Statute

PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS

Article 1

  1. The Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk, hereinafter referred to as the “Union”, is a union of Gdańsk public higher education institutions pursuant to Article 28 of the Law on Higher Education Act of 27 July 2005 (the consolidated text in the Journal of Laws of 2017, item 2183, as amended) applied to this Union on the basis of Article 203 para. 3 of the Act of 3 July 2018 – The regulations enacting the Law on Higher Education and Science Act (Journal of Laws 2018, item 1669). 
  2. The Union shall comprise: the Medical University of Gdańsk, hereinafter the “MUG”, the Gdańsk University of Technology, hereinafter the “Gdańsk Tech”, and the University of Gdańsk, hereinafter the “UG”, all of them hereinafter referred to as the participating universities.
  3. The participating universities shall be independent with regard to their previous activity and remain autonomous in all the areas of their activities.

4. The registered office of the Union shall be Gdańsk.
5. The Union shall have legal personality.
6. The Union’s symbols shall be the emblem and seal, which include the name “Związek Uczelni w Gdańsku im. Daniela Fahrenheita”. The name “Związek Uczelni w Gdańsku im. Daniela Fahrenheita” shall be used on the Union’s symbols, and in letters and documents issued and filed by the Union in the hard copy and electronic format, as well as on the Union websites. The templates of the symbols are specified in Appendix No. 1 to these Statutes. The Union’s symbols are protected by law.
7. The Union’s name in English shall be the “Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk”.
8. The Union may conduct economic activity to the extent and in the form specified in Article 9 para. 7.
9. The Union shall admit the possibility of other public higher education institutions joining the Union upon consent of the Senates of the participating universities – the Union's founders. In such a case, enlargement of the Union shall be subject to a decision by a minister responsible for higher education and science.

Article 2

1. The Union’s primary responsibility is to optimise the use of the resources of the participating universities.
2. The participating universities may commission the Union to perform responsibilities specified in Article 28 of the Law on Higher Education Act (the consolidated text in the Journal of Laws of 2017, item 2183, as amended), including:
 

  1. analysis of the resources and potential for the joint activity of the participating universities;
  2. preparation of the assumptions to and scenarios of the federalisation of the universities; 
  3. proposing solutions supporting research and development work conducted at universities and supporting the joint education of Ph.D. students;
  4. following joint promotion and rating policy, especially on the international arena;
  5. coordination of publishing activity;
  6. administration of the separated assets of the participating universities;
  7. expressing opinions and representing the common interests of the participating universities before state and local government administration and in relation to legislative initiatives;
  8. other activities aiming at optimising the use of resources and supporting mutually agreed integration activities of the participating universities.

Article 3

The Union shall cooperate with other academic centres in Poland and abroad, with scientific as well as central and local government institutions, and with business and social organisations.

UNION’S STRUCTURE

Article 4

1. The collective resolution-adopting body shall be the Union Assembly chaired by the Union Chairperson. 
2. The Chairperson shall represent the Union. The Chairperson shall be authorised to make statements of will and knowledge on behalf of the Union.
3. The single-person managing body shall be the Director of the Union. 
4. The Director shall be appointed for a two-year term of office by the Union Assembly from outside its members by a majority of 2/3 of votes. The term of office shall commence on the appointment date.
5. The Director may be dismissed before the end of the term of office by the majority of 2/3 of votes. 
6. In the situation specified in para. 5, the elections for a new Director of the Union, who shall fulfil this function until the end of the term of office of the current Chairperson of the Union Assembly, shall be held immediately.
7. Following consultation with the Assembly, the Chairperson shall appoint and dismiss the Deputy Director. The Director shall set out the Deputy’s responsibilities. The Director and Deputy Director shall act on the basis of the powers of attorney.

Article 5

1. The Union Assembly shall be composed of the Rectors and Chairpersons of the councils of the participating universities.
2. The sessions of the Union Assembly may be attended, in an advisory capacity, by the Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer (Finance Director) of each of the participating universities and by persons invited by the Assembly.
3. The Union Chairperson shall be the Rector of a participating university. The Chairperson’s term of office shall last two years. During the first term of office, the Union Chairperson shall be the Rector of the Gdańsk Tech, then MUG and UG.  
4. The loss of the function of the Rector or Chairperson of the university council shall cause the expiry of the mandate in the Union Assembly.
5. In the case of the expiry of the mandates referred to in para. 4, the composition of the Assembly shall be automatically completed with persons newly appointed to fulfil those functions at the participating universities.

Article 6

1. The powers of the Union Assembly shall include:

  1. formulation of recommendations for the Director with respect to their responsibilities;
  2. adoption of the statutes and amendments thereto;
  3. monitoring the Union’s financial management through giving an opinion on the material and financial plan and through the approval of the report of the implementation of the plan and the financial statements;
  4. making decisions on the acquisition by the Union of assets with the value exceeding 100,000 zlotys;
  5. conducting the evaluation of the functioning of the Union;
  6. approval of the regulations of the Union Assembly and the Union’s organisational regulations.
  7. determination of the organisational and legal status of the separated organisational entity conducting the Union’s economic activity,

2. The resolutions specified in para. 1 shall be adopted by the absolute majority of votes in the presence of a minimum one half of the statutory composition of the Assembly, in open voting, unless the law or statutes provide otherwise. The absolute majority of votes is cast when the number of votes “in favour” is greater than the total of the remaining valid votes against and abstaining. If the number of votes is equal, the voting shall be repeated.

