Slavonski Brod University Could Soon Separate from Osijek

Following the decision of the Constitutional Court rejecting the constitutional complaint of the Rectors’ Council regarding the establishment of the University in Slavonski Brod, a meeting was held on Monday, initiated by Mayor Mirko Duspara, attended by members of parliament from Brod-Posavina County and city councilors, where it was emphasized that the Senate of the University of Osijek is expected to allow the separation of the Slavonski Brod members.

More than two years ago, on November 27, 2015, the then president of the Rectors’ Council of the Republic of Croatia, Damir Boras, submitted a proposal to initiate a procedure for assessing the constitutionality of the Law on the Establishment of the University in Slavonski Brod.

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The government of Zoran Milanović sent a proposal for the law on the establishment of the University in Slavonski Brod to the Croatian Parliament in September 2015, which was accepted by the Parliament, and this law came into force on October 21, 2015. In the request for the assessment of constitutionality, the Rectors’ Council stated that the then government jeopardized the autonomy of the university since, according to the law on the establishment of a new university, the University of Osijek must decide on the separation of two Brod faculties (the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Educational Sciences) from its composition in order for the Brod University to be legalized.

Mayor Duspara said today that “now we need to try to lobby as soon as possible to ensure that the Senate of the University of Osijek makes a positive decision and allows the Slavonski Brod members to withdraw from the J.J. Strossmayer University and become part of the University in Slavonski Brod.”

– Our members have already done their part of the work in 2015 and 2016 by making decisions to initiate the process of separation from the University of Osijek, he emphasized.

The first members of the new Slavonski Brod University should be the Faculty of Engineering, the independent Teacher Education Faculty, the Polytechnic of Slavonski Brod, and the Student Center Slavonski Brod. The interim rector of the University in Slavonski Brod, Roberto Lujić, stated that “the problem arose due to the division of funds.”

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– There is no love or lack of love here. A new university has been established, and the pie remains the same. If we were in the position of the Rectors’ Council, we might have reacted similarly. What is expected from local politics is to get involved financially, but not with amounts of 120 or 200 thousand kuna, as these are ridiculous amounts for a university. This would add another note of seriousness to the establishment of the university in Slavonski Brod, said Roberto Lujić.

New Study Programs

The establishment of the new university would cost around 20 million kuna, with a gradual increase over several years to about 200 million kuna per year. Lujić emphasized that the new University should build friendly relations with the University of Osijek and should not establish programs that already exist in Osijek.

– By establishing the university, we would maintain a level of 2000 to 2500 students. We have a huge job ahead of us to establish new study programs that would attract students from other parts of Croatia and from Bosanska Posavina, said Lujić.

– I believe we will succeed in establishing a university for the sake of young generations. The establishment is an expression of the desire of the citizens living in this area, reminded Marušić. Due to the money that could be one of the main obstacles to the establishment of the new university, MP Davor Vlaović (HSS) pointed out that the problem can be overcome by joint lobbying for an increase in the budget for science.

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The mayor of Slavonski Brod reminded that the Faculty of Engineering was one of the main components in the establishment of the University of Osijek, having separated from the University of Zagreb for the development of Slavonia.

– The establishment of a university would be the best and most concrete demographic measure, said MP Marko Šimić (HDZ).

Possibility of Financing from EU Funds

Reminding that the Law on the Establishment of the Slavonski Brod University was passed by the government of Zoran Milanović, MP Marta Luc Polanc (SDP) stated that she sees no reason why the current government should not continue this work “because the seventh largest city in Croatia deserves a university.”

Several times during the discussion, it was emphasized that it is expected that in the next 90 days a special committee of the Senate of the University of Osijek will provide a recommendation allowing the separation of the Slavonski Brod members, followed by the final decision of the Senate.

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MP Pero Ćosić (HDZ) emphasized that a way must be found to expedite the entire process, and this is a good moment for the establishment of the university as it can be an important element of the Government’s “Slavonia” Project, considering the possibility of financing from EU funds. Ćosić optimistically announced that the new university could enroll its first students as early as this fall.