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Josep Eladi Baños: "The 2020-2021 academic year at UVic-UCC must be governed by caution, ambition and luck"

L'Aula Magna de la UVic durant l'acte

Josep Eladi Baños: "The 2020-2021 academic year at UVic-UCC must be governed by caution, ambition and luck"

The UVic-UCC inaugurated the 2020-2021 academic year this afternoon, with an unusual event in hybrid format in the Aula Magna. Only 52 people were able to attend in person due to the current restrictions on capacity, while another 200 people followed the event, which was streamed on the University’s YouTube channel. The Rector, Josep Eladi Baños, presided over the ceremony, with the President of the Board of Trustees of the Balmes University Foundation and Mayor of Vic, Anna Erra, the General Secretary of the Inter-University Board of Catalonia, Josep Ribas and the General Secretary of UVic- UCC, Anna Sabata.

An academic year of caution, ambition and luck

In his opening speech, the rector described the academic year that is now beginning as one of "caution, ambition and luck." As regards caution, he said that "a balanced budget must be maintained," which entails the renewal of the programme agreement with the Government of Catalonia, which he said is expected to take place in the coming months, and "will have to be implemented by the government that arises from the next elections."

As for ambition, for Josep Eladi Baños this applies to working towards the future, "leaving aside current uncertainties": "We will return to all the projects for which the pandemic has slowed progress, and we will prepare them for when the circumstances permit us to carry them out," said the rector, mentioning the preparation of new bachelor's degree programmes with a view to the 2022-2023 academic year; the link between some bachelor's degree programmes and the high level training cycles on the Professional Campus: the creation of a programme of grants for young people from disadvantaged social groups; the recognition of the BETA Technology Center as a CERCA centre, the creation of the Health Research Institute of Central Catalonia, and the establishment of a new chair for the Rural World.

Finally, with regard to luck, the rector recalled that "luck favours those who work hardest" and said that "I have repeatedly witnessed how this institution has been ready and working throughout the pandemic." The rector also argued that UVic-UCC has the asset of institutional cohesion: "the ability to work together in the same direction, developing synergies and sharing goals." He ended his speech with the conviction that the University will successfully overcome the hurdles of this unusual academic year: "persistence is one of our institution's greatest virtues."

Commitment to funding

The General Secretary of the Inter-University Board of Catalonia, Josep Ribas, outlined the major challenges for the Catalan university system, including funding. Referring to UVic-UCC in particular, he said that the programme agreement must be reached in this 2020-2021 academic year, and explained that the agreement obtained "will be aimed at improving the funding of the entire university system." Ribas recalled that talks to reach an agreement that is satisfactory to both parties are already under way, and maintained that "this is one of our priorities" and "one that must be achieved as soon as possible."

The president of the Board of Trustees of the Balmes University Foundation and Mayor of Vic, Anna Erra, paid tribute to the entire university community "for the effort that everyone has made to overcome the difficulties we encountered at the end of last year, and at the start of this year that is beginning." The president set out some of the challenges that UVic-UCC must meet in the future in different areas: in the academic sphere, "consolidating our model, which is unique and successful;" in the economic sphere, "obtaining the best possible proposal for our University; and in research, continuing to grow as in recent years."

The opening ceremony began with the viewing of the audiovisual report on the 2019-2020 academic year, presented by Anna Sabata. It continued with one of the main features of the programme: the year's inaugural lesson, which was given by the director of the Physical Activity and Sports Studies Centre and lecturer in the Faculty of Education, Translation and Humanities, Javier Peña. The lesson, which was entitled "High performance sport: the evidence that winning or losing isn't everything," examined the history, the benefits and the limits of high level competition sport, and the role that the science plays in its development. At the conclusion of his speech, Peña argued that health centres, hospitals and sports clubs at lower competitive levels need doctors, physiotherapists, physical education teachers and psychologists to advise and help amateur athletes. "It is time that physical exercise professionals were recognised as health professionals, and able to make contributions in all areas where exercise is important," he concluded.   

Institutional medals for Enric Castellnou and Valentí Junyent

At the beginning of this academic year, the Balmes University Foundation awarded two institutional medals, which are the highest distinction the institution confers on people and institutions that have contributed to its growth. One of these medals went to the former member of the Catalan Parliament Enric Castellnou, in recognition of his outstanding work in drafting the Law for recognition of the University of Vic. Castellnou recalled the three cornerstones of his argument in the late 1980s advocating for the presence of a university in Vic: "restoring the university that a Bourbon king closed in the eighteenth century; making studies in Vic serve the economic, cultural and social progress of the city and the region, and contributing to the decentralisation of universities and territorial balance in Catalonia."

The other medal was awarded to Valentí Junyent, a former mayor of Manresa and former president of the Board of Trustees of the Bages University Foundation, who was one of the driving forces in the process involved in creating UVic-UCC, with the Manresa campus. Junyent recalled that when the federation was being arranged, "we were all very worried because we wanted the result to be as good as possible," but "there were also some people who questioned whether the agreement was worthwhile or who were against it, and who made us even more thorough, stronger in our convictions and more demanding of ourselves during the process, which made the project even more excellent”. "All this time, we have shown that sharing rather than competing leads to great results," he concluded.

Remembering people who passed away and insignia for 9 retired people

The opening ceremony dedicated some time to the memory of the director of Eumo DC and the UMedia service, Jordi Cano, who died in the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic last April. Anton Granero, a professional colleague and friend of Cano, and Joan Turró, the general manager of the Balmes University Foundation, dedicated a few words to him. The rector then presented an institutional memento to relatives of the five people who passed away last year while working at the institution.

During the ceremony, insignias of the University were also presented to the nine people who retired last year, in recognition of their work at the institution. The ceremony ended with all those attending singing Gaudeamus Igitur.

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