Abolition of three of the five majors, by which the Faculty of Political Sciences (FPN) is recognizable, is a bad move and equal to the gradual abolition of that university unit, according to Professor Zoran Stojiljković.
Stojiljković is a full professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Belgrade, and he was engaged as a visiting professor in several subjects at the FPN in Podgorica.
Commenting on the announced reform at the FPN, he said that canceling three out of five majors is a very bad move for the Faculty.
"Honestly, it's equal to phasing it out. It is particularly surprising that the proposal abolishes the best courses, which are recognizable by the faculty and which are of key importance for capacity building, i.e. as logistical support for democratic consolidation and the European path of Montenegro," said Stojiljković to the MINA agency.
According to him, the cancellation of international relations, European studies and journalism will completely ruin the reputation of FPN. "But it is also difficult to damage the current students, by assuming that they graduated from programs and institutions and became holders of titles for which the public interest no longer exists".
"Such an attitude of the University administration is irresponsible, not only towards the institution but, above all, towards the students, a huge number of whom were self-financing, which means that they paid for something that no longer exists. The new direction proposed by the administration of the University of Montenegro (UCG), communication science, is of course not the same as journalism, which can be easily determined by analyzing the program and profile," said Stojiljković.
He said that he could not find an answer to the basic question - why modern, according to its chosen political and constitutional formula, European, democratic, socially responsible and ecological Montenegro does not recognize the interest of having its own representative faculty of political sciences in order to strengthen its choice. while this certainly does not exclude desirable competition.
Stojiljković, commenting on the speculations about the abolition of the FPN, said that he believes that this is an initiative "which, if there is any sense, will not be implemented".
"That's why I expect that those looking forward to such developments will end up being deeply disappointed. It is incredibly unreasonable and for me personally sad that international relations and European studies, as well as journalism, are canceled in the year when Montenegro celebrates ten years of its independence, and ten years of its FPN", said Stojiljković.
Obviously, he added, there is no measure, no tact, no style. "A huge number of young staff, graduates of international relations are engaged in Montenegrin diplomacy and have contributed to the international affirmation of Montenegro. It's surprising that someone wants to cancel the best brand of the college".
"Given that it is a state university, such a move must also be considered a political move. It's disappointing if someone thinks it's good to send such a message to the citizens of Montenegro," said Stojiljković.
Such a proposal, he added, at this moment sends a message that the University does not take national interests into account.
"Unfortunately, a bad message is being sent to Montenegro's international partners, especially the European Union (EU), because it seems that someone does not take Montenegro's obligations seriously enough when it becomes a full member of the EU," said Stojiljković.
As he said, the state had to stand behind such a big jubilee as ten years of FPN.
"Especially because it also coincides with the anniversary of the restoration of its statehood. I was hoping that this date would be used for the Faculty to move to its new building, because the existing one is unconditional. I had no idea that someone was trying to mark such a date by abolishing three fifths of the majors, or even worse, the entire faculty," said Stojiljković.
He does not consider that the FPN in Podgorica, in terms of its fully formed concept and profile, is in any way inferior to similar faculties in the region.
"On the contrary, it was formed on the basis of the best acquired experiences, which managed to avoid unnecessary fashionable theoretical and ideological "decorations" in university teaching. It just seems to me that the people who ran it failed to open it sufficiently to the professional and political public and make it an indispensable place for critical dialogue and research into public and political life," said Stojiljković.
Rather, as he stated, it will be that there was not enough readiness among political actors to enter into such a processed and analytically designed public dialogue.
"When it comes to my engagement at the faculty in Podgorica, if we leave out the material moment that is really unimportant to me, i.e. the fact that the plane tickets cost more than the engaged lecturers, I have only words of praise for the friendly collegial atmosphere, the interest and motivation of the students and, which is not so often , the high professionalism, promptness and responsiveness shown by the faculty administration", said Stojiljković.
All this, he added, makes him feel at home in Podgorica.
According to Stojiljković, in the history of every institution there is a crisis of growth, i.e. a moment in which the founders leave and leave room for a new generation that needs some time to gain its own affirmation and credibility in the general public.
"The situation with the faculty in Podgorica is specific in that it was mainly about people from outside Montenegro, whose engagement should be temporary and related to the formation of local personnel. The fact that the break was sudden and led to a break in cooperation and closedness, which is not good for Oxford either, in my opinion, first of all indicates that the state university did not have sufficient support for the higher initial costs of the "new" faculties," he said. .
Stojiljković said that it is not up to him to assess whether this was also about interests, or about the understanding of "ownership" of the faculty teaching of some local "greats" who do not need anyone from the outside, or whether this was (un)consciously playing into the hands of private initiatives in higher education.
Sometimes, as he stated, especially at the beginning, the smaller number of local staff is a privilege, not just a disadvantage. "Because you have the opportunity to bring the best lecturers from the region".
"Therefore, it is a shame that UCG does not support the practice of bringing in foreign lecturers in a situation where there are no lecturers for those subjects at the University itself. "Saving is important, but it must not be at the expense of quality," said Stojiljković.
As he said, it is possible that the closure of the UCG for external lecturers contributed to the current drop in the quality of teaching.
"Although I have to say that the teaching at FPN is very high-quality and modernly designed, and I am glad that the faculty quickly created very high-quality young staff. I believe that we professors from Belgrade and Zagreb contributed at least a little to that," said Stojiljković.
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