REPORT OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE UTRECHT NETWORK GRAZ 11 AND 12 APRIL 1997 Participants: Utrecht Network Poul Bonde (Aarhus), Patricia de Clopper (Antwerpen), Piet van Hove (Antwerpen), Gerald Zimmermann (Basel), Desanka Schwara (Basel), Bjorn Einar Aas (Bergen), Ingrid Bernt (Ber- gen), Manfred Nettekoven (Bochum), Monika Sprung (Bochum), Gianni Galloni (Bologna), Jiri Sramek (Brno), Maria Filomena de Marquez (Coimbra), Isabel Texeira (Coimbra), Louise Tobin (Cork), Maria Krobath (Graz), Sabine Pendle (Graz), Dana Afrashteh (Graz), Päivi Tauriainen (Helsinki), Michael Wintle (Hull), Béatrice Delpouve (Lille), Katja Cerjak (Ljubl- jana), Ingeborg Kunath (Madrid), Carlos Seoane (Madrid), Jean McKillick (Malta), Svend Poller (Leipzig), Annemone Seisum (Leipzig), Kersti Schmölzer (Lund), Bjorg Eysteinsdottir (Reykjavik), Gérard Clady (Strasbourg I), Christian Civardi (Strasbourg II), Marc Arnold (Strasbourg III), Marjanne Paardekooper (Utrecht H.K.U.), Costas Kastritsis (Thessaloniki), Ioanna Georgiadou (Thessaloniki), Jeroen Torenbeek (Utrecht, chairman) Bettina Nelemans (Utrecht, minutes). Observers Joel Glassman (University of Missouri at St Louis), Peggy Dotson (University of Missouri at St Louis), Fraser Taylor (Carleton), Boyan Lomev (Sofia), Algimantas Lipinaitis (Vilnius), Kostas Bogdanas (Vilnius) Friday, 11 April 1. Welcome and practical matters The rector of the Karl-Franzens Universität Graz, Mr Helmut Konrad, addresses the Utrecht Network members. He says that to Graz (one of the 18 universities in Austria) Utrecht Network membership has proved to be tremendously helpful. Like many other universities in Europe, this one too is facing cutbacks in budgets. It is always good to be able to learn from each other. Mr Konrad adds that Graz has many good contacts with universities in Central and South- East Europe, including the war-afflicted areas (Bosnia, Albania). The Utrecht Network may be able to benefit from these contacts. Jeroen Torenbeek welcomes everybody to the annual meeting of the Utrecht Network 1997, this year held in Graz. The newcomers, the universities of Brno and Malta, are enthusiastically welcomed. Joel Glassman, Peggy Dotson, Fraser Taylor, Boyan Lomev, Algimantas Lipinaitis and Kostas Bogdanas will attend (part of) the meeting as observers. Jeroen Torenbeek expresses his thankfulness to the people of Graz (Sabine Pendl, Maria Krobath and Dana Afrashteh) and the Rector of their university for the excellent organisation and their generous hospitality. The agenda is set for the meeting. The minutes of the Strasbourg meeting (April 1996) are accepted. Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd. 2. State of the Art presentation Bettina Nelemans gives a presentation on what the Utrecht Network has achieved in the past few years and what it is hoping to accomplish in the future. The complete text is included in these minutes as an Appendix (Appendix I). discussion After the presentation of the state of the art, a short discussion on the future of the Utrecht Network follows. * Poul Bonde (Aarhus) announces that an invitation will be sent out to all rectors of the Utrecht Network and the Coimbra Group to the 70th anniversary of Aarhus University, to be held on 11 September 1998. This opportunity will be taken to have a rectors' meeting (by then two and a half years after the meeting held in Utrecht on 26 March 1996). His initiative is very much welcomed by the meeting. 3. Budgetary matters The budget is settled. Of the 22,500 Ecus which have been assigned to us by the Commis- sion, about 14,000 Ecus will be needed to cover the annual meeting in Graz (8,000 Ecus travel expenses, 6,000 Ecus living expenses). Remaining funds will go towards Teaching Staff Mobility. The Strasbourg meeting was so cheap (8,950 Ecus) because it was organised by three institutions that all contributed to the meeting. 4. Future plans Utrecht Network statutes and membership fee A preliminary version of the Utrecht Network statutes was distributed before the meeting and has been carefully studied. A discussion evolves. Some of the most noteworthy points are worded below. Members' comments will be processed in the definitive version of the statutes. The 2000 Ecus fees was already approved by the rectors at the meeting in Utrecht in March 1996. Marc Arnold still believes that it is too high. The fee cannot be covered by Socrates-funds. He avers that we now have 22,500 Ecus subsidy from Brussels, which is far less than what we will have when all members pay the fee (about 50,000). Poul Bonde says that the funds that we receive from Brussels on annual basis cannot be used for all activities that we plan to carry out. Also, only a limited number of members are eligible for ICP-funding. He believes that group funding will contribute favourably towards the identity of the Network. Pats de Clopper agrees, but she adds that it is essential to have a clear idea of what the UN budget will be spent on. So far, steering committee and Task Force meetings have never been paid out of UN funds. Manfred Nettekoven states that Bochum is an old and loyal member. 