On Wednesday 17 April, a meeting of the Academic Senate was held. By Adam Láznička, illustrations by Dr Adam Kalina.
After the meeting was opened, the Dean took the floor and informed about meetings that have taken place in the past month.
The first meeting, which took place with the hospital director, was concerned with the construction of our Multifunctional Building (further MFB) on Motol University Hospital grounds. Negotiations are underway. In May, this year, we will probably know definitely whether the MFB will be in Motol, if at all.
On 25 March, the extended Rector’s Advisory Board met to discuss mainly scientific and other activities as well as updates about the strategic plan of Charles University. At the solemn meeting of Charles University to mark the 671th anniversary of its foundation, doc. Ondřej Hrušák was awarded with the Bedřich Hrozný Prize for the best creative achievement in 2018 in Karolinum. The Dean also congratulated Dr. Fürstová for being awarded with the Jan Herget Prize at this year’s Scientific Conference and went on by thanking the organizers of the Scientific Conference as well as the Faculty Night. Also addressed was the “Medic of the Year” competition, whose winners belong to our faculty. Hereafter the newly established faculty choir was blessed, whose premiere performance could have been heard at the opening ceremony of the Faculty Night.
On 16 April, an external meeting of the Dean’s Advisory Board took place, dedicated to the curriculum and improving the quality of teaching, especially in the context of the new accreditation. The latter will enter into force in the academic year 2021/2022. Emphasis is placed on the functional integration of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology in the first study years, on longer continuous internships in the in-patient unit in higher study years, as well as the active involvement of students in Motol Hospital.
Following was a vote on the budget of the Second Faculty of Medicine. The budget was already discussed in advance with the Dean’s Office by the Economic Commission and recommended unanimously for approval. As expected, the whole Senate approved the budget.
Committee reports.
The Social Committee is currently mainly engaged in the emergence of the Alumni Club while also preparing to place the suggestion tab on the Academic Senate’s website.
The Legislative Committee mainly deals with election issues. On one hand, it recommends changing the electoral system in the communities, but there is no consensus on the issue of electronic elections, so the subject will be further discussed. Furthermore, on its next meeting the Legislative Committee will deal with the election of the Dean and the chairman of the Academic Senate.
The Pedagogic Committee has more topics to solve. The Institute of Anatomy has been successful in the hunt for functional ultrasound devices, which will enable the launch of Ultrasonography Courses from next year on. Another burning issue is the teaching of Pharmacology, where a consensus was reached on how the seminars should look like in the "transition period" (i.e. the period before the new curriculum enters into force). The Committee accepted doc. Paluch’s proposal to add one more week of Pharmacology seminars to the schedule instead of compulsory seminars throughout the year, provided that another week in the 4th year is dropped in exchange, in order to keep the number of free weeks the same. The Committee also recommended observation at Pharmacology lectures, especially the ones held in English.
Currently, the Committee is also collecting data on the Erasmus program. The current rules for granting stays are from 2008, which certainly does not meet current demands.
Lastly, the Chairman outlined the issue of teaching in English. It is no secret that some teachers’ language skills are not even at the necessary level. This topic will certainly be discussed in more detail in one of the forthcoming meetings. Currently, a possible solution might be the attendance of courses to improve teachers’ foreign language skills, for example.
Furthermore, the Senate approved the re-accreditation of three doctoral study programs, namely Microbiology, Molecular biology and Immunology. All DSPs were unanimously approved.
Following were the reports from the Academic Senate of Charles University (further ASUK), which were submitted by prof. Kachlík through doc. Hrušák. The ASUK deals with debates on tariff wages. Some faculties (incl. ours) want to raise the upper limit, while others want to lower the lower limit. Let’s see how this discussion will turn out.
The next Senate meeting will take place on Wednesday 15 May at 2.30 pm.
Its main topic should be the curriculum and the AKORD project. As always, the meeting is open to public and anyone interested is welcome to visit.
Adam Láznička
(Translated by Paulina Bernardová)
