A few months after completing three years of his mandate, the rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Guàrdia, announced today, in the Governing Council of this centre, the advancement of the elections to the Rectorate. The reason that led him to make this decision is, as he explained, the need to face with margin and legitimacy the great challenges that the institution must face in the coming years, among them the expansion project of the Clínic hospital, the confirmation of the Campus of the Arts project and the deployment of the MIES project, among many others.
In addition, the UB must apply the Organic Law of the University System (LOSU), which will entail changes in the governance model and the development of a new statute, or the new Degree Decree, among other regulatory modifications. For this reason, on Tuesday, October 17, the Governing Council of this university will meet in an extraordinary session to approve the call for elections and the electoral calendar.
The rector spoke today at the Governing Council from Madrid, where he participated in a meeting between the Ministry of Universities and representatives of the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE). When explaining the opportunity to call elections, he stated that currently "projects are beginning to take shape for which a strong and robust UB is necessary." In this sense, he has stated that "deploying the LOSU requires a government team that is not waiting for elections", and has pointed out that during 2024 it will be necessary to work on the reform of the Statute so that the institution gains agility.
In the usual report to the Governing Council, Guàrdia has highlighted, precisely, some of the work that is being carried out for the application of the LOSU, such as the preparation of a reference document to draft the new statutes of the Catalan universities , or the shock plan for administration and services personnel (PAS) approved by the Generalitat to apply this law in a way that allows services to be reorganized, provide new professional profiles and face generational change, among others.
Likewise, in his report the rector has made reference to the progress in the deployment of the MIES project, which should make it possible to expand the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) and the research spaces of the Faculty of Economics and Business, and transfer it to the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science (which is now in the Historic Building) on the Diagonal Campus. Likewise, conversations are being held with the Barcelona Provincial Council to propose a plan to improve the Mundet and Torribera Campuses, the project with the Barcelona City Council for the Arts Campus and the Barcelona Knowledge Alliance, among others.
The Governing Council has also been informed of the actions and activities carried out in recent months in the various areas of government. And the Statute of the teaching and research staff of the UB has been approved; the second Plan to improve the remuneration of associate professors; the public job offer of the PAS of 2023, and the Regulations for the creation and operation of the internal structures and transversal research alliances (HUB) of the UB.
