Infrastructures, staffing and degree programmes are the focus of the demands in the two centres, which belong to the Blasco Ibáñez Campus.
In the final stage of the election campaign, the candidate visited the Faculties of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences and Philosophy and Education Sciences with her team to listen to their concerns and analyse ways of working together.
Before these meetings, the Principal attended the meeting that the Minister of Science and Innovation, Diana Morant, held in Valencia, where she shared the situation of the staff affected by the elimination of the contract of work and service that covers many researchers at the Universitat de València and in Spain.
The former mayoress of Gandia confirmed that the solution will come soon and that the Spanish government will do whatever is necessary to maintain the research staff.
The candidate for Principal was thus able to reassure the affected researchers, who throughout the campaign had made their concerns known to her.
The space issue at the Blasco Ibáñez Campus
The main issue raised by those attending both meetings, starting with the dean, Ferran Calabuig, and the dean, Rosa Maria Bo, was the lack of space.
The Universitat de València has plots of land on the Tarongers and Burjassot campuses. The lack of a financing plan limits the possibilities of building as much as they would like, but there are already plans for different buildings on both campuses that will be finished before the end of the next term. However, at Blasco Ibáñez there is not even that much building space available, and this is a concern that they wanted to convey to the candidate.
The Faculty of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences shares a building with Physiotherapy and would require a building that would decongest the current coexistence both in terms of classrooms and departments.
In addition, the dean reminded about the need to provide a space outside the Faculty building for the student body, an aspect that was also expressed by the dean of Physiotherapy and which, as the Principal recalled, is awaiting some details regarding the processing of permits.
In the case of the Faculty of Philosophy and Education Sciences, the main problem raised was the lack of teaching spaces, which forces students to move around different classrooms on the Blasco Ibáñez Campus even within the same day, making it difficult for them to get to class on time, have a sense of the centre and participate in university life, as explained by different members of the Student Council Branch of the Faculty who attended the meeting. The dean also pointed out that the existing classrooms would have to be remodelled to an appropriate size.
The Principal took note of the situation and undertook to study, for the time being, a redistribution of spaces that would allow for a reduction in travel in the same day. As she said, the location of some services, such as SEDi, in the Lluís Vives space will free up some of the classroom spaces and provide greater room for manoeuvre.
Stabilisation and training of the administrative and service staff and substitute teachers
Another important point was the temporary nature of the Adminstrative and Service Staff and the need for training in the new electronic administration techniques and the bureaucracy they create, an aspect which, as the Principal said, is already being studied in order to rationalise and reduce it as much as possible.
The candidate recalled that the stabilisation of staff is complicated due to the replacement rate, which makes it necessary to resort to temporary forms of contracting, but she said that it will be necessary to analyse whether the practical application of the labour reform can lead to the use of new, more stable contracts, compatible with the restrictions affecting the structural staff until other tools are available to develop an autonomous staffing policy that responds to the needs of the centres and services.
In relation to the figure of substitute teaching staff, he commented that it is already included in our legal system, but the negotiation process must begin in order to regulate aspects such as the way in which competitions will be carried out and what their remuneration will be. She said that this type of teaching staff could be a lifeline for some degree programmes and would also allow a different profile to be incorporated into the university, one that is not necessarily linked to employment.
Degree offer
At both meetings, proposals were made to increase the range of degrees offered by the centres. The Faculty of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences pointed out that the degree is in great demand and proposed the incorporation of another degree with a different profile. The Faculty of Philosophy and Education Sciences said that it is working on a double degree and that it is evaluating other initiatives.
Although the attendees were firm in their proposals and expressed their needs clearly, this was no obstacle to recognising the work done by the Principals team over the last four years, especially in a period as complicated as the pandemic, and thanking the candidate and her team for their visit.
