The dean of the Faculty of Information Sciences of the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Jorge Clemente Mediavillaannounced this Wednesday that he had to testify before the University Center Services Inspectorate after being denounced by the Rectorate of ask “insistently” for information on the functioning of extraordinary chairs attached to the aforementioned faculty.
In his first intervention in the commission of inquiry that tries to clarify in the Assembly whether there has been favorable treatment from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) with Begoña Gómez, the wife of the president, Pedro Sánchez, the dean of the Faculty of Information Sciences transferred his “clear and absolute desire to collaborate” in it, even if he clarified that he would abstain on certain questions to the extent that there is a possibility of opening “disciplinary file”.
“In recent months, I have insisted on asking, both to the Board of Directors and to the faculty of the University, information on the operation of extraordinary chairsand above all to ensure that the procedures and their operation comply with the regulations, particularly with regard to the chairs allocated to the faculty that I represent,” he declared.
“This behavior appears to have been considered workplace harassment by higher authoritiessince he is vice-rector, member of the current government of the Complutense University and director of several extraordinary chairs, who presents himself as a complainant of these events which led me, yesterday, to declare to the university services inspectorate“, he added.
Clemente Mediavilla appeared this Wednesday at the commission of inquiry at the request of the Popular Parliamentary Grouprepresented by PP deputy Mercedes Zarzalejo, “not only as dean but also as an academic expert, with knowing that he is well versed in the procedures for creating extraordinary chairs and the functioning of postgraduate diplomas and continuing education”.
More specifically, he reported on the six extraordinary chairs which operate within the Faculty of Information Sciences of the UCM – although the Rectorate’s list includes four, he said -, all led by professors on the basis of experience criteria in the material. “What prevails, whether it is academic education or professional education, is specialization in the specific theme of the master’s degree”, he indicated, while recalling that “they must be qualified.
In this sense, he recalled that He has repeatedly demanded the urgent modification of university regulations to “limit the number of chairs that the same person can chair, there is no limit” and that “is not fair”; so that the “specialization of the director or, where applicable, of the director who is a true specialist in the subject in question of the chair”; and so that the obligation to publish the report of the Board of Governors “on the state of accounts and the report of the presidencies in force each year” is fulfilled. As noted, they did not respond.
The dean, who highlighted the need for greater transparency at the university and said know most of the information about the “Begoña case” from the mediaalso explained that “the intervention does not control all the invoices and all the documentation because they do not have time, due to the amount of work they have”.
“Irregularities”
In his speech, he also denounced “irregularities” in these chairs, without the convening of joint monitoring committeeswhich is mandatory at least once a year. “The invoices of the derived chairs or the acts of the derived chairs, which of the five that are currently not compliant, because I do not sign them,” he indicated regarding these alleged irregularities.
Clemente Mediavilla, who refused to answer whether he believed Moncloa used the UCM brand to carry out Begoña Gómez’s business – “I can’t attest to what I don’t know,” he said -, recalled “angry” meeting of the university’s Board of Trustees in which he questioned the rector, Joaquín Goyache. “Not only the question of chairs; I know that what worries the university the most is the economic situation of the University. And also the damage to the reputation, which is directly linked to the fact that Complutense is leaving every other day in the news for many months and not for the better in the media,” he said.
Asked about his accusation against Goyache “of having one foot in a political party and another in its antagonist”, the dean clarified that he had adopted certain words from the numerous “contributions” he received. “What I did was reproduce those words, make them my own, because it seemed to me that, well, they could have meaning. And from there, what I collected, I ‘insists, that’s what I thought was appropriate to say that day.’ , because, I insist, I do not say it, because my opinion may or may not be valid, but the fact is that The “contributions” that reached me were very clear“, he indicated.
Appearance, called into question
On the left, we questioned the fact that the PP summoned this dean to I have no relationship with the women’s chair of the president of the government.
The PSOE spokesperson within the commission, Marta Bernardo, focused her intervention on clarifying the reasons why this dean had been summoned. He began by asking if he had been to the Royal Post Office and if he thought he had been called by the PP to “surly” in front of Goyache.
He insisted on the fact that the chair on which the commission revolves, that of Begoña Gómez, is not attached to its faculty, that it has “no specific relationship” with this affair and that it He does not know “all the information on all the extraordinary chairs” at UCM, especially none outside his jurisdiction. He concluded by asking him if this appearance in committee was his first step in his career to “promote himself” to succeed Goyache in power.
The deputy of Más Madrid, Antonio Sánchez, asked him in the same sense if he only knew the functioning of the extraordinary chairs of his faculty, “but also that of Begoña Gómez” having been summoned to this commission. Likewise, he questioned “on what grounds” did he criticize the president of the chair of women in government “if only he knows how his faculty works”.
For her part, Vox spokesperson Ana Cuartero focused her questions on Rector Goyache, and on the criticisms that the dean addressed to him and on the way in which extraordinary chairs are managed. Likewise, he has raised doubts about whether the UCM finally opened the case to investigate What happened to the president of Begoña Gómez, while regretting the difficulties in accessing information.
