Personnel Base of the University of Montenegro Created at Disposal for Strategic Policies Makers
In the light of upcoming obligations that Montenegro has on its path to European integration, and importance of involving all social actors in that process, and being aware of the value of knowledge—which, unfortunately, in these turbulent times is not adequately appreciated—the University of Montenegro, as a largest professional human resource in the country, has created a personnel database of, for now, 630 individuals who have expressed willingness to participate in the creation of a state’s strategic development policies. This database will be offered to decision-makers with the aim that experts precisely from the University become backbone and active participants in the path toward European integration, especially in the process of shaping the country’s development directions.
This is the message from Dr. Branka Bošnjak, Advisor of the Rector for Strategic Policies and Sustainable Development, delivered at today’s press conference.
As a small country in terms of population, she said, we should not allow the scientific and professional human resource base of the only state university to remain insufficiently exploited in the process of national development. On the contrary, it shall now, more than ever, be fully available to the country’s development policies.
“We are confident that there is often no need to engage foreign experts if we have domestic intellectuals who, in addition to expertise, also carry a patriotic dimension—willingness to contribute to their own country, something that foreigners do not have,” Bošnjak added. She explained that the database was created in such a way that administrators have a clear overview across many parameters—from an individuals status at the University, academic titles, experience, narrow specialization, to whether they are willing to publicly present the results of their engagement and participate in public debates.
Out of the 630 who have responded so far to be part of this database, she pointed out that 411 are PhD holders, and among them are as many as 169 with the highest academic rank—namely, full professors or the equivalent rank of scientific advisor in research—which also means they possess extensive experience, making this a significant resource.
“They are classified according to the Frascati classification of scientific fields and subfields adopted by the Government, so the database includes an impressive number of experts from natural sciences, technical-technological, medical, agricultural, to social and humanities disciplines. However, this categorization is further specified into narrow specializations such as energy, civil engineering, economics, and then even more precisely into fields such as automation, hydrotechnics, insurance, etc., so there is practically no narrow specialization that is not represented in our database,” the Rector’s Advisor explained.
“Recognizing the value of this human capital that is ready to take a proactive role, we publicly call on those making the most important strategic and developmental decisions in the country—as well as at the local level—to always consult the University of Montenegro and include these professionals in various working groups and bodies involved in creating strategic policies, laws, studies, resolutions, decisions, rulings, etc.”
The University itself will, for the benefit of society, conduct certain studies and analyses identified as important for societal well-being and development, and present them to the public and decision-makers, she announced, because—as she says—the University intends to be a proactive participant in social processes, since, as the only state university, it believes this is its rightful role.
“We appeal for the value of knowledge to be restored, because we live in a time of knowledge degradation, which can have long-term disastrous consequences. That is why the University, at this historically important moment, is taking on this more proactive role and offering its professional capital to the state of Montenegro. We sincerely hope that the decision-makers will know how to recognize and utilize that,” Bošnjak concluded.