Student services and publishing activities

Compared to 1999, the total student housing capacity of MU buildings was extended by the capacity of the newly reconstructed rooms in Komárov, Sladkého (51 beds) and in the Komárov, Lomená 48 (168 beds). Over the course of the year 2000, MU bought and repaired this building making it fit to house students by the beginning of the 2000/2001 academic year. Through an agreement between the rectors of MU and VUT, 160 beds were made available for MU students. Therefore, the total available accommodation capacity for students this academic year was 4371 beds; 63 beds were reserved for guests of individual faculties, and 80 for the Socrates programme and other foreign student activities. As in preceding years, it was possible to house married couples without children at Vinařská residence.

From the total of 14,973 full-time students, at the beginning of the school year, 29 % were housed in residence; 68 % of the applications for university residence were met.

For the 2000/2001 academic year, standard criteria for the allocation of university housing was approved. The basic criterion was the travel time between the applicant’s permanent residence as is registered in the MU information system and the City of Brno. The student’s social conditions were then additional criteria. Those students with serious physical disabilities and members of residence councils were accommodated without consideration of travel time. Students of doctorate programmes were given an advantage in that all students living over 25 km from Brno were housed in residence. MU interest in developing these study programmes in particular was noticeably revealed here.

The average housing fee on September 1, 2000 was increased to 950 CZK, a 200 CZK increase over 1999.

Thanks to centralised accommodation, the administration capacities of which in 2000 were severely tested, there was an increase in the filling of vacant beds and a gradual resolution of problems with travel time calculation.

In 2000 for the first time, it was compulsory for students of current years to arrange accommodation in advance before the end of the preceding academic year. Because of this, moving into the residences at the beginning of the 2000/2001 academic year went smoothly.

The refurbishing of residences proceeded according to fiscal plan. The newly bought building was completely furnished with new furniture. In co-operation with the Institute of Computer Technology, the Housing and Catering Administration is gradually installing an Internet network at the residence. In 2000, an Internet club was started at the residences at Vinařská and nám. Míru. However, greatest attention by the Housing and Catering Administration is being paid to the installation of Internet connections in individual rooms.

Table 2 – Available accommodation capacity of MU

Year	MU	VUT	ČKSD	Total	Index
1993/1994	3 286	90		3 376	100
1994/1995	3 141	300	20+26VA	3 487	103.3
1995/1996	3 167	300	20	3 487	103.3
1996/1997	3 578	200	20	3 798	112.5
1997/1998	3 871	200		4 071	120.6
1998/1999	4 019			4 019	119.0
1999/2000	3 981	250		4 231	125.3
2000/2001	4 211	160		4 371	129.5

ČKSD – Czech Congregation of Dominican Nuns

VA – Military Academy

VUT – University of Technology

Table 3 – Distribution of total accommodation capacity for MU students

Year	First year of study	Second to final years of study	Foreign post-graduate students & research workers	Foreign students
1993/1994	35 %	53 %	4 %	8 %
1994/1995	30 %	56 %	4 %	10 %
1995/1996	32 %	63 %	1 %	4 %
1996/1997	31 %	61%	2 %	6 %
1997/1998	31 %	63 %	3 %	3 %
1998/1999	38 %	52 %	3 %	7 %
1999/2000	27 %	59 %	5 %	9 %
2000/2001	31 %	69 %	–	–

In 2000/2001 foreign students and research workers were housed according to the requests of the faculties, within the limits of capacity.

Table 4 – Number of granted accommodation requests

Year	Accommodation Capacity	Number of applications for residence placement	Percentage of requests granted
1994/1995	3 487	5 040	69.2 %
1995/1996	3 487	5 784	60.3 %
1996/1997	3 798	5 282	71.9 %
1997/1998	4 071	5 913	68.8 %
1998/1999	3 919 x)	5 948	65.9 %
1999/2000	4 154 xx)	5 961	69.7 %
2000/2001	4 371 xx)	6 330	69.0 %

x) accommodation capacity was decreased by 80 beds for the SOCRATES programme and 20 beds for MU visitors

xx) accommodation capacity was decreased by 80 beds for the SOCRATES programme

CATERING SERVICES

Table 5 – Number of meals served in MU cafeterias

Cafeteria	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Mor. nám	592 015 (48 %)	676 523 (52 %)	695 035 (48 %)	716 312 (47 %)	532 943 (48 %)	474 966 (49 %)	524 416 (50,4 %)
Veveří	248 711 (20 %)	295 523 (22 %)	368 342 (26 %)	463 833 (30 %)	361 885 (33 %)	266 626 (28 %)	214 265 (20,6 %)
Vinařská	400 892 (32 %)	344 501 (26 %)	376 154 (26 %)	349 177 (23 %)	212 620 (19 %)	216 658 (23 %)	300 706 (29,0 %)
Total	1 241 618	1 316 547	1 439 531	1 529 322	1 107 448	958 260	1 039 387
Index	139,8	148,3	162,1	172,2	124,7	107.9	117,1

1992 = 100% index

Student grants

The provision of financial resources necessary to cover study expenses plays another important role in creating a satisfactory social support system for MU students.

