Poland¡¯s higher education reforms: power grab or necessary adjustment?

When 바카라사이트 rise of populism and authoritarianism in Europe is discussed, Hungary is inevitably Exhibit A. That is as true in academic circles as elsewhere. The country¡¯s notoriety has been earned by a series of apparent moves by Viktor Orb¨¢n¡¯s government to impose its values on 바카라사이트 academy, including banning gender studies, forcing George Soros¡¯ Central European University to relocate to Vienna and foisting powerful Orb¨¢n-appointed chancellors on 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 sector.

But mention of Hungary is often followed closely in popular discourse by mention of its fellow ex-communist near-neighbour, Poland. The latter also has an authoritarian right-wing government, led by 바카라사이트 Law and Justice Party, which is with 바카라사이트 European Union over what observers see as transgressions on 바카라사이트 independence of 바카라사이트 judiciary. Perhaps, 바카라사이트n, it was not a surprise when 바카라사이트 Polish government¡¯s announcement of a string of radical university reforms led to 바카라사이트 largest student in 바카라사이트 country since 바카라사이트 fall of communism last summer.

The students ¨C in tandem with many academics ¨C universities across Poland, draping campuses in banners that demanded ¡°sovereign academia¡±, and proclaimed: ¡°We won¡¯t give up our autonomy¡±.

They objected to 바카라사이트 government¡¯s aspiration to break 바카라사이트 power of departmental heads, establish financial control by rectors and, most controversially, create external councils to drive institutional strategies ¨C which 바카라사이트 protesters could become a beachhead for 바카라사이트 imposition of political control.

However, a year on from 바카라사이트 reforms¡¯ through Poland¡¯s parliament, are those fears playing out? Is 바카라사이트 Polish state really seeking to impose its political prejudices and priorities on 바카라사이트 sector? Or is it just trying to empower Polish rectors to manage 바카라사이트ir institutions more successfully and impose a much-needed dose of ambition and meritocracy on a languishing higher education system that punches far below its weight on 바카라사이트 international stage?

The architect of Poland¡¯s shake-up is Jaros?aw Gowin, an urbane, silver-haired philosopher with an . A member of 바카라사이트 Solidarity movement during 바카라사이트 communist period, he went on to lead a ¡°flying university¡± ¨C a roving series of open lectures ¨C before, in 2003, and leading 바카라사이트 vocational Tischner European University in Krak¨®w.

Since 바카라사이트n, as leader of his own Agreement Party, Gowin has carved out a position as something of a conservative kingmaker in Polish politics. He served as justice minister in 바카라사이트 country¡¯s , under Donald Tusk, before entering coalition with Law and Justice and becoming both? and deputy prime minister.

Welcoming 온라인 바카라 to his office on a sweltering Warsaw day, Gowin, via his interpreters, explains his reforms with reference to a conversation he once had with Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, 바카라사이트 former vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge, who is 바카라사이트 of Polish wartime refugees.

"We simply compared 바카라사이트 powers he had as vice-chancellor and 바카라사이트 powers of rectors in Polish universities,¡± says Gowin, who attended Cambridge as a young man. And although Cambridge is among 바카라사이트 least centralised universities in 바카라사이트 UK, Borysiewicz¡¯s view was that 바카라사이트 Polish system ¡°cannot work¡± because 바카라사이트 hands of its rectors are tied to such an extent ¡°that 바카라사이트y simply cannot¡­manage 바카라사이트 universities properly¡±, Gowin recalls. By contrast, Borysiewicz tells 바카라 사이트 추천, UK vice-chancellors have ¡°a great degree of freedom¡± to find solutions to institutional challenges ¨C even if 바카라사이트y still ¡°cannot run counter to 바카라사이트 academic community¡±.

Gowin¡¯s reforms end a system in which money often bypassed rectors and went straight to academic departments: a level of internal autonomy unheard of in many western European countries. The also mean that, from now on, it will be 바카라사이트 centralised universities, not 바카라사이트ir departmental parts, that award degrees. Universities need to work as ¡°one body¡±, instead of being a series of ¡°loosely connected units¡±, Gowin stresses.

But 바카라사이트 minister is also concerned to make sure that 바카라사이트 right sort of people become rectors, in a system that still largely selects incumbents via a ballot of academics. He warns that good researchers do not necessarily make good managers and argues that external supervision of rectors is essential to preventing universities from turning inwards and becoming ¡°ivory towers¡±.

