I didn't think that in my career as a professor I would teach a class like this, but the time and circumstances are such that each of us should say to ourselves: "whatever happens, I'm up to it".
My address to respected fellow students and our public is essentially not directed against anyone, but for all of us to work together for the benefit of this faculty, the University and the wider community. Because this faculty has given birth to many generations, many people from business, public figures, it was, and will be, the backbone of economic science in Montenegro, and I hope also beyond. We who are now on it, either as students, associates or professors, have the obligation to continue its bright tradition and improve the overall work in the context of new challenges facing our society as a whole.
My position, known to academics and the general public, is that all problems can and must be solved through dialogue and academic arguments, taking into account larger goals, but not neglecting the goals of university units, when they are aimed at development, which will contribute to the betterment of all. In this sense, faculties must have relative independence, which will be a lever for their development.
I want to remind you that the Faculty of Economics is the initial constituent of our University. Without his staff, several university units today could not have been established. His 55 years of work are an academic tradition in this area and deserve respect, but not to live on the past, but to turn to the future. It must achieve continuity in development, as one of the leading units of the University of Montenegro. The university should act positively in this and encourage its growth and development, because the effect of this will be felt by the entire university community. Our university is, for our circumstances, large and heterogeneous, according to all relevant parameters. It was created in a specific way - by uniting units, which are not homogeneous even now, so the departmental model can still hardly be applied to everyone, and mechanical quantification and approach can lead to negative trends in its functioning and development.
From this distance of time, it can be concluded that the councils of this Faculty and its Administration, in all generations, had a vision and goals, offering society multiple levels of education up to doctoral studies. We not only followed the changes, but we also predicted them and even created them. We tried to participate in solving wider economic and social problems. That is why today this faculty has a very positive connotation in the wider public, which goes beyond the borders of Montenegro. It is the duty of all of us to preserve and improve it, not tear it down!
It is already a well-known fact that in the last few years there have been certain disagreements between some bodies of this university, especially some people there, with the views of the Faculty of Economics. The genesis of the problem lies in several foundations: illegal confiscation of funds, often a priori negative attitude towards this faculty regarding the selection of titles, doctoral dissertations, plans and more. This has been stated many times through discussions at several sessions of the Council of the Faculty of Economics, where the initiative was taken to organize a meeting with the University Administration, where many current issues will be discussed in an academic, which means tolerant, atmosphere, with arguments and counter-arguments being offered. issues of functioning and development of the University and the Faculty of Economics within it. Among other things, it was proposed to hold a round table on the direction of the University's development, but that did not happen. I was personally the initiator of some such ideas, as well as specific questions at several sessions of the Faculty Council, which I believed should be resolved in a timely manner.
Respect for all legal norms must be the same for all bodies of faculties and universities, and the ultimate goal of both is the education of our students at different levels and participation in solving problems that the development of science inevitably brings with it.
The problems we are talking about here have been piling up, and now they have escalated. The central problem is not who will personally be the dean, vice-dean or manager of any program, but to clearly identify problems and priorities and to see the directions for solving them.
Without talking, there is no mutual understanding! The Council of the Faculty of Economics should not learn about the dismissal of its dean from the media on Friday afternoon. Instead, all the facts should be communicated to the authority that proposed the dean, based on his submitted program, which was unanimously accepted by the Council.
Regardless of all the circumstances, the dismissal of the Dean represents a certain blow to every faculty, including ours. But it is very important that our faculty has such personnel potential that more colleagues can take on this responsible position. That is why the Faculty should emerge from this situation stronger, more unique, and continue to develop as one of the leading institutions of the University of Montenegro.
The Faculty of Economics has the biggest competition in Montenegro, because there are more than 10 Faculties on the market, with various economic or business orientations. Competition is not a problem for us, but we believe that it should be an incentive for our further competitiveness, which will be created with the help of the University, in order to constantly increase the quality of our products and be an institution of top knowledge in the field of economic science. The number of high school students who apply to our faculty is always significantly higher than the number we receive. These are the best high school graduates in our country and beyond.
The demand for our programs is constantly present and increasing. This makes us happy and encourages us to continue our responsible attitude towards students. We believe that the growing demand for our intellectual offer should not be restrained by various rigid administrative restrictions, because this does not seem to be the case with the competition either. Business operations of companies in accordance with market requirements is one of the basic postulates that we teach students. I personally believe that the Faculty of Economics should develop its offer both in terms of breadth and depth, participating in solving the current economic problems of the economy of Montenegro, which are very present.
My message is that through academic dialogue, we should arrive at optimal solutions to current problems; that the development of all university units and the university as a single whole is created starting from the goals that a modern university should have, in which certain differences will be respected, but with the basic maxim that students and their knowledge are our highest priority.
(Prof. Dr. Božo Mihailović, full professor of the Faculty of Economics, University of Montenegro, Podgorica, November 18, 2014 at 11 a.m.)
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