SWPS University is pleased to co-host an online seminar of the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland that will take place on February 26, 2021. The seminar will focus on the statutory and non-statutory solutions fostering stronger academic freedom and academic integrity. The opening lectures on the institutional and legal context of the academic freedom and responsibility, will be delivered by Professor Jerzy Woźnicki and Professor Ewa Łętowska. The closed panel discussions will facilitate sharing of good practices and learnings.
The Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland
AND INTEGRITY
learnings and good practices
Registration is required for participation in the panel discussions. The main language of the event is Polish. Full porgram of the seminar (in Polish) >>
The seminar has been co-organized by SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Opening Lectures
LECTURE 1: Academic Freedoms and Fundamental Rules in Higher Education Institutions
The lecture provides an overview of the topic. Porfessor Jerzy Woźnicki will present an open catalogue of terms defined as academic freedoms and fundamental rules that apply to higher education institutions and are rooted in the heritage of Medieval Universities, the 1997 Constitution of the Republic of Poland, and good academic practices. Professor Woźnicki will also discuss how the academic freedoms draw on international documents applicable in Europe. The fundamental rules will be presented based on the 2007 Code of Good Practices in Universities KRASP-FRP.
Professor Woźnicki will also refer to the position of the CRASP Plenary, issued on November 20, 2020, including the justification of the position. It should be noted that the position contains an invitation addressed to the Minister of Education and Science to participate in the debate on academic values.
Professor Jerzy Woźnicki – was the Rector of the Warsaw University of Technology (1996-2002), Chair of the General Council of Science and Higher Education (2014-2017), President of the Polish Rectors Foundation (2002-Present), Director of the Institute of Knowledge Society (2003-Present), Chair of the the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (1999-2002), member of the CRASP Presidium and Chair of the Strategic Problems of Higher Education Committee (2016-Present), member of the CRASP Team for the Evaluation of the Law on higher education and science (2020-Present), member of Section V ‒ "Social Sciences, Law and Economics" ‒ of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (2015-Prsent), member of the Team for Monitoring the implementation of the higher education and science reform at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (2019-Present), and member of the Committee of Ethics in Science by the Presidium of Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN). Program leader and lecturer at 23 Polish Rectors Foundation Schools of Strategic Management in Higher Education, for Rectors, Chancellors, and Bursars (2005-2020). He is the initiator and co-author of the CRASP Code of Good Practices in Universities, author of over 120 publications, including several dozen monographs on university management and legal determinants of the functioning of higher education institutions, and the legislative framework of the research and education state policy.
LECTURE 2: False Paradoxes of the Protection of Academic Freedoms. Thesis.
Professor Łętowska will talk about the interferences of colliding constitutional freedoms, laws, values, and the criteria of collision resolution. She will outline the related expectations towards the state, law and the judiciary as well as aspirations vs. capabilities and duties. Objectionable manipulations of the notions of freedom of speech and freedom of research will also be discussed.
Professor Ewa Łętowska – is a professor of law. She was awarded titles of doctor honoris causa by numerous universities. She is a full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), an active member of the Polish Academy of Learning (PAU). Professor Łętowska was also the first Commissioner for Human Rights in Poland (1988-1991) and was a judge of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland (2002-2011).
The CRASP Seminar is not just a reflection on the meaning and the role of academic freedom. It is also a discussion about the existing and required solutions that strengthen academic freedom and autonomy of universities.
Professor Arkadiusz Mężyk
Chair of CRASP, Rector of the Silesian University of Technology
PANEL 1A: Disciplinary Proceedings at Universities - Learnings and Challenges
The panel will focus on the ongoing disciplinary proceedings at universities in Poland, in particular on the challenges the universities face at all stages of the process, including initiating the proceedings, conducting evidentiary proceedings, and issuing decisions. The panelists will discuss how the process can be improved and made more efficient.
PANEL 1B: Good Practices: Ethical Committees and Codes of Ethics
The panel will present academic freedoms and responsibilities from the practical and ethical point of view, referring to the codes of ethics and the activities of ethical committees. The panel will indicate the relationships between the freedom of research, including the freedom of disseminating research results ̶ academic freedom, and the civic freedom of speech. The discussion will reference current norms and practices, which support the freedom of research and the freedom of results dissemination as well as the readiness of researchers and academic teachers to be responsible for the ethical aspects their work. Panelists will also focus on threats to freedom of research and freedom of results dissemination, which arise in the contemporary institutional and organizational context. The panelists will be asked to indicate behaviors fostering research integrity and temptations, which might lead researchers to engaging in scientific misconduct. Additionally, the already existing normative and organizational solutions, which aim to protect academic freedom and promote responsibility among researchers and academic teachers, will be assessed.
PANEL 2A: The Role of Commissioner for Academic Rights at Polish Universities - Legal Foundations, Scope of Activity, and Everyday Practice
The panel will present the legal and practical scope of activity that might be assigned to Commissioners for Academic Rights, in particular potential ways of appointing a Commissionaire and defining the scope of activity. Additionally, the panelists will show multifaceted benefits that a Commissionaire for Academic Rights may bring to universities, university representatives, and the whole academic community. The panelists will also discuss the challenges related to the introduction of the Commissionaires for Academic Rights at universities, and will ponder who might be crucial partners for Commissionaires at universities and beyond.
PANEL 2B: Good Practices: Preventing Inequalities
The panel will assess to what degree academic communities are aware of inequalities that occur at Polish universities, what forms of inequality are most prevalent, and which forms seem to be most worrying. The first part of the panel will focus on diagnosing the issue of inequality at Polish universities, recognizing its roots, and establishing to what degree inequality has become a crucial topic of discussion in academic communities in Poland. During the second part of the panel, the participants will look at interesting solutions for preventing all forms of academic discrimination that already exist at Polish universities.
PANEL 3: Seminar Summary
Academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and integrity – these are the values we want to specifically talk about, and share our learnings and best practices. In the academic community, the best and most lasting solutions are developed through dialogue. This is the goal of our seminar.
Professor Roman Cieślak
Chair of the CRASP Committee for Communication and Social Responsibility, Rector of SWPS University
Members and experts of the CRASP Committee for Communication and Social Responsibility:
Professor Wiesław Banyś – Vice-Chair of the Committee, the University of Silesia in Katowice (Rectorector 2008-2016)
Professor Roman Cieślak, Chair of the Committee, Rector of SWPS University
Professor Andrzej Eliasz, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, (Rector 1996-2016)
Professor Janina Filek, Committee expert
Professor Bogumiła Kaniewska, Rector of Adam Mickiewicz University w Poznań
Associate Professor Monika Kaczmarek-Śliwińska, Committee expert
Professor Stefan Kwiatkowski, Maria Grzegorzewska University in Warsaw (Rector 2016-2020)
Professor Paweł Łuków, Committee expert
Professor Mirosław Minkina, Rector of Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities
Professor Alicja Przyłuska-Fiszer, Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw (Rector 2008-2012)
Associate Professor Bolesław Rok, the Kozminski University, Committee expert
Associate Professor Piotr Wachowiak, Rector of the Warsaw School of Economics
Professor Elżbieta Wtorkowska, Rector of the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz
Professor Arkadiusz Mężyk, Eng.D., Rector of the Warsaw University of Technology
Rector's Office, SWPS University
e-mail: wolnosc_akademicka_seminarium@swps.edu.pl