1975: The University Organisation Act

The University Organisation Act (Universitäts-Organisationsgesetz, UOG) of 1975, which replaced an older legal norm from 1955, laid the basis for a fundamental restructuring of higher education in Austria. The goal of the reform was to meet the needs that universities were facing in view of increasing numbers of students, both in terms of organisation and the codetermination of people involved in academic life. One of the essential changes was the obligatory equal participation of students and members of the non-professorial teaching staff in the committees of the university's organisational units (institute and faculty conferences, senate). This did away with professors' previously existing privileges in this regard. At the same time, the structure of universities became more hierarchical in some areas, for example by the transformation of the academic senate into a central decision-making and supervisory body and the establishment of a university directorate responsible for administrative matters. The influence of the Federal Ministry of Science that was responsible for universities was also strengthened; this included its ability to intervene in university decisions within the framework of its supervisory law. In the following years, this aspect was the main criticism directed against the law, since in the eyes of many critics, the Ministry interfered too often and in violation of the autonomy regulations of the university system. The UOG 1975 was modified in key areas in the University Organisation Act of 1993 and was ultimately overridden by the University Act of 2002, which brought with it a change in the legal personality of universities.