On Wednesday, 31 March, the Palacký University Olomouc Academic Senate will meet to decide who will be the head representative of Olomouc’s university for the next four years. Twenty-four senators will choose the new rector from four candidates: Martin Kudláček from the Faculty of Physical Culture, Jiří Lach from the Faculty of Arts, Tomáš Opatrný from the Faculty of Science, and Martin Procházka from the Faculty of Health Sciences. The candidates for rector will present themselves to the academic community and the public on 24 March in an online meeting, where they will outline their campaign platforms and visions for the future.
The new rector will take over the helm of Palacký University for the period of May 2021 to April 2025 from Jaroslav Miller, UP Rector from 2014–2021, who decided to step down from his post prematurely in December.
UP Academic Senate to choose the new rector; the election can be followed online
The election of the rector will be decided by the UP Academic Senate when it meets at 1 pm on 31 March in the Faculty of Education Assembly Hall. With respect to the strict measures in force in conjunction with the Covid-19 pandemic, only senators and the candidates for rector will be physically present. All those interested will be able to follow the entire session via live stream on the webpage avp.upol.cz/stream.
To be elected rector, one of the candidates will have to receive a majority of more than half the votes of all senators (i.e. at least 13 votes). Voting can take place for a maximum of three rounds. If no candidate succeeds after the third round of voting, new elections will be announced.
Public presentation of the candidates for rector on ZOOM and YouTube
All four candidates will present themselves to the academic community and the public in a public presentation starting at 1 pm on 24 March. Due to the anti-epidemic measures, this will also take place online. In conjunction, a “rector’s holiday” starting at noon of that day will be announced.
Those interested in the meeting can take part in two ways: – as an active part of the discussion, or simply as viewers. Those employees and students who want to take part in the debate actively via their questions can connect via ZOOM. Those who wish to register for the active video conference need to fill-in an online form. Employees, students, and the greater public who wish to “merely” watch can follow it on YouTube via the avp.upol.cz/stream page.
Candidates’ platforms and visions
The candidates for rector have already presented their platforms on the election webpage, where you can read about their visions and ideas of in which directions Palacký University should move and what its goals should be.
All details on the timing, course, and organisation of the elections for UP Rector can be found on the webpage upol.cz/elections.