More autonomy for universities

The "amendment zeal" of the state legislators in the area of higher education law is unbroken. However, political promises made to universities in advance are often not always implemented in legislation. It is not uncommon for promises of autonomy, according to which universities are to be granted more autonomy and thus greater freedom of decision, not to be kept.

In the current amendment to the Brandenburg Higher Education Act, the issue of autonomy also seems to play no role. Instead, as enshrined in the state government's coalition agreement, internal university participation and involvement rights are to be intensified: "Good work" is to be made a topic of discussion, universities of applied sciences are to be strengthened by the possibility of supervising doctoral studies, and the position of the Brandenburg university chancellor is to be redefined, while at the same time it is no longer intended to adhere to the previous monocratic presidential constitution.

These aspects are the subject of the symposium "More autonomy for universities? Symposium on the amendment of the Brandenburg Higher Education Act", which is being organized by the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg together with the Cottbus Center for Law and Administrative Sciences.

Renowned speakers will try to give important and goal-oriented impulses for the further legislative process.

The experts are: Prof. Dr. Klaus Herrmann (lawyer and specialist in administrative law, DOMBERT Rechtsanwälte, Potsdam), Prof. Dr. Jan Hoffmann, LL.M. Eur.(Adjunct Professor of Public Law and European and International Law, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg),Prof. Dr. Winfried Kluth (Chair of Public Law, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, and former Judge at the Constitutional Court of Saxony-Anhalt), Prof. Dr. Lother Knopp (Executive Director of the Center for Law and Administrative Sciences Cottbus and Chair of Constitutional, Administrative and Environmental Law, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg), Dr. Jan-Hauke Plaßmann (Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of the State of Brandenburg, Head of Department 23).

Complete program and flyer for download

The symposium at a glance: More autonomy for universities? Symposium on the amendment of the Brandenburg Higher Education Act Date: Friday, February 17, 10:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Venue: Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art, Uferstraße / Am Amtsteich 15, 03046 Cottbus Registration by February 3, 2023 to: Claudia Lorenz, T +49 (0) 355 69-2079, e-mail: zfrv(at)b-tu.de Livestream: You will receive the link to the livestream after your registration.

Background to the new regulation of the university chancellorship In the federal state of Brandenburg, the position of the university chancellor is to undergo a fundamental reorganization. This became necessary because the Federal Constitutional Court, in a decision of August 24, 2018, in response to a lawsuit filed by a then BTU university chancellor, declared the former regulations governing the tenure of a temporary university chancellor unconstitutional and null and void after nearly eight years of litigation and decisions by the administrative courts. In doing so, it fully followed the plaintiff's argumentation. At the time, this decision had startled the German higher education landscape and led to various amendments to chancellor regulations at the state level.