General meeting of scientific and artistic employees
At the 2024 general staff meeting, members of the Staff Council for Academic and Artistic Employees (PRwiss), which has been in office since 1 July 2024, introduced themselves. Dr Andreas Brink, who had been head of the PRwiss for the past four years and is retiring at the end of the year, was replaced by Dr Anja Szypulski as the new chair. The committee consists of 17 members from different faculties and the term of office is four years, i.e. until July 2028.
The Staff Council meets every Friday and deals with administrative case work relating to employment (new contracts, the renewal of contracts etc.) and a variety of other topics, including occupational health and safety, IT and the implementation of permanent position concepts in the faculties.
Anja Szypulski presented, among other issues, the current status of discussions on the recording of working hours. A series of judgements (e.g. ECJ 2019, BAG 2022) stipulate such recording also in the academic field. Since 2022, the PRwiss has been working together with the HR department in a working group on this topic; an interim solution for employees in administration and technical areas (Excel spreadsheet) has already been implemented. Many universities in NRW - including TU Dortmund University - are waiting for a law that would clarify implementation for scientific and artistic staff.
Planned amendment to the WissZeitVG
A planned amendment to the German Academic Fixed-Term Contract Act (WissZeitVG) - the legal basis for most employment contracts at German universities - was not implemented by the last government either. Among other things, the draft bill by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) provides for an initial contract of at least three years for the doctoral phase. This is already being implemented at TU Dortmund University. According to the draft, the postdoc phase is to be shortened: after an initial contract of at least two years, an extension of two years is possible. A further time limit of up to two years is only possible if a subsequent permanent position is offered. S far, it is possible the postdoc phase can take up to six years after the doctorate. In view of the current political conditions, however, it is unclear what will happen to the draft bill.
Current status of permanent positions
An important task for PRwiss is monitoring the faculties' permanent position concepts. Since the introduction of the Rectorate's permanent position framework concept in 2021 with the aim of making around 25 per cent of budget employees permanent, PRwiss has been monitoring how these positions in the faculties have been or are being filled. As of November 2024, 52 positions in the faculties have been made permanent on the basis of the permanent position concepts; for ten positions the process is ongoing. The majority of positions are filled internally (36 positions). The gender ratio is largely balanced (24 female, 28 male). Most of the posts were E 14 (29), E 13 (15), E 15 (3) and A 13 (2). The ET/IT and Civil Engineering faculties have not yet submitted a permanent position concept.
Finances and budgeting at TU Dortmund University
Uta Spörer, spokesperson for the joint economic committee of PRwiss and the Administration and Technology Staff Council, reported on the current financial situation at TU Dortmund University. The annual financial statements for 2023 show a deficit of 7.3 million euros, which will be offset by the general reserves. TU Dortmund University's structural deficit must be reduced to zero by 2026. The cost-cutting measures must therefore be continued and intensified. Among other things, the non-state-funded leases (28,009 m² / € 1.7 million/year) should be terminated as quickly as possible. Thanks to savings and costs returning to normal, TU's energy costs are almost back to the same level as before the Ukraine war.
The budget increases in 2024 and the budget for 2025 will not be sufficient to cover the pay rises for staff. The majority of faculties will nevertheless remain within their budget in 2024 - although the carryovers are expected to be lower. However, some faculties will have problems due to cancelled third-party funding.
Commitment against abuse of power at TU Dortmund University
PRwiss endeavours to raise awareness of all forms of abuse of power at TU Dortmund University. We work together with other stakeholders to develop measures to protect victims of sexual assault or bullying, for example, and to discuss more effective mechanisms for sanctioning perpetrators. The Staff Council is an active member of the cross-departmental working group on abuse of power and is involved in the revision of the directive on protection against discrimination and sexualised violence, which (as of November 2024) will be expanded to include abuse of power. We are also active in the awareness-raising sub-group, which aims to bring the topic to the attention of all university staff and students and promote an open exchange about abuse of power.
An initial result of this networking was the Forum on Abuse of Power on 23 October in the Audimax. PRwiss will continue to work together with all relevant stakeholders and status groups to bring this topic out of the taboo zone and encourage victims and witnesses to contact us or one of the counselling centres. A new guide to all counselling services is currently being developed. We will also continue to work to ensure that victims are protected if they dare to come out of anonymity and name perpetrators. In addition, we are involved in discussions about more effective sanction mechanisms. New opportunities for these are expected to open up in NRW in spring 2025 with the adoption of a new law to strengthen higher education by the state parliament.