by Kurt Grünewald

The federal law for the organization of the universities (University Act of 2002) transformed universities from entities under State regulation to fully legal entities under public law. Simultaneously, their administrative structures were streamlined, and the position ofthe university president ( Rektor) was afforded additional power. Introduced as a complement to the university president and the senate (Senat) was the university’s board of trustees (Universitätsrat), comparable to the board of trustees of a US university. Consequently, most provisions of the University Organization Act (UOG) of 1993 and the Art University Act (KUOG) were rendered ineffective. In the spirit of deregulation, consolidation, and streamlining, the new act regulates not only organizational law, but personnel and academic realms as well.

by Gertrude Brinek

From the end of World War II until 1975, Austrian universities had very rigid and hierarchical administrative structures. Increasing enrollments resulted in democratization and structuring of education into 3 bodies/groupings as well as in ongoing formal and informal lobbying for new resources in the Federal Ministry for higher education. This had less to do with “education through academics” than with the recognition by the knowledge-based society of a broader mandate for the universities. The University Act of 1993 was meant to liberalize higher education. The goals, more or less achieved, were: greater effectiveness, a more entrepreneurial approach, and less state influence. Technical colleges (Fachhochschulen) contributed to an increase in qualified professional training at a higher level.

by Herbert Hrachovec

"Institutional memory" is the set of procedural rules and – mostly implicit – know-how an established organization needs to work properly. There can be no doubt that the recent Universitätsgesetz 2002 (University Act of 2002) was drafted to strategically abrogate such a memory by thoroughly changing the basic modus operandi of Austrian universities. Opinions differ as to the outcome of this political intervention. Is it a liberating move towards "autonomy" and Weltklasse, or one more attempt to crush grassroots self-determination in the interest of the neo-liberal agenda?