The Faculty of Economics of the University of Economics will lose the right to propose professors of economics

The Faculty of Economics of the University of Economics in Prague (NF VŠE) will lose the opportunity to propose the appointment of professors for the field of economics. On Wednesday, the Council of the National Accreditation Office (NAÚ) for higher education decided to withdraw accreditation for the procedure. Its chairman Robert Plaga informed about it on the X network. He did not state the reason for the withdrawal of authorization.

NAÚ Secretary Jiří Smrčka did not want to comment on the reasons for the withdrawal of accreditation. He justified this by the fact that the proceedings of the accreditation office have not yet been completed. “The written decision will still be drawn up and delivered to the university,” Smrčka told ČTK.

The Deník N website stated today that the problem that caused the authority to start dealing with accreditation is the insufficient publication activity of the academics of the faculty who provide the field.

The academic senate of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Economics already decided on Tuesday to waive the accreditation procedure for the appointment of a professor in the field of economics. He justified the agreement with the proposal of the scientific council of the faculty by the fact that he considers it optimal to give up the authorization.

The procedure for appointment as a professor can take place at a university that has an accredited doctoral study program in which the relevant scientific field or a substantial part of it is taught. At the same time, it is necessary for the university or its part to have accreditation for conducting the procedure for the appointment of a professor. Professors are then appointed by the President of the Republic, on the proposal of the university’s scientific or artistic council.

Recently, NF VŠE has drawn attention to itself especially with the dispute over the dismissal of its dean, Miroslav Ševčík. The rector of the university, Petr Dvořák, dismissed him from the head of the faculty in the middle of last December. He reproached Ševčík for inappropriate behavior in public, which, according to Dvořák, damaged the good name of the faculty. According to Ševčík, this is a political decision, he filed a lawsuit against him.