The new WUPol qualification and development agreement came into force on July 1, 2025. Many of its changes fulfill long-standing demands made by the Academic Staff Council (wissBR). We therefore take the opportunity to comment on these changes.

As we have already reported, WU will grow until 2027, particularly in terms of academic staff, thanks to the encouraging results of the Performance Agreement. Among other things, 16 new tenure track positions, i.e., positions with a qualification agreement (dt.: "Qualifizierungsvereinbarung", QV), must be filled by the end of the current Performance Agreement period. Further information on this can be found in our BR Info article from January 2025.

In view of the large number of QV positions to be filled, the Rectorate also recognized the need to evaluate and modify the guidelines for awarding a QV. The wissBR took advantage of this Rectorate project and submitted adaptation proposals to the working group set up for this purpose, which are intended to eliminate specific problems with the previous regulations. Since a WUPol is a guideline issued by the Rectorate, in which the Staff Council generally has no binding right of co-determination, we would like to positively emphasize that, in this matter, active and timely consultation with the Academic Staff Council, as well as with other interest groups (the Senate Group of Academic Staff and the Equal Opportunities Committee), was sought in advance. Fortunately, many of the proposals from wissBR have been incorporated into the new version of the WUPol QV/EV.

With the “Recruiting Committee” planned for QV appointments from July 1, 2025, whose members are appointed in a participatory manner similar to an appointment committee for professors, and with the mandatory offer of QV upon hiring, QV applicants now have clarity from the outset as to which criteria are relevant for fulfilling the QV. Their option for a tenure position is no longer dependent on the goodwill of individual decision-makers. With the immediate offer of QV, a higher salary is also payable from the start of employment, which increases the attractiveness of these positions on the job market and makes them more comparable to career positions in the international academic environment.

The creation of “tenure committees” also ensures a more objective assessment of QV fulfillment, as the assessment is no longer the sole responsibility of the department chair.

The appointment criterion of “internationalization,” which has been most heavily criticized by wissBR since the introduction of QV due to concerns about equal treatment, and which under the old regulations was only fulfilled if either a PhD or doctoral degree was completed abroad or if the applicant had worked at a foreign university for at least one year, has been replaced by the criterion of “academic mobility.” Unlike in the past, there is now a clear reference to the requirement that tenure track holders must have gained system and organizational experience in systems outside WU before their employment at WU. Unlike previously, however, this experience does not necessarily have to be gained abroad. However, it can also be acquired through at least two years of work for at least 20 hours per week at another Austrian or foreign university or renowned non-university research institution, as well as through the completion of a PhD or doctoral program at another Austrian or foreign university. Furthermore, no higher mandatory criteria than academic mobility as defined above may be included in job advertisements. From the perspective of wissBR, these changes have removed hiring barriers that previously lacked objective justification, especially for people with caregiving responsibilities and applicants with health impairments.

The new regulations for QVs will generally only apply to appointments made on or after July 1, 2025. However, transitional provisions have been included in the revised version of the WUPol, which allow the new regulations to be applied to QV applicants who were already hired before July 2025, provided that certain conditions were already met at the time of hiring.

Although this reform has brought about important and welcome improvements for all parties involved and for WU as an attractive employer, there is still much to be done: the historically grown differentiation of qualification levels at WU — from development agreements to three types of qualification agreements, a wide variety of professorial appointment forms, and the so-called “full professor rank,” which cannot be found at any other Austrian university — make the development of an overall architecture across departmental boundaries urgently necessary. It should also be noted that the now-abolished appointment criterion of “internationalisation” and the new criterion of “academic mobility” effectively disadvantage those employees pursuing or who have completed a doctorate at WU and negatively influence the perception of such a doctorate.

The wissBR is happy to answer any questions from affected QV position holders. We can be reached at any time at our email address wiss.betriebsrat@wu.ac.at.

^10.09.2025

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