Danuše Nerudová, the recent candidate for the post of president of the republic, resigned from the academic post at the Mendel University in Brno.
As Deník N was the first to report, she allegedly disagreed with the direction of the Faculty of Economics, another reason for her departure is said to be her candidacy for the European Parliament for the STAN movement. “I stated the reason in my resignation letter. It is a disagreement with the further direction of the faculty,” said Nerudová.
According to Seznam Zpráv information, she would most likely lose the function anyway. The Department of Accounting and Taxation at the Faculty of Business Economics, which this economist and former rector managed for 16 years, is coming to an end. Most likely, as of January 1, it is to be merged within the same faculty with the Department of Finance.
The intention to create a new (merged) academic workplace under new management was confirmed to Seznam Zprávám even before Nerudová’s statement by the dean of the faculty, Svatopluk Kapounek.
“It’s not because the institutes are poorly run, but because of the budget constraint we’re facing. When on the one hand there should be an increase in salaries, but on the other hand we have not received any extra money. The merger of the two institutes should thus bring some efficiency,” said Kapounek for Nauzal, adding that they are the two smallest institutes.
Each has only around nine so-called systemized jobs, while the largest workplaces have over 30 jobs. The organizational change has already been approved by the faculty academic senate in recent days, the verdict of the university-wide senate is still awaited.
Kapounek did not want to comment on the future of Danuša Nerudová herself, saying that it is purely a personnel matter. He emphasized, however, that a selection process will be announced for the head of the new merged workplace.
List The report also asked Danuša Nerudová whether she will apply for the selection process, or whether she will only seek the post of a member of the European Parliament. She did not comment on the matter, however, from her statement to Deník N, it follows that she now prefers a political position.
Danuše Nerudová finished in third place in the January race for the post of President of the Republic. In the entire race, she was significantly harmed by information regarding some non-standard practices at the university, which she managed for four years.
On the one hand, it was a problem with plagiarism of doctoral theses, as well as a case with foreign “fast-track students” recruited through agencies at the Faculty of Business and Economics. Nerudová defended herself by speaking out against the wrongdoings when she learned about them. But she admitted that she could have proceeded more quickly in some matters.
