Universitätsorganisation#

University Organisation: Mediaeval universities were free corporative associations of teachers and students (universitas magistrorum et scholarium) with numerous privileges. In the 16th  century university organisation had to tolerate massive state intervention in the course of the Counter-Reformation, mainly due to the "Reformatio nova" of 1554, which remained in force up to the mid-18th  century. Teachers were made to conform to religious (denominational) standards and student discipline was vigorously enforced. As governmental authorities expanded, more leading figures were needed, but since only limited means were available, the princes turned to religious orders, mainly the Jesuits, as new universities such as the University of Graz, and those of Salzburg and Innsbruck were founded. The Jesuit School and Educational Organisation became most influential, from 1623 also at the University of Vienna. The Jesuits only concentrated on the philosophical and theological faculties and the preparatory "Gymnasialkurs" as "facultas linguarum" ( Akademisches Gymnasium) were also important. Access to studies and postgraduate studies depended on examinations (end-of-term and annual examinations).

During the period of enlightened despotism ( Absolutism), universities were gradually transformed into pure state schools: directors appointed by the state in each faculty (Gerard van Swieten 1749) made sure that university regulations were observed; educational objectives and curricula were conceived according to the ideas of the state, which wanted to shorten the duration of studies and make them more practice-oriented ( Studienhofkommission). Academic judicial autonomy (1783) and official attire (1784, gown and academic cap) and master's (1786) and bachelor's (1788) degrees were abolished. Simultaneously, emancipation from denominational restrictions took place (Jesuits were suspended in 1773, Protestants and Jews were allowed to acquire academic degrees from 1778 and 1782 respectively, administration of the oath on the Immaculate Conception was abolished, etc.). Since 1783 instruction has been given in German instead of Latin, which used to be the language of the clergy and of scholars.

It was not until the reforms after 1848 (F. S. Exner, L. Thun-Hohenstein) that a modern university organisation was established after the German model; the university remained a state institution (enactment of university and examination regulations, appointment of teachers on the basis of proposals, and acknowledgement of elected officials through the Ministry for Education), with certain freedoms, such as the freedom of teaching and learning, elimination of heads of courses (Studiendirektoren), and restricted academic self-management. Close links were established between research, instruction and professional training, chair holders (full professors) became of decisive importance for the level of achievement of the various disciplines (habilitation and Privatdozent were introduced). The philosophical faculties achieved equal status with the other faculties, they were reorganised and their former preparatory functions were taken over by the Gymnasium secondary schools; access to universities was conditional on successful completion of secondary school studies with a Maturitaetspruefung (final examination) taken there ( Reifepruefung). The provisional regulations of 1848/50 received their final form in the University Organisation Law of 1873, when the last elements of a mediaeval structure were eliminated: the influence of "doctors' councils" was curbed and the Catholic church deprived of its right of intervention. It was not until the late 19th and early 20th  centuries that women were admitted to universities (in Vienna to the faculty of philosophy in 1897, medicine in 1900, legal and political sciences in 1919, Protestant Theology in 1922, and Catholic Theology in 1945) and to habilitation (in Vienna for the first time in 1907). The technical/professional schools and specialised institutes (Polytechnical Institute, etc.) which were granted the status of institutions of higher learning from the mid-19th  century on oriented themselves on university structures (without faculty division) and received the right to award doctorates but were not legally emancipated until the University Organisation Act of 1955 was passed.

Today the Allgemeines Hochschul-Studiengesetz of 1966 (General Law on University Studies), the Universitaets-Organisationsgesetz (Law on University Organisation - UOG 1993), the Kunsthochschul-Studiengesetz (Law on Art University Studies - 1983) and the Kunsthochschul-Organisationsgesetz (Law on Art University Organisation - 1970) are the legal bases for universities and have brought about far-reaching changes. The law of 1966 not only re-emphasised the freedom of research and teaching and the indispensable connection between the two, but also the need for openness to the multitude of academic doctrines and methods. The courses of studies were divided into two parts: diploma studies are intended to offer preparatory professional training in 8-10 semesters and are completed with a master's degree ("Magister") or the title of "Diplom-Ingenieur" ("Graduate Engineer"); subsequent doctoral studies are supposed to enable gifted students to obtain a doctorate; only the medical faculties have kept the former system, i.e. medical studies are completed with a doctor's degree. The new university regulations are based on "special study laws" (coarse-grained structure) and study rules (fine-grained structure). The University Organisation Law of 1975 raised all institutions of higher learning devoted to academic instruction to the rank of universities, abolished the classic system of a university divided in 4 faculties and replaced the professorial chairs by departments as the smallest autonomous organisational units. Most successful, though controversial, was the approach to make decision processes at universities more democratic in order to create more transparency and thus induce university staff to show more commitment and initiative. All university groups (professors, lecturers, students) were encouraged to participate according to their qualifications and functions in all collegiate organs of the university (senate, faculty council, departmental conference); since then it has become impossible to enforce any matter without the support of the other groups. The revision of the University Organisation Law (1993) strengthened the autonomous status of universities and established a new position, i.e. the university dean responsible for the administration of studies and examinations. The Law on Art University Organisation of 1970 gave former "academies" with an artistic orientation university status and research assignments. Lecturers and students were granted the right of co-determination in decision-making bodies; only the Akademie der bildenden Kuenste (Academy of Fine Arts), which already had an organisational structure headed by a rector, succeeded in ensuring that its professors could not be outvoted in the Academic Council. The Law on Art University Studies of 1983 copied the General Law on University Studies in many points and introduced the Master of Arts (Magister artium) degree for regular students.

Literature#