dr.Hajduk
hands under the protocol the office and all materials including the
results of entrance exams (they were taking place in the period of
September 8 to 19) in full to 14:00 of that day at the latest into the
hands of Doc. ing. L. Harach, CSc who had just been appointed by
minister Slobodnik to lead UT in the interim. However, before that Dr.
Hajduk had already temporarily transferred the executive powers of
rector to his deputy prorector Regend (but stayed in the function of
rector) and thus had officially nothing to hand over.
This prompted minister Slobodnik to visit the university personally
and have the door lock at the rector's office replaced to deny Dr.
Hajduk an access there.
Two Opinions
Concerning this appointment, here is a statement of Vladimir
Chovald, the Director of the Departement of Universities and Adult
Education at the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic, as he
wrote it in the letter addressed to the Council of Universities of the
SR, to the Academic Senates (AS) and to the Heads of Universities of the
SR on September 18: "Although Hajduk was alerted on Aug. 26, both in
person and in writing, to the lack of legitimacy of his appointment to
the post of the Rector, he kept concluding work agreements with
instructors, and on Sept. 1, he initiated elections into the AS to which
he subsequently submitted a recommendation for a prorectorial
appointment. According to the Universities Act, the AS is elected by the
academic community which consists of instructors, researchers and
students. The exclusive assembly of the instructors of the Trnava
University was not an assembly of the academic community, therefore it
could not elect the AS. It follows that in the case of Mr. Hajduk, it is
not a matter of his recall from the post of a Rector, or revoking his
letter of appointment, but rather a matter of an act which was null and
void from the beginning, and no legal consequences can be derived from
it."
On the other hand, Doc. JUDr. Pavel Hollander, DrSc. (equivalent of
LL.D.) explains in the October issue of the journal Forum vedy (Science
Forum) that the Universities Act does not take into account newly
established universities, hence neither the procedure for the election
of a Rector described there, nor the title of an Associate or Full
professor is compulsory in this case.
A similar view is held by the former Minister of Education J.
Pisut.
Is Hajduk's Election Legitimate?
Disputes about UT revolved around this issue, although (as follows
from the exposition above, as well as from the present situation) the
causes are (or may be) completely different.
I Want To Be A Rector!
On July 7, a letter to the Auditor General was sent by J. Kovac, A.
Matejka and K. Kabat containing a complaint about the violation of the
law by the former Minister of Education, Mr. Pisut. Besides allegations
about the violation of the Universities Act, the authors alerted the
Auditor to the fact that Dr. Hajduk has no experience in the workings of
the universities, much less with running it. They stated that after his
appointment, the hitherto officially recognized Steering Committee was
dissolved and replaced by a completely different set of people who, by
and large, lack required pedagogical experience.
Allegedly, this intervention by Minister Pisut practically
destroyed the newly founded UT, and everything indicates that he
"concealed" in it the previously planned but then disapproved Academia
Istropolitana (as evidence, they offer e.g., that out of 26 members of
the new UT Steering Committe, 13 are on the list of the guarantors of
this Academy; further, that two new study programs were opened at UT
- the same as at the Istropolitana - Social Sciences, Political
Sciences, Humanities and History, and that the staffing is consistent
with this intention).
They suggested, as a solution, to recall Dr. Hajduk, to reactivate
the original Steering Committe and appoint Prof. Kovac as the Rector
until July 1, 1993, when a democratic election of the rector would take
place according to the Act.
Trnava Responds
All instructors with whom we could talk think that the present
Minister of Education is above all upset by the democratic team which
was formed after Hajduk's appointment at the UT. The present personnel
was formed on the basis of a contest, and only professional and moral
aspects were taken into account, rather than political affiliation, as
Dr. Kovac alleges.
They stated that although he initiated the founding of UT, he was
mainly motivated by his ambition to become a Rector. He had made similar
attempts in the past. They also point out that for three years, he had
been a local chairman of the Communist Party of Slovakia and a member of
a screening committee. They add that in the letter to the Auditor
General, Dr. Kovac is nominating himself. They also maintain that
Hajduk's Steering Committe has been formed by a decision of the National
Council of Slovakia, and as such it is the only valid one, in contrast
with the self-appointed Kovac's Committee.
The new programs (History, Social Sciencese, Political Sciences,
Humanities and Preventive Medicine) were approved by the Accreditation
Committee, albeit only as a three-year program leading to a Bachelor's
Degree (as opposed to the originally planned Master's programs on which
the prospective students counted). Master's programs are to be decided
upon later.
