Coalition challenges university autonomy and teaching

Austrian universities are facing a challenge to their autonomy and their right to teach a broad range of subjects after the country’s new coalition government announced major reforms to higher education, writes David Matthews for Times Higher Education.

On the whole, rectors are breathing a sigh of relief that the Greens have ousted the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) as junior governing partners of Sebastian Kurz’s Austrian People’s Party, following elections last September. The FPÖ had used its nearly two years in government to appoint to university boards supporters who were sometimes seen as unqualified or who were members of nationalistic fraternities. The new green-conservative coalition, sworn in on 7 January, has promised to secure funding for universities through to 2027, indexed against inflation and with extra funds to address problems such as low student-to-staff ratios in certain disciplines.

“What is a good sign is that science and research feature prominently” in the government’s plans, said Oliver Vitouch, vice-president of Universities Austria. But universities are wary of some elements of the programme, which argues that “not every subject needs to be taught in every location” and calls for “clusters of excellence” in particular disciplines.
Full report on the Times Higher Education site