The Minister for Research and Universities of the Generalitat, Joaquim Nadal, has announced that for the next academic year a single complaint office will be created for alleged sexual or labor abuse at the university level (and also in research centers) with the purpose of objective of having a single census that centralizes them and “make a better follow-up”.
Nadal has indicated, at a press conference, that the office -which will be managed by the Ministry of Equality and Feminisms- will come into operation next year, although he has not been able to guarantee that it will be from the beginning of it.
Last March, a guide protocol was approved for this type of case, which was accepted by all the universities -including private ones, as the minister stressed- and which was mandatory in what is established by law and indicative for what is not pick up the same Nadal has asserted that this unique office was born within the framework of said protocol.
With this office, each university will have a more specific space to deal with cases, channel them and do common monitoring: “It will guarantee the traceability of the complaint until the final resolution”, added the minister.
Asked if the private Catalan universities will join this single office, he stated that just as they joined the guide protocol, he understands that “they will also join” this initiative.
He explained that, on this issue, there is “a sensitive concern” within the universities since “they fear that the proliferation of information on these cases of abuse, whether sexual or labor, will have a negative impact on the reputation of the centers”. He sees it, he has said he, in the opposite way. He understands that this initiative “implies the isolation of the cases and ensures that the system as a whole is not contaminated.”
He has asserted that he cannot find a better metaphor to explain the situation than that of the basket with the rotten apple. “If you leave it in the basket, they will all end up rotten, but if you remove it, the healthy ones will not be contaminated.”
Regarding the shock plan to reduce “the precariousness of associate professors” -which has an endowment of 10 million euros this year, 20 in 2024 and 30 the following-, he stated that “four of the seven public universities have already received the transfer of money” and that 256 new permanent professors have been hired, of which 215 will be incorporated at the beginning of the next academic year.
Specifically, from September there will be 129 new professors at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), 21 at the University of Girona (UdG), 99 at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and 20 at the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) , adding the shock plan and the Serra Húnter program, which has as its objective the incorporation of highly qualified teaching and research staff into Catalan public universities.
The minister has pointed out that the rest of the public universities are following their own policy and that “they must carry out the crash plan before the end of the year” to reduce the number of associates and especially that of false associates.
Nadal has stressed that his department has currently executed 80% of the budget it had for this 2023, and foresees that by November it will have “practically fulfilled 100% of the budget forecasts”.
He said this after this Wednesday the Official Gazette of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Dogc) has published the general criteria of the Department of Economy to begin preparing the Budgets of the Generalitat for next year, which are “indicative of where go the priorities of the Government”.
He has highlighted some measures that they have taken, such as the reduction in university prices that, this next academic year, will also benefit students of second and successive degrees with the elimination of the surcharge that existed up to now, which will mean savings of up to 600 euros per course.
Nadal has stressed that “studying at a public university today costs up to 2,000 euros less per course than 7 years ago.” In the case of the masters, the discounts applied mean a saving of more than 2,200 euros compared to the 2016-2017 academic year in a standard course of 60 credits. That is why Nadal has affirmed that Catalonia “no longer has the highest public university prices in the State and has again demanded the transfer of state scholarships”.
Free tuition for the first year of university studies has also been approved for FP students with honors and free for victims of sexist violence. Nadal has pointed out that “it remains as a pending commitment” to introduce compensation for single-parent families.
Regarding language policy, he pointed out that “it is a sensitive and important issue” and has defended the existence of progress, since each student can demand compliance with the language of teaching announced in the enrollment process (whatever it is : Catalan, Spanish and even English) through an “anonymous complaints mailbox”.
In addition, he pointed out that 63% of university teaching staff in Catalonia have accredited the C1 of Catalan, that is, a total of 14,170 teachers.
