I. GENERAL DECISION MAKING PROCEDURES
Top-down decision making
Top-down decision making and lack of on-going communication between top management and academic staff is a serious problem. Academic staff should be more involved in the governing of the University. Ex post facto communication of major decisions to staff is not sufficient.
Lack of transparency and arbitrariness of Budgetary Decisions
Budgeting and budgetary decisions lack clear criteria. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) need to be discussed, established and introduced into budgetary decisions. All staff members should be informed about these KPIs and have a voice in their articulation. Without them decisions risk to be arbitrary or to be perceived as such. A recent example: Some positions were frozen as a result of economic considerations and others were not. On what basis were these decisions taken?
Is there any good reason for not making the budget public? Publication of the budget would contribute much towards current concerns regarding lack of budgetary transparency and facilitate staff involvement in the budgetary process.
There is no adequate budgeting and planning for the replacement of expensive and large research equipment. An investment plan should be in place for such replacements.
On the other hand, articulation and consideration of KPIs in budgetary policies and decisions should remain sensitive to concerns of academic freedom. Research projects with less evident KPIs should not be sidelined to the point of depriving some researchers from the basic needs to continue with their work. An awareness of solidarity – requiring some elements of “cross-subsidization” – as a condition for adequate levels of academic freedom for all should be sustained and promoted.
Decisions regarding remaining positive balances of externally funded projects after completion of the project are taken out of the hands of those who obtained the funding, whereas negative balances remains solely their responsibility. Evenhandedness and basic managerial and budgetary fairness in these matters should be much more evident than it is currently.
Promotion Criteria and Incentive Schemes
Internal Promotion Criteria and Procedures should be made more transparent. There is no adequate promotion and incentive scheme for staff that provide technical services and research support.
Relations between Research Centres and Faculties
Directors of the Research Centres have significantly more independent administrative powers than Deans and Heads of Research Units. This creates a two track culture at the University. The differences between the Centres and Faculties should be investigated and reformed where necessary to create a more uniform administrative culture.
Conflict Resolution/Ombudsman
The university needs an ombudsman for purposes of resolving conflicts within the university. This is relevant at all levels of administration, but especially in the relations between top management and the rest of staff.
Registration of Doctoral Candidates
The UL procedure for registering doctoral candidates has to be reworked in order to make it compliant with the quality requirements of the forthcoming AFR collective grants procedures. Special attention should be given to adequately put into place an efficient academic control on the quality of the PhD projects at faculty level. A PhD project in mathematics, for instance, should only be started if the mathematics research unit has given its positive advice. The current procedure that all candidates have to be approved solely by the rectorate has to be amended and replaced by an arrangement in which the rectorate’s statutory power to approve or not to approve PhD candidates takes effect in cases where there is a dispute at Faculty or Research Unit level regarding the approval of a candidate.
II. INTERNAL COMMUNICATION
Lack of Information
This is closely related to the problem of top-down decision-making addressed above, but academic staff experience a constant sense of not being informed about major developments within the University. A prominent example is the general lack of information experiences regarding the move to Belval. Another example is the weak and vague information content of the minutes of the Governing Board and University Council meetings. Transparency and proper explication of the rationale of the decisions would contribute to higher levels of staff participation and motivation.
Style and lack of Communication
Communication style of both HR and SEVE need to be improved drastically. Especially students but also PhD researchers often complain of sub-standard or disrespectful treatment.
Many colleagues communicated a general experience of e-mail messages receiving no response from administrative offices, especially in the case of e-mail to the financial department.
Language of communication
Policies regarding the language of communication inside the university should be clarified. The exclusive use of English in applications for internal research funding is unnecessary and unacceptable.
III. EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION
The relation between the University and the FNR
Proper representation of faculties and their needs must take place in all meetings and communications with the FNR. Profs. Lucienne Blessing and Ludwig Neyses alone cannot assume this role, nor can staff in general be properly informed about matters between the FNR and the University without wider representation. Wider representation will also lead to stronger advocacy of the University’s needs than is currently the case.
Role of Teaching
The value of teaching as a significant part of the university’s role is not properly communicated to the Luxembourg community.
Language of communication
The policy regarding the choice of language for outside communications should be articulated clearly.
IV. ROLES OF PROFESSORS AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS
Sabbaticals
Regulations regarding sabbaticals are irregular when compared to most other universities. Two matters are especially of concern:
1) Associate professors cannot have sabbaticals.
2) Most universities award sabbaticals in the seventh year of a seven year period of employment, that is, after six years of teaching, and not in the eighth year of an eight year period of employment after seven years of teaching. A more regular regulation would be to award one full year sabbatical for every seven years of employment (not after a seven year period) or one semester sabbatical for every seven semesters of employment (not after seven semesters of employment).
Titles
The use of the title associated professor should be restricted to internal administrative procedures. The general title of Professor should be used for full and associate professors in all external communications.
V. SPECIFIC ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES
Hiring of guest lecturers
The procedure for inviting guest lectures that has been introduced a few months ago must be undone. It is embarrassing to ask scholars with a high international reputation for a copy of their last academic degree, and this is damaging to the University of Luxembourg’s reputation.
ACME
ACME is a constant source of frustration. At issue is the lack of efficient and reliable support for the administration of the UL teaching, including student, teaching staff and teaching activities administration in the faculties. A troubling example is the ongoing unthinkable lack of institutional recording of the ECTS certification of our doctoral training activities.
Signatures
Signing of documents when those responsible to sign are absent causes many problems. A functional system of substitution should be introduced.
Purchases
Procedures for the preparations of purchase orders for services such as translations are unclear and confusing, causing unnecessary work. For instance, there is no legal or any other sound reason for distinguishing between individual (“independent”) translators and those represented or employed by companies.
Procedures for the preparation of purchase orders for small amounts are also cumbersome and can be simplified.
It takes unnecessary long to obtain books through the current procedure. Other Universities have taken the step to allow staff to order books personally and claim refunds when books are urgently required. This should be considered at the UL as well.
Arrival and delivery of purchases are cumbersome. Packages must currently be collected individually at receptions of buildings, or delivery must be requested in writing, instead of being delivered along with other mail.
Absence from Campus
Officially we are required to provide HR with details of any absence from campus for official purposes. It is not clear what kind of absences are absolutely necessary to communicate to HR, only official purposes that take one out of Luxembourg for longer periods, or every short absence to any destination off campus, however near.
Working in public libraries, archives or similar institutions should be considered as working in a manner that is fully compliant with contractual and insurance requirements and need not be communicated specifically to HR.
Forfeiture of vacation leave
Forfeiture of vacation leave, especially in the case of contracted researchers, seems to be subject to arbitrary HR decisions.
Confidentiality of Employment Contracts
Although confidentiality of employment contracts is a sound principle that must be respected, project leaders should have the right to see and know the contracts of contracted researchers under their supervision.
60 Months Restriction of CCDs
The 60 month restriction of CCDs can effect women who fall pregnant during CCDs negatively. The rules should make allowance for exceptions in such cases.
E-mail
The immediate termination of e-mail addresses of staff along with termination of employment at the university is unnecessary and unacceptable. It is further common practice at other universities that retired professors keep their e-mail addresses as long as they need them and there is no good reason why this practice should not apply at the University of Luxembourg.
VI. UNIFORM RULES AND CODE OF CONDUCT
Some initiative has been taken to establish a Uniform Code of Conduct for staff. Although some matters of appropriate conduct require attention – for instance rules or criteria of proper teaching and supervision of PHD research – there is also the concern that the current initiative appears to move in the direction of articulating a kind of corporate ethics for staff that is not in keeping with academic culture and freedom.