The College of Economy and Public Administration (Kolegium Gospodarki i Administracji Publicznej) was established on October 1, 2019 as a result of the transformation of the Faculty of Economy and Public Administration, which took place as part of the organizational and functional reform of the University. This reform was the result of a major systemic change, due to a notable modification of the Higher Education Law (the 2018 Higher Education “Law 2.0”), which changed the entire HE sector and all institutions operating within it.
The College was established to conduct research and teaching activities in two scientific disciplines:
- Political Science and Administration
- Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management
The disciplines follow a categorization of the Polish Ministry of Education and Science and the College is subject to formal evaluations in those categories.
The College consists of 3 Institutes comprised in total of 12 Departments (Chairs).
- Department of Public Policy
- Department of Public Economy
- Department of Regulatory Policies
- Department of Management of Public Organizations
- Department of Empirical Analyses of Economic Stability
- Department of Philosophy
- Department of Political Studies
- Department of International Relations
- Department of Sociology
- Department of Social and Economic Geography
- Department of Spatial Management
- Department of Economic and Social History
Following the requirement of the Polish Ministry of Education and Science, Institutes and their Departments as well as employed Faculty have to be formally assigned to a specific discipline. The main scientific discipline undertaken in the Institute of Public Policies and Administration and the Institute of Political Science, Sociology and Philosophy is “Political Science and Administration”. At the Institute of Spatial Management and Urban Studies the discipline is “Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management”. Other disciplines in which College Faculty conduct their research activities, and contribute to, are: architecture and urban planning, economics and finance, philosophy, history, environmental engineering, mining and energy, legal sciences, sociological sciences, art sciences and management and quality sciences.
The Leadership and Faculty of the College of Economy and Public Administration are convinced that there is a great need to support the development of research that integrates specialists from various fields, who share an interest in supporting decision-making processes in the public sphere. Everyone in the College shares the conviction regarding the need to prepare and implement evidence-based policies.
In accordance with the organizational solutions adopted at the Krakow University of Economics, the role of the College, headed by the Dean, is to conduct high-quality scientific and research activities in the main disciplines for which the College was established.
The Institutes, managed by Directors, are focused on conducting teaching activities on degree programs operated within assigned scientific disciplines.
Origins of the College
The origins of the College of Economy and Public Administration date back to the early 1990s when, on the initiative of prof. dr hab. Jerzy Hausner, the Independent Department of Economy and Public Administration was established. It was transformed in 1995 into the Department of Economy and Public Administration (Katedra Gospodarki i Administracji Publicznej).
The Department focused on educating professional staff for central and local government administration, public sector enterprises and non-governmental organizations. At the beginning, the Department conducted teaching in the speciality Economy and Public Administration as part of the Economics degree program of the (then) Faculty of Economics and International Relations. After a few years, on the basis of an original and in-house developed curriculum, the degree of Economy and Public Administration was created at the first- and second-cycle studies. Successively, the module Economy and public administration was added to third-cycle doctoral studies.
The research activity of the Department and the R&D activity of the Malopolska School of Public Administration that was established in 1997, resulted in the development of cooperation between the Department and other University communities, whose research interests oscillated around the issues of economy and public administration, public management, public policies and related policies.
The development and integration of this community became the prerequisites for applying for the establishment of the Faculty of Economy and Public Administration. The process of establishing the Faculty was initiated by the Rector’s Decree No. R-201-37/2015 from 27 July 2015 on the establishment of the Faculty of Economy and Public Administration (based on the opinion of the University Senate), amended by the Rector’s Decree No. R-0201-1/2016 from 4 January 2016. The initiation of research and teaching activity of the Faculty took place on 1 October 2016.
The first elections to the Council of the Faculty of Economy and Public Administration were held in spring 2016.
In the 2016-2020 electoral term, the leadership functions at the Faculty of Economy and Public Administration were awarded to:
- Dean – dr hab. Stanisław Mazur, prof. UEK (Associate Professor)
- Vice-Dean – dr hab. Krzysztof Broński, prof. UEK (Associate Professor) Vice-Dean for Teaching and Student Affairs
- Vice-Dean – dr hab. Przemysław Kisiel, prof. UEK (Associate Professor) Vice-Dean for Research and Cooperation
The Faculty of Economy and Public Administration was established as a result of the division of the Faculty of Economics and International Relations and the Faculty of Finance, and from 1 October 2016 it functioned as a home for 6 Departments, in which managerial functions were performed by:
- dr hab. Leszek Kusak, prof. UEK (Associate Professor) – Head of the Department of Philosophy,
- dr hab. Stanisław Mazur, prof. UEK (Associate Professor) – Head of the Department of Economy and Public Administration,
- prof. dr hab. Tadeusz Kudłacz (Full Professor) – Head of the Department of Regional Economy,
- prof. dr hab. Jacek Purchla (Full Professor) – Head of the Department of Economic and Social History,
- dr hab. Janusz Koczanowski, prof. UEK (Associate Professor) – Head of the Department of Public Law,
- prof. dr hab. Anna Karwińska (Full Professor)– Head of the Department of Sociology.
At that time, the teaching offer of the Faculty included degree programs:
- Administration (first-cycle studies),
- Economy and public administration (first and second cycle studies),
- Spatial management (first-cycle bachelor’s, engineer’s and second-cycle studies),
- Sociology (first-cycle studies).
At the beginning of the academic year 2016/2017, the Faculty had over 80 research staff, and 1700 students attended the degrees delivered within.
The overall research and teaching potential and future development plans of the Faculty were reflected in the Strategy for 2017-2024.