Senate of TU Graz

The Senate of TU Graz is made up of 26 members from individual groups of university members.

• University professors: 13 members
• Mid-level staff: 6 members 
  This group is made up of all academic personnel who are not university professors: Extraordinary university professors, associate and assistant professors, senior scientists, assistants with and without doctorates, and university teachers.
• Students: 6 members
• Administrative personnel: 1 member

Student members are delegated by the TU Graz Student Union. All other members are elected by the respective group for a 3-year term of office. 

Chairperson:

Gernot KUBIN

1^st Deputy:

Wolfgang DOKONAL

2^nd Deputy:

Patrik BUCHHAUS

3^rd Deputy:

Gabriele BERG

Wolfgang DOKONAL

Evelyn KRALL

Alicja MICHALOWSKA –FORSYTH

Maria Cecilia POLETTI

Helmut WOSCHITZ

Tanja WRODNIGG

Patrik BUCHHAUS

Robert KRISPER

Peter PRANTER

Benjamin ROHR

Robert SCHWARZL

Julian UNTERWEGER

The Senate plays an important role in making autonomy and self-determination of the university a reality:

• Organisation of the other two managerial bodies: members of the University Council are appointed by the Senate together with the Federal Government; the University Council appoints members of the Rectorate in a joint procedure together with the Senate.
• The Senate is the legislative assembly of the university. It legislates the statute of the university, which defines important regulations, such as study regulations or measures for the advancement of women, and which are constantly being adapted to the changing legal and social frame conditions.

The Senate ensures quality on a strategic level:

The Senate authorises committees who are responsible for quality assurance when employing professors with an open end contact and awarding the venia docendi. Appointment of university management and selection of management personnel is made strategically and in accordance with the quality standards of the whole university.

Central strategic documents, such as the Development Plan (in German) or Organisation Plan, are drafted by the operative bodies and submitted to the Senate. The Senate approves the documents if they meet the quality criteria required from a strategic perspective. 

• Election of members of University Council and changes to size of University Council
• Approval of advertisement for the position of Rector and the creation of a shortlist of three candidates for the election of a Rector.
• Statement on suggestions for Rector regarding Vice Rectors: Number, working hours, proposal of candidate
• Involvement in dismissing members of University Council, the Rector and Vice Rectors
• Statement before people are allocated to individual organisational units
• Establishing a Working Group for Equal Opportunities
• Nomination of a female and male main member and deputy member for the Arbitration Board

• Adoption and changing the Statute on the suggestion of the Rectorate.
• Adoption and changing of the curricula for full degree programmes and university certificate programmes.
• Approval of the draft of the development plan (complete strategy for TU Graz) created by the Rectorate as well as the draft of the organisational chart, which describes organisational units and their tasks.
• Involvement in habilitation procedures (in German: Habilitationsverfahren) and appointment procedures
• Determination of academic degrees and titles for graduates of university certificate programmes
• Appraisals at complaint procedures on study matters
• Appointment of collegiate bodies, such as habilitation committees, appointment committees and curricula committees as well as adoption of directives for their tasks.

The Senate is organised in accordance with § 25 University Act.

The Rules of Procedure of the Senate (in German: Geschäftsordnung des Senates) stipulate how the Senate works, how the meetings proceed and which cases the chairperson of the Senate can deal with independently.

The Statute of TU Graz regulates aspects such as electoral regulations for members of the Senate.

The following directives of TU Graz are decided upon by the Senate: 

• Directive for Appointment Procedure: Richtlinie für das Berufungsverfahren
• Directive for habilitation procedure: Richtlinie für das Habilitationsverfahren
• Directive for establishing degree programmes: Richtlinie für die Einrichtung von Studien

• Curricula Committee of the Senate for Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree Programmes
• Curricula Committee of the Senate for Doctoral Programmes and Certificate Programmes
• Work Groups for Study Committees
• Appointment Committee according to § 25 (8) 2 University Act
• Habilitation Committee according to § 25 (8) 1 University Act 

• Checklist for submitting curriculae: Checkliste für das Einreichen von Studienplänen
• Example curricula for TU Graz bachelor’s degree programmes: Mustercurriculum TU Graz Bachelorstudien
• Example curricula for NAWI Graz bachelor’s degree programmes: Mustercurriculum NAWI Graz Bachelorstudien
• Example curricula for TU Graz master’s degree programmes: Mustercurriculum TU Graz Masterstudien
• Example curricula for NAWI Graz master’s degree programmes: Mustercurriculum NAWI Graz Masterstudien
• Directives for English language master’s programmes for strengthening internationalisation: Richtlinien für englischsprachige Masterstudien zur Stärkung der Internationalisierung

In German:

• Richtlinie zu Universitätslergängen
• Mustercurriculum Universitätslehrgänge mit Masterabschluss – Richtlinie
• Mustercurriculum Universitätslehrgänge mit Abschluss akademische Expertin / akademischer Experte – Richtlinie
• Richtlinie zur Einrichtung von Universitätskursen
• Richtlinie zur virtuellen Lehre

This is attended by chairpersons of senates and their deputies from public universities in Austria.

Conference of Senate Chairpersons at Austrian Universities: Die Konferenz der Senatsvorsitzenden