The First Convention of Staff of the UL was held last Saturday, 26 May, at the Building of the Office of the Rector of the University of Lisbon (UL).
Everybody was invited to participate in the event in a constructive atmosphere of institutional collaboration, despite the individual circumstances of each faculty and the day-to-day work of employees, teams and organizational units.
The premise was the common awareness that it makes no sense to think about the present and the future of the institution in isolation, often duplicating activities when there is so much experience, knowledge and expertise to share.
It is only fair to point out that the Convention was, from the outset, a project of the Administrator of UL, David Xavier. Luís Pereira, Secretary of FMUL, was invited to take on the coordination of the project, and a working team formed by colleagues Susana Leal, Ana Rute Ferreira, Sofia Cruz, Célia Nunes, Isabel Tadeu, Márcia Vila, Cláudia Sousa, and Carine Pires had the task of implementing the project at the beginning of the year.

The topic of the convention – Pursuing excellence, promoting skills – started from the idea that the UL has services of excellence and should endorse their development through its human capital and own resources, promoting skills. The debate – Prospects for the Future – urged all participants to speak about the future, what can be done now and in future for the UL and what we can all build.

The goal was to assess the situation, the “state of the art” of the key operational areas of the UL – academic and financial services, libraries, etc. At the end of the convention, it became clear that the goal had largely been attained.

Before employees presented their area of work, there was an overview about us (“Presentation of the data collection – How many are we? What are we like? What do we do?” – David Xavier), and on how we feel (“Presenting the results of the satisfaction questionnaire made to non-teaching staff” – Valentina Oliveira).
This was followed by talks highlighting existing good practices at the UL (“Transversal collaboration by sector of activity within the UL – the experience of the GATUL’s/SIBUL” – Luis Pereira), the SPUL as a new way of organizing services (“New ways of organizing the services” – Márcia Vila), the schools, for instance the CAF of FMUL and the management by objectives of FCUL (“Self-evaluation of services – the experience of CAF at FMUL” – Isabel Aguiar, and “Accountability and decision-making support” – Ana Bela Rocha), and our future with the One Stop Project (“The One Stop Project” – Ricardo Reis”).
The workshops, which were attended by distinct groups according to subject areas, allowed focusing on specific issues (the SIBUL Project and student mobility).
It can be said that the Convention was a considerable success in terms of the number of participants (about 330 colleagues, or a quarter of non-teaching staff of UL!) and of the debate about issues that concern all employees.

Before the actual start of the programme, two films were shown: one had a message from the Rector, António Sampaio da Nóvoa, welcoming the participants and conveying his satisfaction with the Convention. The second had testimonies of older employees and transmitted a clear message of continuity and identity, conveying a common memory and heritage.

As regards the event, the set programme was fully fulfilled. The plenary sessions were much participated, and the workshops and presentations allowed a better and updated understanding of the university.

Since the event implied bringing together hundreds of employees of the UL on a weekend day, which is traditionally dedicated to personal and family life, this important detail was not neglected. Accordingly, participants had the opportunity to bring their children, who stayed at the SASUL Crèche during the event. The meals took place in the canteen amidst a healthy and convivial atmosphere.
This was the result of the work of a group a people who made it possible for everything to work out flawlessly on the day – ranging from the several SASUL services involved (crèche and canteen) to the IT support organized by the SPUL and to support given by the UL- Social Conscience scholars.
It was a playful, funny occasion with plenty of calories.
The Convention was very well attended by colleagues from all faculties. Although there is currently a large number of multidisciplinary teams that bring together colleagues from different faculties, there was, and still is, some lack of knowledge of each other, which is quite natural, given the fact that work is carried out in different locations and, in the case of the Faculty of Fine Arts, it is located off-campus, on the other side of the city. In fact, this was the first time that so many employees from all faculties gathered together.
On the other hand, topics such as the SIBUL (Integrated System of Libraries of the University of Lisbon) project, GATUL (Technical Support Group of the University of Lisbon), support to scientific research, specific issues related to students (unique id, mobility, international students, etc.), sustainability, and hygiene and safety at work are cross-cutting themes from the outset and which need to be discussed with all stakeholders.
We believe that this Convention may well be the starting point for a new phase in institutional relations at the UL, for the benefit of the entire academic community.

Having had the opportunity to discuss several issues with various colleagues, we can say that there is widespread feeling that this is an institution that is very rich in human terms and in terms of potential, and that planned joint work can bring remarkable improvements in the short, medium and long term, for the benefit of the Portuguese University.

The materials of the convention will be edited in a book, containing the abstracts, presentations and the final conclusions made at the closing session by the rapporteurs.
As mentioned earlier, FMUL was represented by several colleagues, namely the authors of some of the presentations made:

Luís Pereira –  “Transversal collaboration by sector of activity within the UL – the experience of the GATUL’s/SIBUL”
Isabel Aguiar – “Self-evaluation of services – the experience of CAF at FMUL”
Carla Lopes – “New Challenges in the Management of UL: The Role of Cost Accounting”
Hortênsia Sequeira – “Support for Laboratories and Clinics”

The creation of a workers committee, a project dear to many members of the academic community and which is already in progress, was also announced at the event.

Convention Report

PULSAR Magazine

André Silva
Editorial Team
andresilva@fm.ul.pt