Accommodation

Accommodation plays one of the most important roles in creating a social background for students. In 1998, Masaryk University continued in its efforts to accommodate its students in buildings administered by the university.

In the academic year 1997/98, the number of halls of residence was extended by a dormitory in Komárov on Sladkého 13, which MU received from PBS a.s. As a result, the University’s accommodation capacity was increased by 359 beds. However, MU lost the building on Tvrdého 12 with a capacity of 23 beds. An overview of all buildings in which MU students were accommodated in 1998 follows:

Unlike in previous years, in the academic year 1998/99, VUT did not provide any accommodation for MU students. Childless families (this year there are 20 married couples) were traditionally accommodated in the Vinaoská hall of residence.

Of the total of 13,570 full–time students, 29 % were accommodated in MU halls of residence. With regard to the total number of applications for accommodation, 65.9 % of requests were met. The criteria for the assigning of an accommodation place have not changed: the main criterion is the distance between the applicant’s place of residence and Masaryk University.

Owing to inflation and economic cuts on the part of the government, the housing fee was increased on March 1^st, 1998. In comparison with 1997, the housing fee was increased by CZK 183: the price for one bed amounts monthly to CZK 750.

VA - Military Academy

In 1998, the Central Concierge of Halls of Residence and Canteens (SKS) provided its catering services in three MU canteens:

• Moravské náměstí (the Rector’s Office building)
• Veveří (the building of the MU Faculty of Law)
• Vinařská (the building of the MU hall of residence)

SKS also provided services at three food counters:

In spite of the fact that the price of meal vouchers did not change and the food limit stayed the same, there was a considerable decrease in the number of servings at all MU canteens. In comparison to the previous year, the number of servings decreased by 27.7 %. The greatest decrease of 78 % was recorded in cold servings for students; the number of warm servings went down by 10.8 %. A certain reduction was also recorded in servings for MU employees – 10.2 % – and servings for other boarders. The decrease concerns mainly cold servings, as students seem to prefer warm dishes.

SKS strives to observe all hygiene stipulations, and signed a contract with the Institute of Preventive Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine which implements monthly microbiological testing on food samples in every MU canteen. The Catering Committee, the members of which are students of the Department of Human Nutrition of the Faculty of Medicine, checked and commented on the menu, also observing food expiration dates and storage conditions. The findings of these inspections performed by the Institute and the Catering Committee were discussed with the heads of particular canteens.

In order to improve its catering service and satisfy its customers, with the approval of MU, SKS decided to introduce a non-voucher system called KREDIT. Among other factors which played a role in this decision was the considerable state of wear of old printing machines and the increasing costs of the printing of vouchers and voucher booklets.

The final aim of the SKS to provide catering service which would allow boarders to use any of the MU canteens throughout the day (connecting of canteens in a university network) and which would serve not only lunches or dinners but also warm or cold snacks (without a previous booking). There have also been discussions about the providing of meals ordered via Internet.

An extended form of catering service is already provided by the canteen on Vinaoská where the customer is offered meals a la minute without having ordered previously; luncheon soups with fresh bread, pizzas or warm or cold sandwiches; salads; and a wide range of drinks, including beer.

Masaryk University is a holder of a publishing licence. In the framework of this licence and based on editorial plans and decisions of the board of editors, the MU Publishing Centre published 347 non–periodical titles. Of these, lecture notes formed 58.79 % (204) and academic publications 41.21 % (143). The MU Publishing Centre printed 59.94 % (208) of the titles itself, while 40.06 % were printed by other printing houses.

For the publication activities of MU, an amount of CZK 600,000 was allocated from the MU annual budget. This sum was used for the publishing of two periodicals, three non-periodical publications and four publications (financed partially by individual MU faculties). On the approval of the board of editors, the Publishing Centre supported by means of its centralised university budget the publishing of the student magazine Netoesk. The MU Publishing Centre would like to follow this trend in 1999, too, and extend its financial contributions to all student magazines issued at MU faculties, as this type of student activity represents a significant part of university life.

In spite of the necessity to include wages, insurance and the deprecation of investment properties administrated by the Centre into its expenses and costs, the Publishing Centre managed to achieve a positive economic outcome. Approximately 89 % of the earnings of the Centre came from its main activities and 11 % from its economic activities.

With regard to the fact that the Centre is an independent economic entity of MU, it has to project all changes in incoming prices in the concrete calculation of its activities. Obviously, this fact has a great impact on the price stipulated for internal customers. The Centre, however, is still able to fulfil the requirements of the MU management that the price it offers should be a maximum of 90 % of the price calculated for a comparable competitor.

Masaryk University is one of very few schools of higher education which can be proud of the very active and efficient work of its Consultancy Centre, the performance of which was highly appreciated at an international meeting of councillors held in Prague in September 1998. This event completed our two-year involvement in the TEMPUS–PHARE project.

The 4^th Post-graduate Trade Fair, held April 8 – 9, 1998, at the Faculty of Law was among the most important events organised by the Consultancy Centre. 500 students participated at the fair, together with representatives from eighteen companies and seven school offices.

The Centre also issued its 5^th sociological research document to new post-graduates titled ”The Completion of Studies at Masaryk University - Retrospective and Prospective”.

The Centre co-operates on a regular basis with the University of West Bohemia, the general implementor of the PERSPEKTIVA project. This programme issues a database of students and companies and helps students to find potential employers via Internet.

The Consultancy Centre was also involved in the project ”Drug Prevention at Schools of Higher Education”, which is funded by a grant from the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic. As part of this project, the Centre opened a web page giving information on various issues connected with drugs (accessible on the www pages of the MU Consultancy Centre). The Centre questioned 4,000 respondents in order to be able to map the drug situation at MU.

In order to help students with their future careers, the Centre used the knowledge and expertise of the British consulting firm Thomas International. The tool most often used was ”Guide through a Career”, in which about 60 MU students expressed an interest.

The Consultancy Centre also offers traditional services in the field of study, professional, legal and psychological counselling. In 1998, the Centre was visited by 640 clients.

Legal Advising Centre

Students had the opportunity to discuss their legal problems with a 4^th-year student of the Faculty of Law under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Zdeoka Gregorová, MU Vice–Rector. The Centre started its work in the autumn of 1998, and together with advising MU students on various legal matters, it also provides an opportunity for students of law to gain a certain level of professional experience.

Psychological Counselling Centre

Since its founding, the Consultancy Centre has been divided into two sections: the professional section and the psychological counselling section for students. The Psychological Counselling Centre is visited mainly by individual students of Masaryk University, although the Centre is also open for those interested in MU courses, MU employees and anonymous clients. Psychologists organise group sessions for MU students, the programme of which changes every year. The groups consists of no more then fifteen members, and their programmes focus on issues of self-presentation, communication, human relations, etc. In 1998, the Psychological Centre was visited by 43 clients (the total number of visits reached 80). The greatest increase in clientele was recorded in April and November.

Clientele of the MU Consultancy Centre in 1998