2000 Ecus does not seem to be that much. However, he too underlines the importance of establishing some kind of code on the use of UN money. Filomena Marques stresses the relevance of being member of a big network, and believes that 2000 Ecus is a fair price. According to Bjorn Einar Aas, too, it is important to be a member of an institutional network. There Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd. are clear benefits to be gained by being part of a network (having easy access to information on the China programme for example). Costas Kastritis draws our attention to points A to J of the statutes. All these issues confirm the importance and right to exist of the UN. Carlos Seoane takes things even further by saying that we should aim at becoming one of the leading associations in Europe ('fly high'). Jeroen Torenbeek concludes by saying that Utrecht University (being the Technical Assistance Office) has the moral obligation to be frank at all times about the financial situation of the UN. Overhead costs will continue to be paid by Utrecht. Before the next meeting a proposal will be made describing the financial terms of reference of the Network. For the three Strasbourg universities 'pooling' will be a good and economical way of being able to stay a member of the UN. Pooling implies, however, that the three universities need to act as one entity, with one representative and one vote. The question is raised as to whether the steering committee should be bigger. A disadvantage would be that the group could easily get unworkable. Even with four people it is difficult enough to fix dates for meetings. Now that the Network is growing bigger much of the work will have to be organized by separate Task Forces which all have the duty to report back to the steering committee. It seems that there is broad consensus on this. The steering committee will retain its present size and task-driven groups (i.e. Task Forces) will take up new initiatives. Regional distribution within the steering committee and task forces will remain important, but will be dealt with in a flexible way. The necessity of having a Technical Assistance Office is clear. There are two TAO models: 1. establish an office in Brussels (or some other central location); 2. continue to have the office in Utrecht. No objections are raised against the second option. Utrecht University will keep on hosting the office. Unfortunately, as yet it is impossible for the Utrecht Network to be registered under European law, it will therefore be registered as a Dutch association (meaning that is becomes a legal body which has members) If a member wishes to incorporate a partner university within the near vicinity into the Network (e.g. Bergen and Trondheim, Antwerp and its sister institutions in Antwerp), this should be locally organized. It goes without saying that these so-called satellite constructions should be announced to the Network. Calendar years are preferred to academic years when it comes to accounting. It is an issue whether or not the rectors should be mentioned under article 12. It is stressed that they should be regarded as an advisory board. A certain degree of rectors' involvement will undoubtedly strengthen the institutional commitment to the UN. The question is asked if it is necessary to have elections on the chairmanship of the steering committee, but it turns out to be more practical to leave this open. It is emphasized that there is a difference between a chairman and a president. The Utrecht Network, as opposed to other networks, has no president. The steering committee exercises joint leadership. So far the UN has never had financial auditors, so this is a new element. Auditors will be appointed at the next annual meeting. Expansion of the Utrecht Network It is decided that Krakow will be officially admitted to the Utrecht Network as the 26th member. Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd. The proposal for limited expansion indicates that next year a Baltic university may join the UN. China, Canada, Medcampus, Unitwin, Leonardo, Tempus, Peace One-page presentations on these programmes were distributed before the meeting to inform everyone on the latest developments. Leonardo: Beatrice Delpouve will be the Leonardo contact person for the Utrecht Network. Hopefully, the programme will gradually be open to all European countries. So far, however, Leonardo requires a lot of input whereas the output is very small. Also, it is difficult to talk to people in industry. Madrid complains that there are only 50 placements for all the universities in their region. 5. Working groups a. Socrates - Louise Tobin reports We are now in an interim period, awaiting the results of the first institutional applications.