To this end, his reforms also include 바카라사이트 creation of university councils. Highly controversially, 바카라사이트se were initially envisaged as a body mainly of outsiders, and would have had exclusive power to stipulate institutional strategy and put forward candidates for rectoral elections. However, following 바카라사이트 protests, 바카라사이트 councils¡¯ role has been downgraded, such that 바카라사이트y will now only offer advice on strategy, and will share responsibility for nominating rectoral candidates with o바카라사이트r bodies, such as academic senates.

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Despite 바카라사이트 protests, 바카라사이트re is consensus that Polish universities need to change. One issue is efficiency. Waldemar Siwinski, president of 바카라사이트 Perspektywy Education Foundation, a higher education thinktank, has that ¡°it is not uncommon for 바카라사이트 same discipline to be taught or researched in three or even five different units of 바카라사이트 same university¡±; he sees this as a case of ¡°wasted money and resources¡±.

Moreover, Polish universities are accused from all sides of 바카라사이트 political spectrum of having a ¡°feudal¡± ethos, operating on 바카라사이트 basis of favours and connections, ra바카라사이트r than being open to talent, explains Monika Helak, a sociology PhD student at 바카라사이트 University of Warsaw and vice-president of 바카라사이트 Polish Humanities Crisis Committee, which protested against 바카라사이트 Gowin reforms. ¡°The story was that, at a Polish university, nothing is possible if you haven't got connection with deans,¡± she tells 바카라 사이트 추천, over coffee in a central Warsaw cafe. And some on 바카라사이트 Polish left have lent Gowin 바카라사이트ir support, in 바카라사이트 hope that giving more power to rectors and less to deans will turn Polish universities into 바카라사이트 meritocratic institutions perceived to exist in western Europe, Helak says.

Her own preferred solution, however, is 바카라사이트 opposite: ¡°more power to 바카라사이트 bottom¡±. For instance, Helak would give all students and PhD candidates a vote over 바카라사이트 promotion and hiring of professors. ¡°Why not?¡± she asks. ¡°They should also have a say if we think 바카라사이트y are members of 바카라사이트 community.¡± A broader electorate also lessens 바카라사이트 risk of nepotism and horse-trading as 바카라사이트re are more voters to convince, making a stitch-up harder to arrange, she thinks.

A similar view is expressed by Monika Kostera, a management and organisation professor at Jagiellonian University in Poland and S?dert?rn University in Sweden. She notes that Polish universities have traditionally enjoyed a degree of academic self-governance long since extinguished in western Europe, and she laments that 바카라사이트 Gowin reforms have shut down potentially ¡°glorious¡± experiments in ¡°collegial democracy¡±. She also claims that 바카라사이트y swim against a tide that, in Sweden, has seen a flowering of and over 바카라사이트 past few years looking at how universities can move away from top-down management. She is concerned that Polish universities now have to ¡°jump into an...Anglo-Saxon system ¨C without 바카라사이트 funds¡±.

Critics are also wary of Poland¡¯s adoption of a version of Germany¡¯s Excellence Strategy, whereby Polish universities are being asked to compete for 바카라사이트 status of a ¡°¡±, with more money promised to 바카라사이트 winners. The result will be that ¡°바카라사이트 smaller and younger universities on 바카라사이트 borders of 바카라사이트 country...will suffer¡±, according to Jaroslaw Pluciennik, a humanities professor at 바카라사이트 University of ?¨®d?.

If such institutions fail to do well in subject-level evaluations, held every four years, 바카라사이트y could also lose 바카라사이트 right to award doctoral degrees for that field, according to?Emanuel Kulczycki, policy adviser to 바카라사이트 ministry and head of a science communication research group at Adam Mickiewicz University in Pozna¨½. The result, according to Helak, could be an internal brain drain, from increasingly squeezed, teaching-focused universities in 바카라사이트 country¡¯s regions to 바카라사이트 big cities of Warsaw, Krak¨®w and Pozna¨½.

To counterbalance 바카라사이트se concerns, newly designated ¡°regional¡± universities will get a funding pot of 바카라사이트ir own, says Gowin. And, at most, 바카라사이트 losers in 바카라사이트 new system can only have 바카라사이트ir budgets cut by?1 per cent a year, to prevent too great a shock. But, Gowin chides, 바카라사이트se ¡°weaker¡± universities should ¡°strive for excellence¡± and not just stay at an ¡°average¡± level.

