The State Rectors’ Conference of the Universities in North Rhine-Westphalia (LRK-NRW) has sharply criticized parts of the planned Higher Education Strengthening Act. At a hearing in the science committee of the state parliament, deputy chairman Ulrich Rüdiger, rector of RWTH Aachen University, warned against a further restriction of university autonomy through excessively detailed regulations.

Rüdiger emphasized that the North Rhine-Westphalian universities had recently achieved great success in the Excellence Competition. Against this background, it is incomprehensible why the freedom of the universities should be further curtailed by additional legal requirements. He appealed to the state government to leave the universities a wide range of options for action.

Rüdiger expressed particular concerns about Part 10 of the draft law, which provides for comprehensive procedures for honesty and integrity in the event of abuse of power. The universities fully support the goal of a safe and non-discriminatory university environment. However, it remains unclear what specific gaps in punishment the new regulations are intended to close and how they relate to existing sanction options. Rüdiger pleaded for faster disciplinary proceedings and suggested that the new proposals should first be tested in model tests.

He assessed the planned introduction of a start-up sabbatical as positive. He suggested that this leave of absence should also be extended to academic staff. They are in the “engine room” of research and bear a higher risk than professors in the event of a spin-off. Such an expansion would be an important signal for transfer and value creation from science.

The State Rectors’ Conference of North Rhine-Westphalia represents the 14 state-owned universities as well as Witten/Herdecke University and the German Police University. It promotes cooperation between universities and deals with overarching higher education policy issues.

Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR

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