The senate is the representative authority of the faculty academic self-government and its members are liable to the academic community of the Faculty. However, in the discharge of their functions the members of the senate are not bound by opinions of other authorities of the faculty academic self-government, but merely by their conscience.
The academic senate has 24 members, out of these 12 members belong to the pedagogical chamber and the Scientific staff of the Faculty and 12 members belong to the students' chamber. There is a two-year long term office for the senate members. The membership in the academic senate is incompatible with the function of the Chancellor, Vice-chancellors, Deans, Vice-deans and the members of the Academic Council.
Information concerning the academic senate activities are displayed mainly on the notice board of the academic senate, on www pages of the Faculty senate. Every member of the academic senate is ready to answer your questions personally.
For more information see the list of the current members of the academic senate.
The operation of the senate is given by the Higher Education Act and by the University and Faculty Internal regulations. The senate also examines the proposals for the candidates for the functions of the Chancellor of the University and subsequently brings the proposals to the University senate.
The senate resolutions which are within the scope of the Deans operations are considered as recommendations. One of the most important duties of the academic senate of the Faculty is the election of the Dean.
The academic senate of the Faculty
Based on the Deans proposals the AS decides on the establishing, integration, merging, splitting or dissolving of the faculty departments or clinics, it approves the distribution of the faculty finances submitted by the Dean and supervises the running of the finances, checks the annual report on the activities and the annual report on the Faculty economics brought in by the Dean, approves the conditions for entering the University in all study programmes carried out by the Faculty, approves the Deans proposal to appoint or to relieve from office the members of the Academic Council of the Faculty and the disciplinary board of the Faculty, adopts a proposal on appointing the Dean, if needed suggests his/her relief from the office, approves a longterm project concerning educational and scientific, research, developmental, art or other creative activities of the Faculty prepared in the compliance with the longterm project of a public University when having been discussed by the Academic Council of the Faculty.
The academic senate comments mainly on the study programmes carried out at the Faculty and on the Dean's proposal to appoint or to relieve the Vice-deans from the office.
The academic senate members can get any documentation that the Faculty keeps, but they have to observe the regulations. The members are obliged to maintain confidentality concerning private data and honours, they must observe the general binding rules.
Elections of the academic senate members
The election conditions are set in the Electoral Statutes and the Rules of Procedure of the academic senate of the Faculty. The elections to the senate are direct, equal and secret. They are announced by the resigned senate and must be held at the latest the 15th day before the end of its two-year office term. Preceding the announcement of the elections the resigned senate appoints three-member electoral boards for the elections to the Pedagogical and students' chambers. The electoral board is responsible for the elections and the members announce election results.
The administrative background is provided by the Faculty Deans office where the list of the members of the academic community of the Faculty and the voting papers are prepared.
The elections last 2 days.
The students side of the academic community of the Faculty elects 12 representatives to the senate. The election to the senate has two rounds. The part of the overall number of 12 mandates to the students' chamber of the senate is bound to the number of students' communities which number and staffing is given by the senate 1 month before the elections at the latest (final year students do not usually form an extra community). Each community elects one representative to the senate. The remaining mandates are then occupied according to the elections results of the whole Students Community.
The elections to the pedagogical chamber and the chamber of research assistants have two rounds. In the first round a voter elects at the most 12 candidates coming from the Academic staff of the Faculty. The electoral board then makes a list of candidates according to the number of votes they received. 24 candidates with the largest number of votes proceed to the second round. In the second round the members of the academic community elect twelve candidates at the most. The electoral board then makes a final list of the first 12 candidates who become members of the senate. Other candidates following the particular order then become substitutes for the candidates to the senate.
Detailed information are available in the Code of Electoral Procedure and Code of Procedure.
The presidium of the senate
Each chamber of the senate elects two members of the senate presidium at the first meeting. The senate then elects the Chair of the senate having come from the members of the senate presidium who were elected by the pedagogical chamber. Then the Vice-chair is elected having come from the senate presidium that was elected by the members of the students' chamber. The presidium of the senate consisting of four members is elected for the entire tenure. The presidium duties are: preparing the timetable of the senate sessions, making the programme of the particular senate sessions, preparing the documents for the sessions or providing them, calling the meetings, releasing the senate minutes including the resolution, fulfilling tasks coming from the senate resolutions. The senate can authorize the Presidium to take preliminary resolutions, in the period from the 1st July to the 30th September or in exceptional justifiable cases in different period, which otherwise belong to the senate with the exception of taking decisions in matters according to the § 27 art. 1 letter a)–h) of the Higher Education Act.
The senate cooperation with other academic self-government authorities of the Faculty and with other persons
The senate has the right to ask any member of the academic self-government authority of the Faculty to participate if needed in discussions. The senate can also ask for the academic self-government body standpoints if necessary for its activities. The senate can delegate its representative to the meetings of all the academic self-government bodies and their consultative bodies. The senate is regularly acquainted with the outcomes of the meetings of the Deans board and the resolution of the Academic Council.
The senate sessions
The senate sessions are open to the public. They are usually held in the left small lecture room at the Faculty (see the timetable of the sessions). The senate members must be present at the senate sessions. If the members cannot be present for serious reasons they must excuse themselves beforehand in a written form to the Chair or the Vice-chair of the senate.
The senates make decisions on the grounds of resolutions. The resolution is carried out, if an absolute majority of the present members of the senate votes for it. In resolutions concerning matters set in § 27, (1) letter a)–f) and h) of the Higher Education Act, then in cases when the Dean is not in agreement with the senate resolution and then in resolutions concerning matters that the senate decides on, 2/3 of the overall number of the senate members must be for, as for the resolutions for the proposal on the Dean appointment the absolute majority is needed, in resolution for the proposal on relieving him/her from the office at least 3/5 of the senate members must be for.
The senate voting is usually public. The voting is secret when concerning matters set by the Law, the election of the senate Chair and the senate Vice-chair and in cases a senate member suggests to declare the voting secret.
The academic senate of the Faculty complies mainly with these documents:
- Higher Education Act
- Constitution of Charles University
- Constitution of the Second Faculty of Medicine of Charles University
- The Code of Electoral Procedure and Code of Procedure of the AS of the Second Faculty of Medicine of Charles University