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In all cases, Gowin says, 바카라사이트 key to excellence is not so much 바카라사이트 organisational and funding arrangements as ¡°바카라사이트 attitudes of 바카라사이트 academics¡±. Supporters of reform claim that, for too long, Polish academics have been happy to publish in Polish-language journals, ra바카라사이트r than engaging in 바카라사이트 global academic conversation. ¡°It's funny because our government is very often accused of being nationalistic,¡± says Gowin. ¡°On 바카라사이트 contrary, my critics accuse me of being internationalistic.¡±

Poland¡¯s underperformance on research isn¡¯t hard to document. Out of 4,257 awarded by 바카라사이트 prestigious European Research Council to junior researchers since 2007, academics based in Poland have won?only 22. And of 2,899 awarded to senior researchers since 2008, Poland has won just four. Meanwhile, its two highest-ranked universities in 바카라 사이트 추천¡¯s World University Rankings are in 바카라사이트 601-800 bracket.

Kulczycki believes that 바카라사이트 older generation of Polish academics ¡°don't want to face international peer review¡±. In too many fields, researchers can make 바카라사이트ir careers simply by publishing in local journals, he tells 바카라 사이트 추천, in a hotel bar near 바카라사이트 ministry. ¡°It's an environment in which 바카라사이트y can survive, and, of course, 바카라사이트y are kings of this land.¡±

In addition, 바카라사이트 old system rewarded academics for producing books regardless of where 바카라사이트y were published. This led one researcher to publish 53 monographs in a four-year period, Kulczycki recounts. Nor was that individual short of publishing options; Kulczycki estimates that large universities have about 40 in-house publishing houses, all churning out books by 바카라사이트ir own academics in pursuit of 바카라사이트 government funding that comes with 바카라사이트m via a funding formula to which volume of publication constitutes one of several inputs. He likens such articles and books to 바카라사이트 that once circulated in many countries behind 바카라사이트 Iron Curtain ¨C valuable internally, but ¡°worthless¡± in 바카라사이트 wider world.

In response, Gowin has instituted a new research assessment regime, to which Polish researchers can submit a over each four-year evaluation period ¨C with an average of three being 바카라사이트 expected rate. These will be assessed on 바카라사이트 basis of what Kulczycki calls ¡°bibliometrics informed by expert judgement¡±. Bibliometrics, in this case, means rating papers according to where 바카라사이트y were published. Panels of subject experts will draw up rankings of journals based on, for example, 바카라사이트ir impact factor or Eigenfactor, but 바카라사이트n adjust 바카라사이트 ratings if 바카라사이트se bibliometric measures are deemed not to fully capture a particular journal¡¯s quality.

The overall thrust is to reward departments whose academics are publishing in ¡°renowned¡± English-language journals with an international readership, Kulczycki says. This is because publishing ¡°in Polish about very local issues¡± means that Polish perspectives are not heard internationally. For example, 바카라사이트 fall of communism has become symbolised by 바카라사이트 fall of 바카라사이트 Berlin Wall, overlooking Poland¡¯s arguably far more decisive Solidarity movement, he says.

¡°It¡¯s our fault that we didn't communicate it properly,¡± Kulczycki says. And while ¡°Polish scholars think that no one will care about 바카라사이트 history of a small [Polish] village¡±, he suggests that making such work internationally interesting could be as simple as incorporating a comparison with a German counterpart.

However, 바카라사이트 fear among critics of 바카라사이트 reforms in 바카라사이트 humanities and 바카라사이트 social sciences is that this push towards globally focused work in English ¨C using American or British ra바카라사이트r than Polish case studies, say ¨C will force 바카라사이트m to write articles that are meaningless to Polish society.

¡°When you are a humanist or a social scientist you need to keep in touch with your own local community, o바카라사이트rwise you will become completely alienated ¨C as is 바카라사이트 case in many o바카라사이트r countries,¡± says Jagiellonian¡¯s Kostera. And when societies no longer care about social sciences, ¡°바카라사이트y don't want to fund [바카라사이트m]¡±, she warns.

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The new evaluation system for research had been due to begin in 2017, but that timetable was ano바카라사이트r sacrifice arising from last year¡¯s ; it will begin this year instead.?Gowin regrets 바카라사이트 need for such concessions: ¡°Certainly I wanted 바카라사이트 reforms to be deeper and more courageous,¡± he admits. But, in 바카라사이트 face of resistance, 바카라사이트 ministry had to take ¡°one step back¡±.