The students learned about this change 14 days prior to the
entrance exams, with a provision that if their program was canceled,
they could select a different one.
Further, the present management of UT complains about the
illegality of the measures by the Ministry of Education concerning the
replacement of door locks, the simultaneous registration on Oct. 12-13,
and the blocking of the account in September which had the effect that
the instructors work presently without pay. As far as the registration
is concerned, it is completely under the jurisdiction of the school, and
no one else has the right to conduct it. UT scheduled it for Oct.
12-15, and it actually took place as scheduled. Only three students came
by mistake to the illegal registration, organized by the Ministry of
education, and later they registered in a regular way at UT.
As far as Hajduk's Associate Professorship is concerned, UT refers
to Mr. Hollander's opinion and adds that Dr. Hajduk became an Associate
Professor already at Charles University in Prague. To respond to the
question whether they are a denominational school or not, UT states that
it is a Catholic University. (On March 23, however, it was approved in
the Slovak National Council as a State University.)
There is a major problem: a small number of internal instructors
(at present, just 5 for the whole University). UT explains that this
year, only Level 1 is in operation, so that a larger number of internal
instructors would not be fully employed. There are also complaints that
the instructors are insufficiently experienced, but this is denied by UT
by pointing out to the instructors' titles and professional activities.
Further, UT claims that no one is really disturbed by the professional
aspects; at issue are political opinions. The last serious problem is
the readiness of the University for the academic year. Above all, this
means securing the space an laboratories, which UT lacks. UT explains it
mainly by the blockage of the account. However, this took place only on
September 28, that is, sixteen days before the lectures started.
Minister Requests Information
The situation is crowned by a letter by Minister Kucera to the
Provost of UT from Sept. 18; he calls attention to the fact that he has
no information about UT's preparations for the new academic year
(important dates, locations of lectures, list of instructors and school
employees, structure of the school and the faculties, curricula and the
statute of the school, needed for registration).
In conclusion, we add:
- one of the initiators of the complaint of July 7 became immediately
an employee of the Ministry of the Auditor General, hence the
recipient of that complaint
- Minister Slobodnik had the door lock replaced only on one of the two
entrances to the Rector's secretarial office. (This lock, later
returned by the Minister, was put up for an auction organized by
UT.)
- the University has been alive for the whole semester only from
donations by patrons.
- no one brought this matter to the court, as Dr. Hajduk requested.
Chronological Account
March 25 Slovak National Council approves the establishment of UT
May 12 CSFR President Vaclav Havel appoints Dr. Hajduk to the
post of the Rector of UT
June 1 Minister Pisut appoints Steering Committee of UT
June 6 Parliamentary elections
July 8 complaint by Messrs. Kovac, Matejka and Kabat to the
Auditor General
July, August: Correspondence on the election of Dr. Hajduk
Sept. 1 elections to AS
Sept. 8 Dr. Hajduk hands the Rectorial agenda over to the
Vice-Rector Regend
Sept. 9 Minister of Culture Slobodnik replaces the door lock at
the Rector's Office
Sept. 16 M. Kucera becomes Minister of Education
Sept. 8-19 Entrance exams
Sept. 18 Minister Kucera requests information about UT
Sept. 25 Min. Kucera blocks UT account at the Vseobecna uverova
banka (General Credit Bank)
Oct. 14 Lectures start at UT
Oct. 12-13 Registration of students at UT
Oct. 12-15 Illegal registration staged by the Ministry
Oct. 26 New elections into AS
Nov. 3 Slovak Government approves Min. Kucera's proposal to
dissolve UT (Nat. Council was to express its opinion on
Nov. 11)
Nov. 4 UT sues Ministry of Education and the General Credit
Bank for the blockage of the account
Nov. 5 Representatives of UT students deliver their declaration
to the deputies of the National Council of the Slovak
Republic in Bratislava
Nov. 8 Inauguration Ceremonies at UT
Nov. 12 Constitutional Committee of the National Council of
Slovakia recommends to withdraw a bill to dissolve UT
Nov. 17 National Council of Slovakia withdraws the bill to
dissolve UT from its agenda
translation:
Franya Franek (franya@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca)
and Slavek Kovarik (KOVARIK@MCMASTER.BITNET)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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