Magna Charta Observatory seeks secretary-general to lead mission

Source: Wikipedia

Guiding values: the Bologna post holder will promote universities’ vocation

On 18 September 1988, the 900th anniversary of the creation of the world’s first university – the University of Bologna – was marked by the launch of the Magna Charta Universitatum.

Initially signed by 388 European university leaders looking ahead to “a changing and increasingly international society”, the charter was designed to set out “the fundamental principles, which must, now and always, support the vocation of universities”.

Along with academic freedom, institutional autonomy and the inseparability of teaching and research went a commitment to mutual influence between cultures, although universities were also regarded as “trustee[s] of the European humanist tradition”.

Out of this original document came the Magna Charta Observatory of Fundamental University Values and Rights, which was set up in 2000 to promote such values, and to respond when they were under threat in places such as Croatia and Georgia. The role of the new secretary-general will be to promote the Observatory’s mission and to act as its figurehead.

The total number of signatories has now doubled to about 800. Twice in every five-year period, a one-day conference is held in Bologna, and often focuses on how the original guiding values remain relevant in a world transformed culturally, politically and technologically.

This event is accompanied by a half-day ceremony in which new signatories are welcomed into the fold. In other years the annual September conference is held elsewhere, with Uppsala in Sweden chosen for 2014.

The incoming secretary-general will be largely responsible for organising the conference, explained a representative for the Observatory, “and then for collecting and editing material for the prestigious publication of its proceedings, sent out to around 2,000 leading figures in higher education.

“He or she will be expected to build and maintain extensive contacts and a pool of experts, so that the Observatory can offer its opinion in cases where its principles are endangered. It has also been asked, on occasion, to help draft new legislation on higher education.”

The Observatory is largely funded by the Italian Ministry of Higher Education through the University of Bologna, and often suffers year-on-year cuts. The representative emphasised that the secretary-general will need to devote considerable effort to fundraising.

Since the post is envisaged as half-time, it does not require residence in its Bologna headquarters. It has previously been carried out by an Estonian, a German, a Swiss, a Turk and a US citizen based in Paris, all of whom were willing and able to spend a few days a month (or even less) in Italy, and to take part in meetings around the world.

Although the advertisement naturally requires someone “well acquainted with universities and their international networks”, earlier incumbents have ranged from a PhD student to a professor. Experienced administrators or consultants might be equally appropriate.

matthew.reisz@tsleducation.com