{"id":49062,"date":"2026-08-25T06:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T04:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/?p=49062"},"modified":"2026-08-24T16:06:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T14:06:25","slug":"report-on-the-extraordinary-august-meeting-of-the-senate-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/2026\/08\/report-on-the-extraordinary-august-meeting-of-the-senate-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Report on the extraordinary August meeting of the Senate"},"content":{"rendered":"
The fundamental documents governing the university\u2019s operations have been amended to bring them into compliance with the current legal framework. Changes have been made to the sections of the Organizational and Operational Rules (SzMSz) pertaining to social benefits granted on the basis of applications. A new elective course titled \u201cAICER Symposium\u201d is being launched.<\/div>\n

Senators received a briefing from Rector Dr. B\u00e9la Merkely on the Semmelweis Loyalty Award, which was established as a new benefit to replace the long-service award introduced in 2021. This new award recognizes, in a predictable manner, the work of Semmelweis citizens who have been loyal to the institution for a long time; it applies not only to employees in an employment relationship but also to those in other forms of employment, and it takes into account work performed at Semmelweis University\u2019s legal predecessors. Its purpose is to recognize human resources, preserve organizational knowledge, and strengthen employees\u2019 long-term commitment. Under the Semmelweis Loyalty Award, a bonus equivalent to one, two, three, or four months\u2019 salary is granted after ten, twenty, thirty, and forty years of continuous employment with Semmelweis University, respectively.<\/p>\n

A resolution was passed to bring the fundamental documents governing the operation of Semmelweis University into compliance with the current legal framework. This was necessary due to the June 2026 amendment to the KEKVA Act (the legislation governing public-interest asset management foundations performing public duties), which requires that the university\u2019s Organizational and Operational Rules (SzMSz) and its charter be adapted to the changed rules. The university\u2019s operating rules following the model change stayed virtually the same in content compared to the rules under state administration; the Foundation for National Health Care and Medical Education (NEOA) effectively took the place of the state without overstepping its authority over the university\u2019s senate and leadership. The SzMSz regulates matters more broadly and in greater detail than Act CCIV of 2011 on National Higher Education (the National Act on Higher Education [Nftv.]), since, according to the law, all operational details must be specified in the regulations. Compared to the provisions of the Nftv. concerning the Senate, the KEKVA Act permitted certain deviations; however, by the board\u2019s own decision, the provisions of the Nftv. were largely retained verbatim in the SzMSz, with only a few marginal deviations remaining, which it has now become necessary to correct. These changes concern certain powers of the Senate and the legal status of Senate members. Under the amendment, the rector and the chancellor automatically become members of the Senate; thus, the provisions regarding the election of the chancellor as a Senate member have been repealed, as has the rule in the charter concerning the chancellor\u2019s participation in the Senate. It has also become necessary to align the provision regarding the term of office for the Senate with the statutory provision; this new provision will take effect for the first time upon the expiration of the current Senate\u2019s five-year term and will be aligned with the four-year term specified in the Nftv. The amendment restores to the Senate the authority to approve the annual financial statements in accordance with the Hungarian Accounting Act – under the previous rule in the SzMSz, the board issued an opinion on the annual financial statements, which were then approved by the governing body. The amendment to the KEKVA Act has no effect on the Senate\u2019s other powers. At Semmelweis University, the Senate continues to make recommendations regarding the content of the call for applications for the position of rector, evaluate the applications for rector, select the rector candidate, and assess the rector\u2019s leadership performance. In addition, the charter now reflects a change in the real estate holdings, specifically a property acquired by inheritance with a 1\/1 ownership share.<\/p>\n

The review and ranking of applications submitted for positions on the boards of trustees of public-interest asset management foundations performing public duties have been successfully and effectively completed; the university has submitted these to the Ministry of Education and Children and is awaiting its response. In addition, the board decided on the election of the member delegated by the Senate to the supervisory board of public-interest asset management foundations performing public duties.<\/p>\n

The board voted in favor of a proposal regarding certain amendments to the SzMSz related to social benefits granted on the basis of applications, which concerns amendments to the Remuneration and Benefits Policy (TJSZ) and changes to the procedure for evaluating applications submitted by students. At its June 2026 meeting, the Senate adopted a concept for amending the TJSZ, which included strategic guidelines for the evaluation of social benefits – the current proposal incorporates new provisions for amending the TJSZ in line with this concept. Therefore, the assessment of students\u2019 financial need, the awarding of social scholarships, and decisions on dormitory admission will all be carried out in accordance with a completely new application and procedural strategy; the assessment of financial need will be based on a method that is significantly simpler than before and better reflects the student\u2019s actual financial situation. The new system determines the need-based category based on two dimensions: per capita income in the student\u2019s family; and the existence of additional, specifically defined criteria for need (e.g., severally underprivileged or underprivileged students; students with disabilities or those in need due to their health condition; students who are the primary breadwinners of their families, etc.). A guide will be published regarding the verification of social circumstances, which will include detailed verification rules while maintaining the current strict verification procedures. In addition, the proposal included several administrative simplifications.<\/p>\n

The board decided to introduce the AICER Symposium as a new elective course. The primary goal of this course is to provide university students with a comprehensive overview of the cutting-edge scientific and innovative trends at the Anatomy & Innovation Center for Education and Research (AICER) and to familiarize them with the pivotal role of related disciplines in modern, multidisciplinary medical-engineering collaboration. A key objective of the program is to help lay the foundation for students\u2019 professional and innovative mindset, while providing an opportunity to learn about an integrated approach to cadaver-based training areas. A requirement for completing the course is that students actively participate in the scientific day organized on October 9, 2026, as verified by scanning a QR code. The one-credit elective course titled \u201cAICER Symposium\u201d will be offered for the first time in the fall semester of the 2026\u201327 academic year; a maximum of 600 students may participate in the program, including 350 Hungarian and 250 international students.<\/p>\n

The conditions of the employment requirements system of the SzMSz regarding the filling of certain positions and leadership roles have been amended. Accordingly, the Faculty of Dentistry (FOK) regulates the appointment of associate professors within the faculty in such a way that candidates must have authored at least two English-language publications following the completion of their doctoral degree; pursuant to the amendment, at least one of these must be an original publication based on primary data with an impact factor, for which the candidate must be the first or last (corresponding) author. In addition, the vice-rectors for educational affairs and science and innovation, together with the deans of the faculties, will develop a university-wide set of criteria for associate professorships that also takes into account the specific needs of the faculties. A vote on this is expected to take place at the October Senate meeting.<\/p>\n

Amendments to the sample curricula for certain programs at the Faculty of Health and Public Administration (EKK) were approved. The administrative changes affect the postgraduate specialist training course in Mental Health in the Workplace, the Health Care Quality and Patient Safety Management MSc, and the Healthcare Manager MSc.<\/p>\n

The senators decided on the recipients of the Pro Universitate Award.<\/p>\n

\u00c1d\u00e1m Szab\u00f3
\nTranslation: Dr. Bal\u00e1zs Csizmadia
\nIllustration: Attila Kov\u00e1cs \u2013 Semmelweis University<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The fundamental documents governing the university\u2019s operations have been amended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102369,"featured_media":49065,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,286],"tags":[44],"class_list":["post-49062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-semmelweis-world","category-x-nyitolap","tag-senate"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/102369"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49062"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49066,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49062\/revisions\/49066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}