Open letter from the Rector full prof. Danilo Nikolić to students at the University of Montengro
“Maybe the management of the University of Montenegro is also “to blame” for the new coronavirus”
Dear students,
The other day, your representatives in the Student Parliament supported the initiative to initiate the procedure of dismissal of the leaders of the University of Montenegro. As an explanation, they state that the problems of hyperproduction of diplomas have not been resolved, that the legal obligation to rank the University has not been implemented, that there has not been enough investment in infrastructure, and point to "lack of essential application of the legal obligation on practical teaching in all study programs". For all of the above, your representatives blame the former President of the Steering Committee, as well as the Rector of the University of Montenegro, whose results from the previous term and the work program of the University in the next term, only half a year ago, they unanimously supported in a secret ballot.
For the sake of the wide student population of the University of Montenegro, which numbers 20,000 students, and primarily as your professor who has chosen scientific and educational work for his life commitment, and for over 20 years he has tried, like all my colleagues from the University of Montenegro, to lectures and practical exercises I convey accurate and precise information, I point out that in their initiative your representatives forgot to emphasize that all these problematic requirements are in the domain of legal powers, responsibilities and obligations of the Government of Montenegro, ie the relevant ministry, not the state university which is not the only university in Montenegro. They also forgot that they addressed the competent ministry on several occasions in the past years, together with the representatives of the University administration, as evidenced by, among other things, official announcements published on the organization's website and in the media.
We do not have to go much into the past looking for information in which the Student Parliament informed about the above, both the current and the Government of the previous convocation. They then knew exactly what the relevant address was for, say, the issue of diploma hyperproduction and stated precisely and clearly what needed to be changed to prevent it (the letter was forwarded on December 28, 2020, http://www.spucg. ucg.ac.me/pages/clanak.php?id=889), and now the management of the University of Montenegro is suddenly responsible for this problem.
The initiative to change the leadership of the University of Montenegro, among other things, proposes that we should start from the legal framework and procedure that is carried out in the process of recognition of foreign educational documents, and then accurately and decisively state the articles of the Law on Recognition of Foreign Educational Documents and Equalization of Qualifications (Official Gazette of Montenegro ", No. 57/2011 and 42/2016). However, there were such addresses before, and there were media controversies, when the then Ministry of Education told them that the relevant ministry "through new licensing solutions, in some way limited the number of students in some programs, but that the Government could not limit the number of students who will graduate abroad. ” (The Government determines the number of students to be financed from the budget of Montenegro for a certain study program, in accordance with the number prescribed in the license of the public institution - Article 65 of the Law on Higher Education). It was also explained to them that although the Student Parliament has guidelines and knows that, in accordance with the needs of the labor market, certain qualifications may not be needed in the number in which our people graduate abroad, “you cannot limit the desires of young people to complete their studies and in future with that qualification they will apply to the Employment Bureau ". The Student Parliament is certainly aware of the importance of the Lisbon Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region of 1997, which obliges each state to validate diplomas from abroad if they come from accredited and licensed higher education institutions.
The initiative of your representatives further states that the University has not implemented the legal obligation to rank. In this regard, we are obliged to inform you that this is not the obligation of the University but the Agency for Quality Control and Ensuring Higher Education, established by the Government and which, among other things, has the task of determining the methodology of ranking institutions and ranking higher education institutions (Article 13a of Law on Higher Education). It would be, not only illegal and non-academic, but it would contradict all the postulates of educational work for the University to rank itself.
The initiative of your representatives to dismiss the leadership of the University of Montenegro states that there was not enough investment in infrastructure, and points to the "lack of substantial application of the legal obligation on practical training in all study programs". We do not have to go further than last year, when the University of Montenegro made significant investments in modernization and digitalization of infrastructure and equipment, especially in the conditions of the pandemic caused by the COVID19 virus and the absence of a significant part of practical classes also has a reasonable explanation in the conditions of epidemiological crisis and high health risk per student.
But because of objective and transparent informing and above all due to the biggest student population, you will allow me to state concrete facts and numbers.
First, I believe that the representatives of the Student Parliament are familiar with Article 64 of the Law on Higher Education, which states that the Founder provides funds to the public institution for: 1) material costs, current and investment maintenance, 2) salaries of employees ... 3) equipment and library fund ... 6) databases and information system ..., etc., if for no other reason, then because in the same article (7) it is stated that the Government provides funds for the work of the Student Parliament and extracurricular activities of students. Unfortunately, the allocated budget funds go to almost the entire amount only for the salaries of the employees at the University.
Therefore, the University made every effort to allocate as much of its own funds for investment maintenance, equipping and modernization of teaching and scientific infrastructure, in conditions when from 2017 their own tuition revenues started to decline, due to the introduction of free education.
In the last 3 years alone, 9 million euros (6.5 million own funds and 2.5 million donations) have been invested in investment maintenance of infrastructure facilities, investment in teaching and research equipment, renovation and equipping of amphitheaters, classrooms, libraries, laboratories, computer rooms etc., all in accordance with the needs and requirements of all university units. Significant investments have been made in the development of digitalization during the COVID19 pandemic in order for the teaching process to run smoothly. Thanks to the efforts of the University administration and the administrations of individual faculty units, significant donations were made in 2020 in the amount of about 2.5 million euros, in the field of digitalization development (2.1 million worth of Telekom donations) and adaptation of 5 amphitheaters and ceremonial halls in the Technical Faculties in Podgorica (approximately 400,000 euros amount of donations from Montenegrin companies).
Despite large investments in infrastructure, thanks to the work of administration, professors, associates and employees, during the last 10 years the University of Montenegro has provided the largest inflow of own funds in the last 3 years. At the end of 2020, there are 14.87 million euros in all accounts of the University of Montenegro, which is 2 times more than at the beginning of the Rector's term in 2017. Most of these funds relate to international projects.
And all this, dear students, your representatives in the Student Parliament knew until a month ago because they participated intensively and were witnesses if not as members of parliament then as students at the University of Montenegro. Why did your representatives get involved in the political and media chase to remove the current leadership of the University? What happened to them? It is clear to me, and whether it is to you.
Releases:
https://fosmedia.me/infos/drustvo/nikolic-mozda-je-uprava-ucg-kriva-i-za-novi-korona-virus
The reply of the Student Parliament of the University of Montenegro to the open letter from the Rector full prof. Danilo Nikolić,PhD: http://www.spucg.ucg.ac.me/pages/clanak.php?id=892