Members of the Senate of the University of Montenegro, on behalf of the Faculty of Economics (EF), Božo Mihailović and Ljubinko Dedović, assessed that last week's session of that academic body of UCG was probably planned in advance with the aim of making sense of the demands of the collective of that institution.
EF senators point out that during the five-hour session they felt like they were on the dock and that their colleagues did not listen to the arguments they offered.
They say that the statements from the letter of the Rectorate, sent after the session, are not correct, from which one gets the impression that only part of the EF collective supports the request that the administration of UCG resign and that the Statute be amended so that the faculties have a greater degree of autonomy, and that an agreement was reached that there is no arguments for evaluations that the University in any way threatened the development of one of the oldest university units.
On Friday, an extraordinary session of the UCG Senate was held, and on the agenda was only one item "The relationship of UCG to EF, whether and how the University limits the development of the Faculty of Economics and threatens the quality of teaching and the rights of students at that university unit?".
After the session, it was announced that "the information that was placed through the media by a part of the collective of that university unit about jeopardizing the development, quality of teaching and the rights of students of the Faculty of Economics, was assessed as arbitrary, non-academic and unethical".
The announcement from the Rectorate does not mention that the senators from EF left the session before conceiving and voting on the conclusions, but rather gives the impression that they agree with the views expressed in the letter sent to the media.
"The salaries of EF professors are in accordance with the rulebook to which the UCG authorities have agreed. All taxes and contributions are paid to the state in accordance with the laws"
The management of the UCG recently dismissed the duties of the dean of the EF Milivoj Radović, among other things, because he allegedly accepted more students than was advertised in the June competition without the knowledge of the management of the umbrella institution.
After that, the EF management resigned, and only Maja Baćović remained at that faculty, who is reputed to be close to Veselin Vukotić, rector of the University of Donja Gorica, one of whose founders and owners is Prime Minister Milo Đukanović.
Mihailović said that the atmosphere at the Senate session was as if he and Dedović were being investigated "and repeatedly accused and convicted in five hours".
"There was no constructive conversation. Not long after the start of the session, professor Duško Bjelica took the floor, and waving a piece of paper with Professor EF's earnings, he presented a series of personal qualifications against me, targeting me as a 'ringleader', asking, among other things, about published scientific papers. I didn't feel the need to apologize to him, so I asked the Rector and President of the Senate, Radmila Vojvodić, to protect me from such comments, because otherwise I will leave the session", Mihailović said, adding that the senators wanted to leave the session even then, but stayed at the request of colleagues.
"The salaries of EF professors are in accordance with the rulebook to which the UCG authorities have agreed. All taxes and contributions are paid to the state in accordance with the laws," he said.
Dedović points out that the only item on the agenda is almost suggestively conceived, as if only an affirmative or negative answer is required from the senator:
"The problems in the relationship with the University pointed out by the EF collective, and not just a part as claimed by the UCG, have been going on for a long time, are very complex and I believe that they should have been looked at and solved in a more subtle way. It is not good to base relations on fear, especially in institutions such as the University, the creativity of both employees and students should be encouraged".
He said that they proposed to the rector to come to the session of the Teaching and Research Council of EF where she would hear the views of the employees, which would contribute to solving the problems in the relations between that faculty and UCG.
Mihailović said that Bjelica later came back to speak: "As rector Vojvodić did not respond to my statement that I wanted her to protect me from what Bjelica was pointing out, we left the session."
They also claim that many of their colleagues in the Senate were uninformed about the demands of the collective of the institution where they work, but that in the atmosphere of last week's session, they were not even able to properly inform themselves.
"I don't have the impression that we were able to have a democratic debate, without labeling and arbitrary interpretation of our positions. There was no hearing for our arguments," Dedović said. Mihailović points out that the Senate session was convened only a day before, without material for senators, without a basis for decision-making: "Problems must be solved in the right way, concrete measures must be taken, and all employees of the UCG and its units. We teach students that they must have information on the basis of which they will decide, and the members of the Senate for that session did not have previously provided information, and yet they decided".
They financed themselves, 600.000 euros for UCG
The Faculty of Economics transferred more than three million euros to UCG in 46 months, and in the same period received 2,4 million from that institution, on the basis of which it can be concluded that we financed ourselves, the professors of that institution said, reacting to the information of the daily newspaper "Blic Montenegro" that according to the UCG document, the 10 highest paid economics professors in the last 46 months allegedly cost the institution around two million, while their net salaries were 1,4 million euros. EF professors announced that this is "another in a series of unsuccessful and unnecessary attempts to discipline the Faculty of Economics".
The newspaper announced that Ana Lalević-Filipović is allegedly the first on the list with a salary of around 4.000 euros, followed by Anđelko Lojpur who earned around 3.400 euros, then Milorad Jovović with a salary of 3.150 euros. Božo Mihailović earned 3.100, and Milan Lakićević slightly less than 3.000 euros. Among the top ten in terms of earnings are Svetlana Rakočević, Vesna Karadžić, former dean Milivoje Radović, Mijat Jovović and Nevena Glišević, whose salary was around 2.500 euros. It is not stated whether it is net or gross income.
Commenting on the paper's allegations that one of the most serious accusations against EF is related to the opening of giro accounts outside the University, the head of accounting at that institution, Sonja Žarić, told "Vijesta" that "the faculty has sub-accounts, but they are opened with the consent of the UCG, because that possibility provided by the UCG Statute".
"Everything related to the business of the Faculty of Economics in the past period was fully in accordance with the current legislation and acts of the UCG. Emphasizing income in the foreground, without pointing out their structure, is inappropriate to say the least, because a significantly larger part of them was realized on the basis of projects that EF realized on the market. At the same time, in addition to individual involvement, EF appeared as the leading institution in the consortium, and individual university units, as well as faculties outside Montenegro, appeared as partners," reads the statement signed by the named professors.
They add that none of the several audits that controlled EF in that period found any irregularity.
Why does UCG work directly for the benefit of private colleges
The professors assess that the UCG management wants to divert attention from the EF's real demands, by placing alleged sensational information in certain media.
"The provision of information to the media by the management of UCG is just a demagogic attempt to divert the public's attention from essential matters and illegalities that EF warned about during the last session in public classes.
The leadership of UCG, instead of responding to the reasoned allegations of EF, spins the public in this way, not answering the questions of why they are collapsing the system of higher education in Montenegro, which directly benefits private faculties", said one of the interlocutors of "Vijesti", adding that EF will make an official announcement about it after the session of the teaching council.
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