Article 7

The Director shall perform, without limitation, the following responsibilities:
1. implement the recommendations of the Assembly and perform tasks commissioned by it; 
2. represent the Union in consultation with the Chairperson;
3. manage the Union;
4. perform activities concerning labour law in relation to the Union’s employees;
5. manage the Union’s finance including the preparation of the material and financial plan and drafting the report of the implementation of the material and financial plan and the financial statements.

RULES FOR THE ACTIVITY OF THE BODIES

Article 8

1. The sessions of the Union Assembly shall be prepared and convened by the Chairperson on their own initiative or upon the motion from at least 2/3 of the participating universities.
2. The sessions of the Union Assembly shall take place at least four times per year.
3. The deliberations shall be minuted. The minutes shall be submitted to be approved by the body members not later than at the next session.
4. The draft agenda prepared by the Chairperson shall be adopted by the Union Assembly at the start of the session.
5. The rules for the organisation of the work of the Union Assembly, including the procedure for the deliberations, shall be set out in the regulations of the Union Assembly prepared by the Director and approved by the Union Assembly.
6. The administrative support of the Union Assembly shall be provided by the participating university whose Rector fulfils the function of the Chairperson of the Union of Universities.

UNION’S ASSETS AND FINANCE

Article 9

1. The Union’s assets shall comprise the property handed over by the participating universities for the performance of statutory responsibilities, the manufactured property, the acquired property and the property obtained by way of a donation.
2. The Union’s activity shall be primarily financed from the funds transferred by the participating universities, the Union’s own revenues and payments for the performed services.
3. The participating universities shall provide the sum of PLN 20,000 (in words: twenty thousand zlotys) each for the performance of the Union’s responsibilities. The total sum of PLN 60,000 (in words: sixty thousand zlotys) shall create the Union’s initial fund designated for the creation and functioning of the Union. The transfer of further funds or assets to the Union shall require approval of the proposal of the Union Assembly by the Senates of the participating universities.
4. The Union’s revenues shall include:

  1. funds transferred by the participating universities in the amount proportional to the subsidy received by each of them;
  2. revenues from economic activity;
  3. payments for the performed services;
  4. revenues from donations, succession and bequests;
  5. funds received from territorial government units or other public institutions.

5. The amount of funds transferred by the participating universities shall follow from a relevant agreement concluded by and between the Union and the university, after it has received consent from its bodies, pursuant to internal regulations.
6. The Union shall manage its finance independently on the basis of annual material and financial plans, pursuant to the provisions of the Public Finance Act and the Accounting Act. The Union’s accounting year shall be the calendar year. The first accounting year shall end on 31 December 2021.
7. The Union may conduct economic activity in a separated form, including legally separated, whose organisational and legal form shall be specified by the Union Assembly in a relevant resolution to the extent complying with the current codes of the Polish Classification of Activity (PKD), including:

  1. 5814Z  Publishing of journals and other periodicals;
  2. 7021Z  Public relations and communication activities;
  3. 7490Z  Other professional, scientific and technical activities not elsewhere classified;
  4. 8219Z Photocopying, document preparation and other specialised office support activities;
  5. 8230Z Organisation of conventions and trade shows;
  6. 8560Z Educational support activities.

ADMINISTRATION

Article 10

1. Tasks of the administrative, financial, maintenance, service and technical character shall be performed by the Union’s administration or specified administration units of the participating universities.
2. The Union’s administration structure and rules of the activity of organisational units shall be laid down in the Union’s organisational regulations prepared by the Director and approved by the Union Assembly.

HIRING EMPLOYEES

Article 11

1. Hiring the Union’s employees shall be the responsibility of the Director, who shall also, on the Employer’s behalf, perform acts within labour Law. 
2. A decision on hiring an employee shall be made by the Director upon the Chairperson’s consent. 

UNION’S LIQUIDATION

Article 12
1. A resolution on the method of the Union’s liquidation shall be adopted by the Assembly by a majority of 2/3 of votes. The resolution of the Union Assembly shall specify the way of satisfaction of the creditors and the division of property left after the settlement of the Union’s liabilities. The Senates of the participating universities shall, subsequently, adopt resolutions on the Union’s liquidation.
2. The Union’s liquidation shall take place pursuant to a decision of the minister responsible for higher education and science on the basis of the resolutions of the Senates of the participating universities as mentioned in para. 1.
3. The Union’s liquidation may take place, in particular, in the case of:

  1. the reduction of the number of participating universities below three;
  2. failure to perform, during one academic year, the responsibilities set out in Article 2 paragraphs 1 and 2;
  3. exhaustion of the Union’s funds and assets;
  4. the Union being unable to pursue its activities due to failure to appoint the bodies authorised to perform such activities.

4. In the event of the Union’s liquidation, after creditors have been satisfied, the remaining assets shall become, as appropriate in relation to the sources of origin, the assets of the participating university which has transferred these assets, and the assets acquired by the Union from other sources shall become the assets of the participating universities in equal shares.
5. In the event of the participating university’s withdrawal from the Union:

  1. the undivided assets transferred to the Union and assets contributed by the participating university shall not be returned, if their return prevents the proper performance of the Union’s responsibilities,
  2. the divided assets contributed by the withdrawing university shall be returned subject to the settlement of the expenditure at the current market value.