Centre for Civic Education (CCE) expresses regret over decision of the Senate of the University of Montenegro (UoM) to elect Velimir Rakocevic into position of regular professor for Criminal-Law group of subjects at the University of Montenegro, with the full awareness of controversies that follow academic work of Rakocevic. It seems as if we did not need to wait for long for new management of UoM to demonstrate that it remains allegiant to previous «principles» in relation to issues of academic honour and election into academic titles, wherein the applied criteria are outside of academic sphere. Herewith, all their promises of work on improvement of quality of education at the UoM have been annulled, and the farce of changes at the UoM has been denuded.
Anticipating this course of events, CCE has yestearday appealed to the Rector of UoM prof. PhD Danilo Nikolic, President of the MB prof. PhD Dusko Bjelica, as well as Vice-Rector and President of Scientific Board prof. PhD Irena Orovic, to terminate practice of valuing non-academic criteria and to consistently apply existing framework that defines these issues, which includes a thourough check of Rakocevic’s submitted documentation and assessment in the accordance with Measures on conditions and criteria for election to the academic title.
CCE has reminded the management of UoM also of genesis of relation of previous management of UoM towards this case, with arguments that indicate to severe insufficiencies of submitted documentation for this election, that in the June of this year Senat has revoked. Public is aware that former President of the Scientific Board, Vladimir Pesic, has publicly stated that Rakocevic does not meet all criteria for election to this title.
CCE uses this opportunity to point out the bright example of minority of professors, who did not support election of Velimir Rakocevic to the title of regular professor, and who have had the right to vote. As per findings of CCE, there is one regular professors of UoM who voted against election of Rakocevic and four who abstained. We hope that the public will soon find out their names, since those examples of voting keep hope that academic integrity is not a forgotten category in managerial bodies of UoM. Also, the public must also find out names of those 11 regular professors who by their voting supported election of Rakocevic. It is hard to recognize interest of academic community in their voting, and even less the public interest or elements of academic integrity.
Daliborka Uljarevic, Executive Director