Find out the news on the elections for Rector

The duration of the mandate or the weighting of the vote according to the sectors are some of the changes in the elections for Rector.

12 February will be a crucial day for the future of the Universitat Politècnica de València due to the first round of elections for Rector. In parallel to this election, eleven other processes will occur that will affect councils and management structures (schools or faculties, departments and university research institutes), among others.

Both the entry into force of the new Organic Law of the University System (LOSU) and the approval of the new Statutes of the UPV adapted to this Law make it necessary to introduce a series of changes with respect to previous elections. The main ones are three: the length of the term, the elimination of the requirement to be a professor and the representativeness of the sectors in the weighting of the votes, with the introduction of a new collective and percentage distribution that will affect the scrutiny.

A single six-year term of office

The Rector is the highest institutional representative of the university and is elected by weighted universal suffrage by the entire university community. For the first time, as stated in Article 64 of the Statutes of the UPV: ‘’their term will last for six non-renewable and non-extendable years‘'. In other words, in addition to increasing the duration of their mandate (from four to six years), from now on, the person elected to lead the university will not be able to stand for a new election or renew their mandate under any circumstances.

End of the Chair requirement

On the other hand, another significant change reflected in the Statutes of the UPV that affects candidates for the Rector's office is the elimination of the requirement to obtain a Chair during their research career. However, the fulfilment of a minimum requirement according to accredited merits is maintained.

Thus, all full-time permanent academic and research staff with at least three six-year research and/or transfer periods, three five-year teaching periods and four years of university management experience in a single post are eligible to apply for the Rector's post.

New representation of sectors

Finally, another aspect introduced in these elections affects the scrutiny by weighted voting of the different sectors. The main change in this respect is that the distribution of the census has gone from four to five sectors, which also changes the influence of these sectors on the result, according to the weighted vote.

As stated in Article 64, section five, the counting of votes will be carried out through weighted voting, applying the weighting coefficients established by the Electoral Commission by these percentages:

a) Staff of the university teaching bodies and permanent academic staff: 59%.

b) Non-permanent academic and research staff: 4%.

c) Non-permanent research staff: 7%.

d) Technical, management and Administrative Staff Management and Services (PTGAS): 9%.

e) Students: 21%.

All the information and documentation on the call for elections and the timetable for this electoral process can be found on the website of the General Secretariat, which can be accessed via the following link:

https://www.upv.es/entidades/SG/infoweb/sg/info/1237759normalc.html

The elections will take place telematically on 12 February in the first round. A second round will be held on the 19th of the same month if necessary.

Here you can consult the timetable for the rector's elections.