With their joint resolution Departments of Arts in HEIs are standing against the bill that the Mitsotakis government wants to pass for Private Universities.
Having as a guide the findings of reputable constitutional experts, but also of many decisions and resolutions of other departments of the HEIs, they present their concerns regarding the compatibility of the bill with the provisions of Article 16 of the Constitution.
The broad inter-departmental and inter-university collaboration in which almost all Arts Departments nationwide join their voices with POSDEP, POSEEDIP, OSYEEP and the multitude of other colleagues and university bodies by sending a resounding NO to the plans of Kyriakos Mitsotakis to create two-speed students by degrading public education.
The resolution in detail:
The Departments of Arts at HEIs express our opposition to the bill “Strengthening the Public University – Framework for the operation of non-profit branches of foreign universities”. According to the findings of reputable constitutional experts, as well as many decisions and resolutions of other departments of HEIs, the new bill raises serious concerns regarding its compatibility with the provisions of Article 16 of the Constitution. In this specific article it is stated that higher education is provided, with full self-administration, by legal entities under public law and by professors who are public officials.
We join our voices with POSDEP, POSEEDIP, OSYEEP and the multitude of other colleagues and university bodies that have spoken out against the bill, as well as the insult to the self-governing body and to academic freedom that its submission has caused. Above all, we join our voices with the students who are leading the fight for the defense of public and free education as a social good.
We request the withdrawal of the bill and we demand from the state the practical support of the Departments of Arts in the public university.
In a country like Greece, which promotes culture and cultural heritage as national assets – without, unfortunately, always supporting them in practice – Arts Departments establish the social cohesion and well-being of the state. In fact, they have created a very strong tradition of artistic practice and theory that goes hand in hand almost with the foundation of the Greek state. Since 1837 when the Academy of Fine Arts was founded (in precursor form), this tradition has developed multifacetedly and is expanding in the 21st century with the establishment of newer departments that combine art with innovative fields of modern science and with new technologies.
Overall, the following arts are treated at the Greek public university: visual arts, music, theater, performing arts (theatre, dance, performance), audio-visual arts, cinema and digital arts. The applied arts of graphic design and visual communication, interior architecture, antiquities and art conservation, and photography and audio-visual arts are also treated.
As Arts Departments at the university we not only cultivate artistic practice but also research, which charts new directions for artistic creation, echoing international academic and artistic trends. The public university as an institution of inter-university research provides privileged opportunities for the Departments of Arts to participate in the contemporary artistic becoming in the era of digital transformation, where artistic pluralism dominates and new, hybrid forms of art are developed.
The high quality of art education at the university is ensured by the evaluation of our study programs by an independent national authority (ETHAAE).
We emphasize that the university is the only part of the public sector under continuous and full evaluation, ensuring that the education provided meets international standards.
The social goods offered by the Departments of Arts in the public University are secured and developed, as stipulated by the Constitution, with the exclusive care of the state beyond utilitarian parameters, and dependencies on sponsors and discriminatory tuition fees will also fatally affect the possibility of University to produce new knowledge, innovative research and artistic creation.
As university officials, responsible citizens and taxpayers
We claim:
1. The withdrawal of the new bill because it alters the fundamental nature of education as a function and the status of University teachers as public officials.
2. The practical support of the state to the Departments of Arts by strengthening the meager funding of the public university at a level similar to the European average. We are seeking funding to support research, hire teaching and administrative staff, maintain and upgrade facilities and improve student care.
3. Securing the professional rights of our graduates in all public bodies related to education, art and culture. We highlight the need for special care for new artistic objects that utilize digital know-how.
4. We express our concern at the planned establishment of a new public Performing Arts University, without prior consultation with representatives of the existing University Arts Departments, who have the relevant and necessary experience, research background and know-how.
Finally, we request a meeting with the Minister of Education and the General Secretary of Higher Education to resolve the issues we raise in this resolution. Art is always ahead of social developments and allows us to envision the future.
With the assistance of the state, we hope that the public university will actively participate in the formation of a global market of free circulation of ideas, artistic expression and democratic values.
This resolution is the product of broad consensus, inter-departmental and inter-university. It has been approved so far, by assembly decisions, by almost all Arts Departments, in the following Universities of the country: the School of Fine Arts, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (EKPA), the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (APTH), the University of Patras, the University of Ioannina, the Ionian University, the University of Peloponnese, the University of Macedonia, the University of Western Macedonia and the University of Western Attica.
The departments that support the resolution (per year of establishment and operation) are as follows:
1. Department of Visual Arts, School of Fine Arts (Athens, 1837)
2. Department of Music Studies, AUTH (Thessaloniki, 1984, opening, 1985)
3. Department of Theater Studies, EKPA (Athens, 1990)
4. Department of Music Studies, EKPA (Athens, 1991)
5. Department of Theater Studies, University of Patras (Patra, 1989, opening 1992)
6. Theater Department, AUTH (Thessaloniki, 1992)
7. Department of Music Studies, Ionian University (1992)
8. Department of Music Science and Art, University of Macedonia (1998)
9. Department of Visual Arts and Art Sciences, University of Ioannina (Ioannina, 2000)
10. Department of Theater Studies, University of Peloponnese (2003)
11. Department of Cinema, AUTH (Thessaloniki, 2004)
12. Department of Audio and Visual Arts, Ionian University (Corfu 2004)
13. Department of Visual and Applied Arts, University of Western Macedonia (Florina, 2006)
14. Department of Graphic Design and Visual Communication, PADA (Aegaleo, 2018, former TEI)
15. Department of Music Studies, University of Ioannina (Arta, 2018)
16. Department of Digital Arts and Cinema, EKPA (Psachna Evia, 2019)
17. Department of Performing and Digital Arts, University of Peloponnese (Nafplio, 2019)
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Dionysis Kalamatianos: The defense of the public university is the defense of the Constitution
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