Rektorin denied cancer after position

Elected Rector was denied post-cancer status and official status

23/04/2011

Renate Lieckfeldt, Rector of the University of Applied Sciences in Leipzig (HTWK) in Leipzig, has been refused a transition to civil servant status following her cancer. The health risks would not allow a Verbeamtung, said the responsible Saxon Ministry of Science.

The rector had made the process public even after she had been informed by the Ministry of Culture that a start of the Rector's Office and the associated transition into the status of election officer with the civil service law is incompatible. Lieckfeldt now wants to fight for her post and receives massive support from the students. Again „MDR“ reports, the Saxon Minister of Science Sabine von Schorlemer has today officially agreed to discuss together with the elected HTWK rector in a solution solutions for the occupation of the body.

Students criticize the non-appointment of the elected principal
The Conference of Saxon Student Union (KSS) was outraged by the refusal of the Ministry of Culture to appoint Renate Lieckfeldt as the rector of the HTWK following her cancer. While the Saxon Minister of Science withdrew to the position that a civil service due to the civil service law must be excluded, as there is a significant risk of relapse in cancer, said a spokeswoman for the KSS, that „This approach (...) of political and moral instinct is hardly to surpass“ be. The students demand the appointment of the elected rector on the scheduled date of May 1st. The position of the Minister of Science is incomprehensible to the students. They see some discretion in interpreting civil service law in relation to the appointment of the elected HTWK Rector. Renate Lieckfeldt was elected in a democratic process and this must also respect the Ministry, said the KSS spokeswoman to the „MDR“. Even Lieckfeldt himself considers the decision of the Ministry of Science at least ethically questionable, but declared himself ready for talks. The opposition parties in the Saxon state parliament - Alliance90 / The Greens, The Left and SPD - also expressed their outrage at the current events and signaled their full support to the elected Rector.

Science Minister ready to talk
After the case reached the general public and triggered massive protests, it became loud „MDR“-The Saxon Science Minister is also ready to talk. She wanted to discuss with the elected rector, which possibilities are eligible, so that Lieckfeldt can take up their post, said Sabine von Schorlemer. According to the Minister of Science, for example, the assumption of employment is conceivable, but a clerkship is still out of the question. Renate Lieckfeldt emphasized that she was also prepared to think about the offer of an employment relationship if presented by the Ministry. However, the question arises as to how it can be, „that you are healthy enough to work as an employee, but not healthy enough to work as a civil servant“, stressed Lieckfeldt. In addition, the elected principal feels it strange that she is accepted as a civil servant by North Rhine-Westphalia, where she has been professor of technical management in the department of physical engineering at the Fachhochschule Gelsenkirchen since 2001 and dean since 2007, but not even a civil servant in Saxony Time may be. „I want to get that explained by the Ministry“, stressed Lieckfeldt to the MDR. If no agreement can be reached in the further discussions, the elected Rector does not exclude the legal recourse as a last resort. However, she was aware that the position of the rector at the HTWK could be blocked for years by a lawsuit, explained Renate Lieckfeldt.

Stony path to the Rector's Office
Renate Lieckfeldt was elected in January 19 of the year by the enlarged senate of the HTWK Leipzig as the new rector of Leipzig's largest university of applied sciences. On May 1, the elected principal should actually take her position, until then Michael Kubessa leads the HTWK. However, the choice for the rector for Lieckfeldt was already unusually difficult. In the nomination process Lieckfeldt was initially not considered and had to sue by legal means. Previously there was only one candidate for election, the former Rector Hubertus Milke. In the election, Renate Lieckfeldt finally prevailed in the third ballot. (Fp)

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University of Leipzig elects new Rector

Picture: Andreas Hermsdorf