Palacký University Olomouc

Palacký University Olomouc (Czech: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci) is the oldest university in Moravia and the second-oldest in the Czech Republic. It was established in 1573 as a public university led by the Jesuit order in Olomouc, which was at that time the capital of Moravia and the seat of the episcopacy. At first it taught only theology, but soon the fields of philosophy, law and medicine were added.

After the Bohemian King Joseph II's reforms in the 1770s the university became increasingly state-directed, and today it is a public university. During the Revolution of 1848 university students and professors played an active role on the side of democratisation. The conservative king Francis Joseph I closed most of its faculties during the 1850s, but they were reopened by an act of the Interim National Assembly passed on 21 February 1946. This act also extended the name from University of Olomouc to Palacký University Olomouc, after František Palacký, a 19th-century Moravian historian and politician.

The city of Olomouc has the highest density of university students in Central Europe, with around 25,000 university students (including those at Moravian College Olomouc), compared to a population of 100,000 inhabitants. Notable people who have taught, worked and studied at the university include Albrecht von Wallenstein and Gregor Mendel.

History

The university is the oldest in Moravia and the second oldest in the Czech Crown lands. Its foundation was an important element of the Counter-Reformation in Moravia, as the church of Rome began its fight back against Protestantism. Roughly 90% of the population of the Czech lands was already Protestant by the time the Habsburgs took over the throne in 1526. The Protestant Hussites were working for the provision of universal education, which was a particular challenge for the Catholics. By the middle of the century there was not a single town without a Protestant school in the Czech lands, and many had more than one, mostly with two to six teachers each. In Jihlava, a principal Protestant center in Moravia, there were six schools: two Czech, two German, one for girls and one teaching in Latin, which was at the level of a high / grammar school, lecturing on Latin, Greek and Hebrew, Rhetorics, Dialectics, fundamentals of Philosophy and fine arts, as well as religion according to the Lutheran Augustana. With the University of Prague also firmly in hands of Protestants, the local Catholic church was unable to compete in the field of education. Therefore, the Jesuits were invited, with the backing of the Catholic Habsburg rulers, to come to the Czech lands and establish a number of Catholic educational institutions, foremost the Academy in Prague and the one in Olomouc.

The Olomouc bishop Vilém Prusinovský z Víckova invited the Jesuits to Olomouc in 1566. The Jesuits established a monastery, and then progressively established the Gymnasium (school) , the academy, the Priest Seminary, and the Seminary of St. Francis Xavier For Poor Students.

The college was promoted to university status in 1573, and thence the Latin: Collegium Nordicum and the Academy of Nobility were established. The university was closed during plagues in 1599 and 1623, and during the Bohemian Revolt in the Thirty Years' War. It was ransacked by the Swedish Empire's armies.

In the Counter-Reformation and succeeding decades, it became significantly influential as the Jesuit grip loosened. In 1773, after the dissolution of the Jesuit order, it was turned into a secular institution run by the State. In the end, it was separated from the Olomouc episcopal institutions and relocated to Brno in 1778. It returned to Olomouc four years later, its status downgraded to that of a lyceum.

In 1827 it once again was promoted to University status. The short life of this renamed "Francis University" (Franzens-Universität Olmütz, 1827 – 1860) perhaps eclipses its high scientific standard (especially in natural sciences, law and medicine) and its political importance, particularly in the "Springtime of Peoples" during the Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas, when it became the centre of the struggle for national revival in Moravia. The Habsburg régime retaliated by closing most of the university in the 1850s. Olomouc's university was fully re-established in 1946, inaugurating the modern era of the university.

Faculties

The Palacký University has eight faculties. These faculties are Theology, Arts, Law, Medicine and Dentistry, Education, Science, Physical Culture, and Health Sciences (in historical order).

There is no faculty of technology, as there are three technological universities within about hour's drive from Olomouc (Technical University in Ostrava to the North, University of Technology in Brno to the South and Tomáš Baťa University in Zlín to the East).

Saints Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology

The Faculty of Theology is the oldest one, being there already in 1573 when the Olomouc College was promoted to the university. It was perceived by the Czech Protestant population as the core symbol of recatholization forced by Habsburgs, which led to the Jesuits being driven out of Olomouc at the beginning of the Bohemian Revolt and whole university being closed in the years 1618–1621. The Faculty of Theology continued to have university privileges, including the right to award university degrees even when the university itself was downgraded to Lyceum in the years 1782–1827. Following the Habsburg repression of the university in 1860, it was the only functioning faculty up until the re-establishment of the whole University in 1946, together with the University Library safeguarding the continuation between the old and re-established University of Olomouc. The faculty's name was extended to Saints Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology in 1919. It was closed by the Germans in 1939–1945 with its students and professors being enslaved and deported to work in Germany. It was closed again by the communists in 1950–1968 and repeatedly in 1974–1989.

While historically the faculty was preparing future priests, its mission was extended in 1992. The faculty offers bachelor's degrees and master's degrees in Theology, in Catholic Pedagogy run in collaboration with the Faculty of Education, and in Social and Charitative Work run in collaboration with College of Social Work Olomouc. It also offers Doctorates of Theology in three fields as well as lifelong learning.

