Brno architecture still does not have a dean, there will be further negotiations

Brno - In uncertainty and without a properly appointed dean, the academic community of the Brno Faculty of Architecture is experiencing summer holidays. The Senate elected Rostislav Koryčánek as dean, but a portion of professors and associate professors opposed him. They threaten to leave, which would paralyze the faculty. However, their actions are also disapproved by students. Rector Petr Štěpánek has not yet appointed Koryčánek as dean. He wants to negotiate with all parties involved, said the spokesperson for the Technical University of Brno, Jitka Vanýsková, today.
  The situation is complicated by the fact that the disputes have arisen during vacation time. Discontented students are unable to connect with professors and associate professors, and calling for gatherings of the academic community is reportedly pointless - participation would be low during the holidays. Last week, therefore, students organized a protest march, and today a press conference. They claim they are not fighting for Koryčánek, of whom they have various opinions, but for democracy in the faculty. The actions of part of the academic staff are beyond the limits of democratic principles, said Jan Kristek on behalf of the students to the journalists.
  The rector, in a statement to the academic community, calls for unity and finding common ground. He also admitted that the situation is serious. The confrontation is intensifying, at times hatred can be felt, and unofficial proposals are even being voiced to abolish and merge some - allegedly problematic - faculties and components of the Brno University of Technology. "I believe that solutions found after reflection and discussion in the academic community will come before such critical voices strengthen," Stěpánek stated in a statement published by students.
  Koryčánek was elected by the academic senate back in May. Some professors and associate professors are concerned that the potential dean is neither an architect nor a builder and has not been associated with the faculty so far. "How could a person who has not even managed to complete doctoral studies be the head of a top center of education?" the statement addressed to the rector reads, signed by professors Ivan Ruller, Josef Chybík, and Vladimír Šlapeta, among others. According to the school’s board of trustees, a dean should be a recognized academic worker who is active in fields directly related to the focus of the faculty.
  Students were outraged that the statement from the educators was originally intended only for the rector. They consider it a behind-the-scenes pressure. As of today, there are 190 signatures from students and other members of the academic community online under a petition criticizing the professors' and associate professors' statement. A group of Czech architects and academics from other schools expressed support for Koryčánek. They believe he has a lot of commendable work behind him. "We see no reason why he should not be given the opportunity to prove his abilities in the position of dean of the Brno Faculty of Architecture, to which he was duly elected," the letter states.
  Koryčánek is an art historian and deals with architecture in its broader contexts. He led the House of Art of the City of Brno, is behind the project of the Brno Architectural Manual, and has served for a long time as the editor-in-chief of the magazine Era21.