by Hans Pechar

In recent years, governance at Austrian universities has been subjected to a series of reforms. Finally, in 2002 a new University Act (UG 2002) transformed university institutions from state agencies into public enterprises. Some people claim that universities were privatized, but this interpretation is not correct; universities remain ‘legal persons under public law’ (Körperschaften öffentlichen Rechts). The federal government retains responsibility for basic funding, but universities are exempt from the fiscal regulations of the federal budget and instead receive lump sum budgets at their own discretion. Resources are allocated on the basis of performance contracts. Twenty percent of the budget allocation will be determined by indicators. The internal organization of universities – previously prescribed by law – is now determined by statutes (Satzung) decided by the academic senate. Each university has a university’s board of trustees (Universitätsrat) of between five and nine members, half of them elected by the academic senate, and the other half appointed by the Minister of Education. Presidents are elected by the university’s board of trustees. Thus presidents are less dependent on university academic bodies, but more dependent on the board of trustees. The new universities are the employers of all academic and non-academic staff. Academics are no longer civil servants, but are employed with private contracts. It is fair to say that the pattern of governance is now quite similar to that of public universities in the US.