The awarding of grants in 2000 was governed by the MU Grant Code and the grant codes of individual faculties. On the basis of these grant codes, the faculties award grants to students in all full-time accredited study programmes. MU as such does not award grants, because it does not actually have any students of its own, but it can reward excellent students of all faculties through special one-time individual grants.

Considering the grant issue in general, it is necessary to point out that financial demands are very high, and are only partially covered by state budget funds, the other part coming from the university and its faculties. The difficult economic situation in the country and at MU is demonstrated in the fact that internal resources for financing grants are limited and the third source for the grant reserves has not been realised yet, i.e. the stipulations of Act 58 par. 7 on tuition fees at schools of higher education have not been implemented.

In 2000, Masaryk University and its faculties provided the following types of grant:

academic achievement,
for creative achievement,
social,
special,
post-graduate,
for foreigners.

Grants described under e) and f) were subsidised by the state budget. The total amount of grants awarded at MU is shown in Table 1.

Table 1

Total grants in 2000 (in CZK)	39 086 217
of that:
Subsidies of the Ministry of Education – Ph.D. study programme	31 187 000
Subsidies of the Ministry of Education – foreign students	4 206 000

Publishing Centre Budget in 2000 (in 1000 CZK)

	Costs	Earnings	Economic outcome
Main activities	4 436	4 438	2
Economic activities	618	621	3
Total	5 054	5 059	5

Number and profile of publications published from 1998 – 2000

	1998			1999			2000
Faculty	lecture notes	scholarly public.	Total	lecture notes	scholarly public.	Total	lecture notes	scholarly public.	Total
FM	27	14	41	17	13	30	26	10	36
FA	30	39	69	28	37	65	20	30	50
FS	32	21	53	19	18	37	28	27	55
FL	32	24	56	31	11	42	21	16	37
FE	39	10	49	30	15	45	27	7	34
FEA	31	12	43	19	13	32	22	18	40
FI	2	1	3	2	1	3	3	1	4
SchSS	2	1	3	2	3	5	2	4	6
CDV	–	–	–	–	1	1	–	–	–
RO	9	21	30	1	18	19	2	18	20
Total	204	143	347	149	130	279	151	131	282

While it is true that the primary mission of Masaryk University as a public institution of higher education, and the very reasons for its existence, is to provide for training of its students and the expansion of research and development activities, MU also provides a number of other services that are an integral part of the nature of higher education. These include advisory services for students. The Higher Education Act stipulates that schools of higher learning must provide applicants with study programmes, students and other individuals with study-related information and advisory services, and graduates with possibilities to use what they have learned in their study programme in the workplace. The MU Advisory Centre (AC) is a body that has been organising and guaranteeing practical advisory services for several years now.

In 2000, AC activities have focused on providing services in the fields of academic/professional, legal and psychological counselling. The joining of these three sections proved to be a very well functioning model.

Interest in AC services increased: in 1999, AC served 852 clients, in 2000 there were 1128, of which 978 were interested in professional and legal advice. Clients such as secondary students interested in higher learning and graduates interested in further study can obtain advice through e-mail, by telephone, and in person. AC also provided advice on professional or career development: there was interest in personal profile analyses, resume writing, job market orientation, interview preparation, improving social competence, and so on. The daily average was around 10 to 12 inquiries, the statistics of which were entered into a logbook. Of course, interest in AC services increases during the period preceding the application deadline and after graduation.

At the psychological counselling centre, the professional staff worked with 150 regular clients. The AC is unable to satisfy the demand which is overwhelming the capacities of the centre. Student interest in psychological counselling increased. As the psychologists at the AC work for the faculties or for the Czech AV Institute of Psychology, the amount of time they spent at the centre is limited to one or two hours per week. Therefore, the centre is open for 5 to 6 hours per week.

Students with problems dealing with nervousness, identity, self-confidence, communication, personal presentation, study skills, family, and relationship problems, as well as students with other special problems are the most common clients of the counselling centre.

Legal counselling was run by a MU Faculty of Law graduate under the management of the Vice-Rector for this field.

The problems which these students come to the legal counselling centre with can be divided into the following fields: the most frequently asked questions deal with social security laws, particularly the conditions under which social welfare benefits, social *necessity, basic living standards, and national health insurance are available. Another line of inquiry dealt with family law mainly the parent-child relationship, in which cases the AC usually endeavoured to find a conciliatory resolution of the conflict, even when a law suit seemed inevitable. Students also expressed interest in employment conditions (summer jobs, work contracts) and issues relating to taxes payment for students. Many queries were answered by e-mail, however, in most cases it was necessary to solve the problem in person.

