The university will use its remaining fund of reserves to turn its holiday resort at Lake Balaton into a recreation center for workers, while the details of a new Family-Friendly University Program will also be worked out – these were among others the decisions taken by the Senate of Semmelweis University. At the last session of 2019, important changes to Organizational and Operational Regulations were also made.

As part of the modification of the Organizational and Operational Regulations (SZMSZ), senators approved changes affecting various organizational units. The Central Archives will be under the joint control of the rector and the chancellor, while the name of the Directorate of Administration and Record Management was changed to Center for Organization and Administration. The Directorate of Innovation will continue to operate under the direct control of the rector as the Center for Innovation, with the tasks belonging to the chancellor to be operated by units under the chancellor. Among other changes, the Directorate of Priority Procurements will be integrated into the Directorate General of Technical Affairs, with two new units to be created top optimize operations: the Directorate for Investments and the Directorate of Facility Management. The Center for Physical Education and Sports and the Directorate of Dormitories will be under the control of the rector as educational organizational units, while in addition to the Directorate of International Relations, the Directorate of Communication and Event Management will also be part of the Rector’s Cabinet. The Central Library as well will be transferred under the direct control of the rector.

With the reorganization of the Clinical Center’s Directorate General of Professional Management and Organization, a new Directorate General of Medical Affairs will be created, with three directorates. Quality assurance tasks will be transferred to the purview of the rector, under the direction of the vice-rector for strategy and development. In order to better address the financial issues related to the new curriculum, these tasks will be restructured at the Faculty of Medicine, while a Combined Theoretical Block Directorate will be created by merging three block directorates.

The Senate accepted the report of vice-chancellor Baumgartnerné Irén Holló on the 2020 itemized budget, which includes HUF 511 million more in funds next year for operations and basic tasks. The planned total of expenditures and revenues next year is HUF 95,976,700,000, or almost HUF 96 billion.

The Senate expressed its support for the joint initiative by the rector and the vice-chancellor that the funds remaining in the university’s reserves should be used to carry out investments at the university’s holiday resort located in Balatonvilágos, by Lake Balaton, to support the recreation of workers. The appreciation and retaining of workers is an important element of the rector’s program and the concept of a family-friendly university, and the university wishes to contribute to the leisure activities of workers as well in this way, said rector Dr. Béla Merkely. As a result, HUF 443 million will be regrouped from the reserves for the creation of a recreation center at the location, which will also serve as a site to hold events, trainings, conferences and teambuilding exercises.

The Senate approved the drawing up of the Family-Friendly University Program, which involves addressing the main areas of flexible, atypical employment forms, family support, worker compensation and the communication of the organizational culture and family-consciousness. Four workgroups will be set up to formulate the program, with details to be worked out by February.

The 1st Department of Internal Medicine and Oncology will be created by integrating the Oncological Center with the 1st Department of Internal Medicine, in order to make better use of resources while maintaining safe and continuous patient care.

With the modifications made to the Doctoral Rules, the opportunity for launching foreign-language programs has been created, as well as for collaboration with other universities and research institutes. Senators also voted on the rules and regulations for students providing feedback on lecturers, which provides a framework for the faculty-level rules, with the participation and approval of students. The faculties will have until spring to pass their own specialized rules. Support was given to setting up the Ignác Semmelweis College, which will operate alongside the Frigyes Korányi College and focus on talent support.

In other decisions, as of January 1, 2020 at Semmelweis University’s Asklepios Campus Hamburg (ACH) unit, new departmental groups will be set up: the ACH Radiology Departmental Group linked to the Department of Medical Imaging, and the ACH Neurology Departmental Group linked to the Department of Neurology.

Senators also provided their opinions on four ongoing management and eight lecturer applications, and supported the introduction of a new, third specialization of rehabilitation pedagogy at the András Pető Faculty.

Eszter Keresztes
Translation: Tamás Deme