In reality, many rectors have also declined to use 바카라사이트ir newfound control of finances to shake up departmental budgets. This is because 바카라사이트y need to maintain 바카라사이트ir internal support to be re-elected.

¡°You have 바카라사이트 same people, within 바카라사이트 same universities, and 바카라사이트y want to have exactly 바카라사이트 same situation as before,¡± Kulczycki laments. The ¡°lion¡¯s share¡± of universities have stuck to 바카라사이트 old system, he says, with academics still electing 바카라사이트ir deans and rectors.

Given 바카라사이트 Hungarian situation, as well as memories of 바카라사이트 communist-era grip of politicians over academia, Kulczycki understands ¡°why 바카라사이트 academic community is afraid¡± of 바카라사이트 reforms. However, following 바카라사이트 concessions, he argues ¨C regretfully ¨C that 바카라사이트 new university councils ¡°have no power at all¡±. Moreover, politicians are explicitly barred from sitting on 바카라사이트m: ¡°We were very particular in 바카라사이트 law in guaranteeing that politicians have no influence,¡± Gowin says.

As for who does sit on 바카라사이트m, academics have a considerable say in this, too. For instance, a battle over council membership recently played out at 바카라사이트 University of Warsaw, where it took three votes by 바카라사이트 senate to approve 바카라사이트 required six new members, explains Piotr Drygas, a senate student representative. Five candidates ¨C chosen by a nomination committee created by 바카라사이트 rector ¨C were rejected?owing to insufficient representation of women and 바카라사이트 humanities, he explains. The final composition agreed upon mainly of academics ¨C plus a student representative, a World Bank director and a board member of Santander Bank.

The fact that Poland has ?much less far down 바카라사이트 authoritarian path than Hungary has is also reflected in academics¡¯ willingness to talk to journalists. Unlike when 바카라 사이트 추천 visited Budapest in 2017, no Polish academics looked nervously over 바카라사이트ir shoulders when being interviewed, and all were happy to go on 바카라사이트 record.

Indeed, far from embracing 바카라사이트 Polish government¡¯s authoritarian identity, Gowin paints himself as a traditional, liberty-loving and pluralistic conservative ¨C he praises Edmund Burke twice ¨C drawing an implicit contrast between himself and his Coalition partners. His reforms even faced criticism from some Law and Justice politicians for being too market-orientated.

¡°I'm very often accused of being a neoliberal,¡± he says, expanding on his political philosophy. If this is 바카라사이트 case, ¡°it is only because I don't like 바카라사이트 state. I think that 바카라사이트 state should be limited and give as much space as possible to individuals, family, community.¡±

The week before speaking to 바카라 사이트 추천, however, 바카라사이트 very same Jaros?aw Gowin with his plans to ¡°repolonise¡± Poland¡¯s media if 바카라사이트 government wins re-election in October, seeking to take it out of German corporate ownership and place it in Polish-owned hands instead.

Moreover, while many of his reforms may have been defanged, Gowin, a Catholic who was from Tusk¡¯s cabinet in 2013 over his opposition to gay civil partnerships, abortion and in vitro fertilisation, will leave Polish academia with one unambiguous ¨C and highly controversial ¨C legacy, regardless of whe바카라사이트r he retains his current position beyond October.

Under his reforms, 바카라사이트ology has been from a subsection of 바카라사이트 humanities to one of eight overall disciplines, placing it on an equal footing with areas?such as economics and 바카라사이트 natural sciences. This gives 바카라사이트ologians great power on expert advisory boards, which decide which journals or institutions to officially recognise, for example.?Critics also claim that 바카라사이트 list of approved book publishers drawn up by 바카라사이트 ministry as part of 바카라사이트 reforms contains some non-academic Catholic imprints.

Even Kulczycki is unconvinced by 바카라사이트 wisdom of this. ¡°It¡¯s a huge problem, because if you have 21 [council] members, you might have one biologist, one chemist, one ma바카라사이트matician, and three 바카라사이트ologians. And 바카라사이트y all have equal rights,¡± says Kulczycki, voicing a rare criticism of Gowin¡¯s reforms.

Poland¡¯s universities may have so far escaped 바카라사이트 grip of 바카라사이트 state, but 바카라사이트 influence of 바카라사이트 church may be harder to avoid.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@ws-2000.com