The year 1999 was the ninth year of the existence of the Faculty of Economics and Administration. It has been located on new premises at Lipová 41a for two years.

The main sphere of activities of individual departments of the Faculty was focused around the new Law on Schools of Higher Education and the necessity of its implementation at the Faculty. The crucial task, which has been successfully completed, was to work out a new Faculty Charter, including amendments. Another goal was to build an information system for the administration of the Faculty connected to the emerging university-wide information system of MU. The Faculty has achieved more than adequate results in international relations, supporting especially the mobility of students. A new organizational structure has been created, enabling the Faculty better to carry out its economic activities, including those of individual departments. Among the supplementary activities, there were 36 different projects that brought in a sum of CZK 5.808 million.

The Faculty focused on its teaching activities in two ways: from the point of view of its internal functioning and from the point of view of applying the new Law on Schools of Higher Education. The priorities thus settled, the Faculty endeavoured to work out its charter (including amendments), to simplify its Study Regulations and make them more effective, and to analyse the structure of existing Mgr. courses and make them conform to standard programmes at European universities. The Faculty continued to include in its curriculum further courses reflecting the approaching entry of the Czech Republic into the European Union and courses taught in foreign languages.

In 1999, as in previous years, the overall interest in studying at the Faculty continued to be high. A total number of 2,885 people applied for full-time study, while distance-learning applications amounted to 1,317. Altogether 300 students were accepted for full-time study and 370 for distance-learning programmes.

The research activities of the Faculty were organized in accordance with its own set of priorities and the Law on Schools of Higher Education No. 111/1998. The main goal was to make a systematic effort to obtain grants from grant agencies and other research projects approved by the Academic Council of the Faculty.

In 1999, six grant projects were researched, of which two came from the PHARE programme, three from the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic and three from the Ministry of Education. These grants were subject to partially critical reviews and a final assessment. In the internal grant system, ten regular assessments took place. In 1999, six doctoral students successfully finished their courses of study. At the moment, there are 66 doctoral students, of whom 29 are regular students and 37 part-time.

As far as its publishing activities are concerned, the Faculty succeeded in meeting its editorial plan, with 17 textbooks and eight scholarly works published. Other works will be published next year. All the published works are available in the Faculty bookshop and in the Ekopress chain of shops. The list of publications available to the public can be found on the web pages of the Faculty.

As every year, the competition for the Dean’s Prize of the Faculty of Economics and Administration took place. Students could take part in this competition in two categories: the best Bc. thesis and the best student research work.

Several important events were held both at the Faculty and under its auspices, of which the seminars and conferences to commemorate the 80^th anniversary of the founding of Masaryk University are especially worthy of note.

In January, the traditional theoretical seminar, organized by the Faculty in co-operation with the Association of Public Economics, took place, its topic being Problems in the Defining and Advancing the Public Interest.

On 3^rd and 4^th February 1999, a seminar entitled The Development of Euro-Regions and Educational Systems at the Beginning of the New Millennium took place.

The new academic year was inaugurated by means of an international seminar for students participating in the MIBP PECO Chambery programme and an international get-together of Departments of Finance of Faculties of Economics in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The Faculty developed its foreign contacts in 1999, for the most part on the basis of bilateral agreements and contracts.

The most popular university with students interested in studying abroad was Viadrina University in Frankfurt an der Oder. In view of the continuing interest on the part of the students, the Faculty has signed a agreement within the SOCRATES programme enabling six students to study at Viadrina University next year.

Co-operation between the Faculty and the École Superieure de Commerce Chambery in France developed further in 1999. This was made possible by a long-term agreement on participating in a multiregional programme of a European character (MIBP – PECO).

The Faculty is also involved in programmes of co-operation with Fernuniversität Hagen in Germany and the University of Nottingham in Great Britain, with which agreements were signed. Based on these agreements, the students of the MU Faculty of Economics and FU Hagen have the opportunity to enrol in distance-learning programmes in Hagen and Nottingham and can attain a degree from both schools.

An overwhelming majority of foreign student exchanges took place on the basis of the SOCRATES-ERASMUS programme. At the moment, the Faculty of Economics and Administration has institutional contracts with 11 schools. Apart from the traditional partners, the contracting parties now include FHS Trier and Universität Mannheim in Germany.

For the year 2000/2001, the Faculty counts on the further widening of its contacts, namely with Europa-Universität Viadrina in Germany, the University of Plymouth in Great Britain, and the Groupe ESC Normandy Business School in France. Unfortunately, the Faculty did not manage to extend contracts with Belgium and the Netherlands.

There were 14 students studying abroad in the winter semester. The remaining students decided to make their trips in the summer semester. Three study trips (Belgium, Tillburg, and the Hague) were not allotted any funds from SOCRATES. The study trip to the Hague was able to take place thanks to financing obtained from the HEBO fund, apportioned to both of our students by Haagse Hoogeschool.

A new activity to emerge within the SOCRATES-ERASMUS programme in 1999 was the so-called ‘Free mover’: a grant awarded to students who have established contacts with a foreign institution which has not entered into any SOCRATES contract.

As a result of long-term co-operation with Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, the concluding part of the lecture series organized under the auspices of the Aktion ”Drei Gastlehrveranstaltungen” Foundation took place in the winter term of 1999/2000 at the Faculty of Economics. The course was entitled Human Resource Management and was taught by Dr. Christiane Erten-Buch. It is divided into three lecture blocks meant not only for students, but also for teachers interested in the teaching methods used in the course.

At present, negotiations are underway with the aim of repeating the course taught by Dr. P. Trcky from the said institution, who gave lectures at the Faculty in the summer term of 1998/1999.

There were other important visiting lecturers at the Faculty in 1999: the American lecturer Steven Davis delivered the following lecturers: Introduction to the American Political Process, Media and Politics, and Environmental Politics. These lectures were accompanied by a course taught by another American lecturer, Jerry Jordan, entitled Leadership and Teams. Mag. Dkfm. Otto Paul of Vienna delivered a lecture series entitled Ausgewählte Probleme der Klein- und Mittelbetriebe. At the end of the year, the Faculty hosted Prof. Stewart from SUNY, who delivered a lecture as part of the course The Theory of the Public Sector.