Barcelona

A survey by Spain's Council of Universities has revealed widespread dissatisfaction among university heads with the procedures for faculty appointments (see Nature 396, 709 & 712; 1998).

The results of the survey were revealed by Jorge Fernández-Díaz, state secretary of education and universities, during a meeting in Santander this month on the future of university government.

The survey polled the Council of Universities, whose members include university vice-chancellors, heads of regional education departments, and 15 other members and presidents of the Social Councils — bodies that supervise university departments — about recruitment, funding and the performance of university governing bodies.

University appointment boards have five members, two of whom belong to the recruiting university. Three votes are needed to approve an appointment, and most observers — including government and university officials — agree that it is usually easy to secure the third vote for a favoured local candidate.

Of those surveyed, 84 per cent disagreed that “the system of access to professorial posts is appropriate for an effective selection of research and teaching personnel”. Asked about the composition of the evaluation panels, most said that the number of members chosen by lot should be increased.

Fifty-eight per cent said that at least four members should be chosen this way, and seven per cent said all five members should be chosen by lot. Only eight per cent thought the current system should be maintained.

One in five said that there should be an increase in the number of members designated by the university at which the appointment is being made, and 15 per cent said that all members should be designated by the university.

Leonardo Sánchez-Ferrer of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, who carried out the survey, says that demands for greater autonomy in universities are traditionally louder in nationalistic regions such as Catalonia, which could lead to resistance to change.

Mariano Rajoy, minister of education and culture, told the Santander meeting that “a profound and integral change” is needed in the university reform law.