UAB Rector appreciates the "titanic efforts" of the university community

For the first time, the UAB Senate met online in a session which was broadcast live. Javier Lafuente, in his first senate meeting as rector of the UAB, explained the university's lines of action for 2021.

22/12/2020

UAB Rector Javier Lafuente spoke on the lines of action the governing team and executive administrator have devised for the year 2021 in an extraordinary meeting of the University Senate which took place on 22 December, in which he expressed his gratitude for the "titanic efforts" being done by the university community with reagrds to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time ever, the senate meeting was held online and streamed live.

Rector Lafuente highlighted the work done by all sectors, students, administration staff and lecturers, during the pandemic, in which it was possible to maintain "the same level of quality, but in a remote setting". According to Rector Lafuente, "thanks to our community as a whole, the UAB has continued to be a leader". For the coming months, the Secretary of Universities and Research of the Government of Catalonia has reached an agreement with the Ministry for Health to "introduce university teaching in different deconfinement phases", and expressed the commitment of the governing team to defend on-site classes and university activities. The university is also working on the "Cuidem-nos a la UAB" campaign, with the aim of safely reincorporating different services and bringing the community back to the campus.

In relation to the economic situation of the UAB, Rector Lafuente explained that thanks to the 3.8 million euros of the COVID budget, the UAB closed the year 2020 with a deficit of 600,000 euros, but that this figure also depended on the costs yet to be incurred. He emphasised once more the chronic "underfunding" suffered by the UAB and highlighted the effects this situation has on technology infrastructures. In particular, he announced an urgent action plan for the ICT sector. In views of 2021, he explained that the Secretary of Universities and Research of the Government of Catalonia informed the UAB of additional funding which would be made available to universities. Rector Lafuente also announced that among other issues, the UAB Senate had passed the work schedule for PAS staff members in which the work week returned to 35 hours.

The rector also presented the action plan for 2021 after informing that the plan represents a "commitment or contract with the university community". And he explained that during the second semester of this academic year, an "electoral process will begin to elect the representatives of all UAB communities (students, PAS and PDI)" in order to renew the UAB Senate.

More information: Governing team's action plan. Strategic goals for 2021

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