In 2000 a student of the faculty, Václav Novák, uncovered child sex abuse case of Catholic priest František Merta. Novák also alleged, that the archbishop of Olomouc Jan Graubner was aware of the abuse, but instead of involving the state authorities he covered evidence and introduced policy of transferring abusive priests to different parishes. While František Merta was convicted, Jan Graubner's involvement has been never substantially proven. Václav Novák was later that year kicked out of the faculty for alleged non-fulfilment of study duties, while Novák asserted that his exclusion is in fact punishment for uncovering Graubner's participation in the child sex abuse case.

Research Institute

The Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN)

The research centre is dedicated to interdisciplinary research in nanotechnology, biotechnology, and biomedicine. It focuses on the development of new technologies for clean energy and sustainable environment and for their application in practice. CATRIN was established in 2020 as a Palacký University higher education institute by integrating the scientific teams of the Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnology and Agricultural Research (CRH), the Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials (RCPTM), and the Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine (ITM).

Facilities

Academic Sports Centre

The Academic Sports Centre offers sports, excursions, and other activities for University students and employees. The offer covers dozens of fields from yoga, dance, callanetics, firearms shooting, and martial arts to team sports, paintball, equestrianism and golf.

There are several University buildings provided for these activities. The University Sports Hall meets Olympic Games requirements for volleyball, basketball and handball matches. The whole complex of outdoor sports grounds together with the university docks appertain to the hall. Another gymnasium is at the buildings of the Faculty of Physical Culture (on the Neředín campus), and another is next to the Olomouc Hockey Stadium. Others are within halls of residence.

University sport championships are not major events in the Czech Republic as they are in the United States for example. So many students' sporting life is connected more with Olomouc town (especially when it comes to supporting a team); different Olomouc sport clubs play in national and international leagues, such SK Sigma Olomouc and 1. HFK Olomouc (football), HC Olomouc (ice hockey), and Skokani Olomouc (baseball).

Computer Centre

The Computer Centre oversees university IT systems to support science and research activities, lectures and university administration. It is also responsible for implementing modern technologies and technical support as well as training University employees in their use.

Most University buildings have free Wi-Fi, while nearly every dormitory room has a high speed wired LAN connection.

University Library

The library was established as the Jesuits were invited to Olomouc in 1566 to take control over the Olomouc College. Its bookstock consisted primarily of donations from bishops and noblemen. Particular generosity was shown by Vilém Prusinovský z Víckova, the Bishop of Olomouc, who gave the college to the Jesuits and allowed them to take for it any Greek or Latin books from the episcopal library.

The Swedish occupation of Olomouc from 1642 to 1650 led to total ruination of the library. Everything that had any value was stolen (including 1,142 codices made under the patronage of the Bishop of Olomouc Jindřich Zdíka), while the rest was destroyed. Altogether some 100 wagons fully loaded with books and scripts were dispatched to Sweden. As a result, Olomouc University's most precious relics are now in the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm. The library was nevertheless restored relatively rapidly after the Swedes left.

Under the Jesuits the library was open only to the university's lecturers and students. Following the dissolution of the order in 1773 it was reconstituted as the Public University Library, with the stress on more widely shared access. At the same time library funds from Moravian Jesuit Colleges that had been closed down were transferred to Olomouc University Library. Later on, funds from dissolved monasteries also found their way into the same budget.

Governance

Czech universities have a long tradition of self-governance and independence from state interference, which goes back to the Middle Ages. Today, self-governance is assured by the University Education Act No. 111/1998 (the Act deals only with public universities). The following governance bodies are similar for all Czech public universities.

Academic Senate

The Academic Senate of a Czech public university is its self-governance representative body. According to the law it shall have at least eleven members, with at least one third and at most one half of its members being students. The Palacký University Academic Senate has twenty-four members, of which eight are students, the minimum of one third. Senators are elected by secret ballot for a period of three years. The students' and lecturers' curia are elected separately. Each faculty is represented by two lecturers and one student (independent of the number of faculty students).

The Academic Senate has the most important role in the life of the university, as most acts of other university administration are either governed by rules and regulations adopted by the Senate (such as the Statute of university) or require the approval of the Senate (such as the yearly budget of the university). The Senate adopts internal regulations, it controls the use of university finances and property, and following the rector's proposal it appoints and dismisses members of the Scholarly Board, Disciplinary Commission, and so on.

The Senate also nominates a candidate for the position of rector (who is appointed by the president of the Czech Republic). The nomination must be agreed by a simple majority of all senators, while a dismissal must be agreed by at least three-fifths of all senators. The vote to elect or repeal a rector is secret, while other Senate votes are open. A senator may not also be the rector, vice-rector, a faculty dean or a vice-dean.

The Palacký University Academic Senate has also two commissions: the Economic Commission and the Legislative Commission.

Rector

The Rector is the head of the university. The Rector acts in the name of the university and decides the university's affairs unless prohibited by law. The Rector is nominated by the University Academical Senate and appointed by the President of the Czech Republic. The term of office is four years and a person may hold it for at most two consecutive terms.

The rector appoints vice-rectors, who act as deputies to the extent the rector determines. Rectors' salaries are determined directly by the Minister of Education.

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)