Apart from normal day-to-day services for the clients, the AC co-operated with advisory centres in the Czech Republic, Information Centres of the Employment Centres, student organisations such as ELSA, AISEC, and IAESTE; the AC also started co-operating with the student organisation STUD. In conjunction with specialised advisory centres, the MU AC prepares lectures with psychologists and meetings with company representatives through which students are able to find future employment. The MU AC also co-operates with the Academic Information Centre, the Jan Hus Educational Foundation, the Centre for Higher Education Studies, the External Affairs Office in Prague, and the National Educational Fund; with other institutes of higher education, it assists not only in the establishment of their own centres, but also with the organisation of specific student events. International co-operation is developing with

CESOP Recruitment in Bologna and HOBSONS of London, among others.

In September 2000, one member of the MU AC staff attended a two-day conference entitled Current Issues of Higher Education Counselling, which was organised by the Centre for Higher Education Studies in České Budějovice. Those attending the conference highly regarded the AC for providing such a high level and wide range of student services. Ironically, in comparison with, for example, other Anglo-Saxon countries, these services are still very limited. Nevertheless, given the current conditions in the Czech Republic, the AC sets a good example to other institutes of higher education which are planning to establish similar centres.

The 7^th sociological survey entitled Completing Studies at MU – Achievements and Prospects – was carried out among the graduates of the year 2000. This survey was important for MU management and particular faculties and provides feedback on how students perceive the services offered by their school and their expectations for the future.

In the area of student services, the AC submitted a proposal for a project which maps the careers of our graduates, their success in the workplace, and how they applied their MU university studies. The AC is in contact with graduates and provides concrete job offers for those interested. Even though graduates do not make use of particular offers, they are pleased that the university takes an interest in them after graduating.

The Trade Fair of Graduates, a fair for final-year students which creates contacts with potential employers, is an integral part of AC activities.

In 2000, MU re-evaluated the approach to similar events, which in the past were primarily understood as competitive projects, and has created space for co-operation amongst universities so that a wider range of possibilities was created regardless of the specialisation of the particular university, therefore improving employment awareness.

The AC successfully started co-operating with IAESTE and ELSA student organisations; with the latter and with the Technical University (VUT), the 6^thTrade Fair of Graduates was organised. There were 42 companies taking part and over 2500 students from both universities in attendance. A specialised programme dealing with labour law and such accompanied the presentations of various companies. In 2001, the AC would like to continue in this spirit. Many companies work in co-operation with the AC, even outside of the Trade Fair of Job Opportunities.

In the future, the main tasks of the MU AC are to provide better assistance for students entering the job market and to improve self-promotion abilities in order to succeed in the more competitive job market. MU would be happy to maintain contact with graduates even after the completion of their studies at MU and to obtain information on the development of their careers. This valuable feedback will certainly help to improve the quality of work for students still facing decisions about their future.

Those interested in study and work consultancy by MU faculty (personal consultations)

Faculty of:		in %
Law	134	13.8
Economics and Admin.	98	10.1
Arts	77	7.9
Education	58	5.9
Science	33	3.3
Medicine	41	4.2
Informatics	15	1.5
Social Studies	36	3.7
Total number of MU students		50.4

Other	486	49.6
(parents of secondary school students, graduates, teachers) Total: 978 clients

Those interested in psychological counselling listed by faculty

Faculty of:		v %
Law	19	12.7
Economics and Admin.	17	11.3
Arts	31	20.7
Education	5	3.3
Science	12	8
Medicine	13	8.7
Informatics	16	10.7
Social Studies	21	14
Total number of MU students		89.4

Other	16	10.6
Total: 150 clients

Residence	Address	Number of Beds
Vinařská	Vinařská 5, 603 00 Brno	1168
Tvrdého	Tvrdého 5/7, 602 00 Brno	378
Družba	Kounicova 50, 602 00 Brno	596
Mánesova	Mánesova 12c, 612 00 Brno	351
Sušilova	Klácelova 2, 602 00 Brno	313
nám.Míru	nám. Míru 4, 602 00 Brno	245
Veveří	Veveří 29, 602 00 Brno	70
Komárov	bří. Žůrků 5, 617 00 Brno	494
India	Sladkého 13, 617 00 Brno	428
Stavařov	Lomená 48, 617 00 Brno	168
Total		4211

Number of students receiving grants in 2000	1 371
of that:
Bachelor’s study programmes	74
Master’s study programmes	699
Ph.D. study programmes	598