We, as members of the non-professor scientific staff of TU Wien have to live with the decisions of the rectorate, although we have little influence on their election.
As an initiative, we try contributing in various forms of decision making, be it in the FutureFit process or now as part of the works council. We have mixed feelings about the rectorate’s performance so far, as we see some positive developments but also missed opportunities. Here are a few thoughts:
Pros:
- Klimaticket refund: While this benefits most employees, those who need only the Vienna region are still better off with the annual Wiener Linien ticket. Further, the conditions for remaining time in the current contract makes it difficult for employees with fixed-term contracts to apply for the refund.
- The process towards flexible work space seems promising.
- The rectorate seems inclined towards other career paths aside the tenure-track positions.
Cons:
- Permanent positions: This is our main criticism, as we don’t see notable changes here. The rectorate acts very conservative and avoids any possible risk. They don’t seem interested in the new options for permanent positions and lay-offs as negotiated in the new KV. The few existing permanent positions are distributed very intransparentyl.
- Third-party funding: Even though the TU is already dominated by third-party funding, the rectorate further pushes, especially towards industry-financed projects. This dependence on external funding with questionable quality control hurts free research in general.
Please let us know your opinion until Jan 10th! We will collect your Pros and Cons and forward them only anonymized. This helps put pressure on the most important issues.