The ceremonial academy began with the performance of the choir Polyphon, which started its tenth year of existence. It originated at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences as an initiative of employees to further enrich the work at the Faculty through music and choral singing. On this occasion, the Polyphon choir performed the traditional academic anthem “Gaudeamus Igitur”, the song “Arise, Serbia” (“Vostani Serbije”), originally a poem written by Dositej Obradović during the First Serbian Uprising, as well as the Serbian folk song “Ajde Jano”. The choir was conducted by Marija Matić, with piano accompaniment by Katarina Ranković.
The ceremonial academy celebrating the Day of the Faculty was attended by the Minister of Education, prof. Slavica Đukić Dejanović, Ph.D., the Minister of Information and Telecommunications, Mihailo Jovanović, Ph.D., the Minister of Health, prof. Danica Grujičić, Ph.D., the State Secretary at the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation, Vukašin Grozdić, the Vice-Rector for Education of the University of Belgrade, prof. Dejan Filipović, Ph.D., representatives of the academic community, representatives of partner institutions of the Faculty from the corporate sector, employees, and students.
“I thank you for being with us today to share the joy of another successful year in the development of FON. The specificity of FON is that it was not founded by the academic community but by the economy that recognized the need for educating professionals who will manage organizational and other systems and be drivers of development and change. Cooperation with the economy and the environment in the past 50 years has been two-way and fruitful, and one of the pillars of FON’s development. In November 1970, the University Council decided to include the Faculty of Organizational Sciences in the University of Belgrade. The Faculty was officially opened on 4 November 1971. Classes began at the ‘Industrija Motora Rakovica’ building on 21 May, in Rakovica. Over the past 52 years, FON has always been an integral part of our university and has had excellent cooperation with all University members,” said the Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Milan Matić, Ph.D., expressing his welcome to all attendees and extending a special greeting to the dignitaries.
FON’s Dean, Professor Martić, emphasized that FON had always cooperated effectively with the Government of the Republic of Serbia and expressed pride in the new Faculty building in which the academy took place, and which had been provided by the Government of the Republic of Serbia. Professor Martić also highlighted that over the past five years, FON had had exceptionally successful cooperation with the Ministry of Education on projects related to education digitization and that it had also started several important projects in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications
The Minister of Education, Slavica Đukić Dejanović addressed the attendees with the words – “I am honored to have the opportunity to address you today and congratulate the Faculty Day. Improving the quality of higher education is one of Serbia’s strategic goals. In this sense, professionals educated at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, primarily in the field of modern technologies, are very important. Serbia seeks to strengthen its position in the field of innovation and the IT sector.”
“The Faculty of Organizational Sciences is a true example of how the education of professionals in the field of management, information systems and technologies, and quality management contributes to the development of the country. In addition, FON is known for the success of its students. A large number of your students are actively involved in the work of student organizations and numerous extracurricular activities. I am confident that your results in the coming period will be even better and that you will continue to conquer the world with your knowledge. Thank you for representing and promoting higher education in Serbia, your country, and your people in this way”, added Minister Đukić Dejanović.
Mr Mihailo Jovanović, Ph.D., Minister of Information and Telecommunications, greeted the attendees and expressed his satisfaction with being at FON today – “It is an exceptional honor and pleasure for me to be here with you today and to have the opportunity to greet you on behalf of the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications and personally congratulate you on 54 years since the establishment of the Faculty of Organizational Sciences and 52 years since the beginning of the educational process. For years, the Faculty of Organizational Sciences has been achieving incredible success in educating students and creating brilliant new young professionals in programming, informatics, business analytics, and management who are now highly needed in our society. On this occasion, I would like to emphasize the cooperation between the Office for Information Technologies and E-Government and FON, where students, within the National Center for IT Competence, have the opportunity for internships, further improvement, work with state-of-the-art technologies and equipment in the Office and State Data Centers, and even the opportunities later employment”.
Professors, associates, and researchers of FON participate in numerous scientific research projects. The Ministry of Science, Technological Development, and Innovation facilitates access to data and improves the overall quality of scientific research work through modern services. State Secretary, Mr Vukašin Grozdić, praised the Faculty, stating, “It is always a pleasure to be at FON, especially today in this beautiful building, which we owe to your previous results in partnership with the state on various projects. Today, as the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation, we truly have a reliable partner and support in you. In all cities without faculties and universities, we are opening innovation centers, 23 innovation centers. I hope and believe that FON will help us in this. I remember when Zaječar expressed the need for a science and technology park and a faculty, they asked for a faculty that would be like FON. So, you have become a benchmark, a noun essential for the quality and successful work of a higher education institution. I congratulate you on this anniversary, and I wish you the best of luck.”
On behalf of the Rector’s Collegium and the academic community of the University of Belgrade, the Vice-Rector for Education, prof. Dejan Filipović, Ph.D. addressed the audience – “In addition to outstanding education, excellence in scientific research, and intensive international scientific and economic cooperation, the Faculty adapted to the needs of society and the market, which resulted in its recognizability and leadership in the fields of information systems and technology, management, operations research, and quality management. The phenomenon of FON, regarding students’ interest and enrollment in the faculty, continued this year, as in the previous few years. For FON, demographic factors such as having fewer high school graduates do not apply, and the competition of private faculties is practically non-existent. There are no issues with classroom space, and evidently, there are no concerns about tuition fees, as all capacities, both in budget-funded and self-financing places, are filled to the last place in the first June enrollment period.”
Prof. Vesna Damnjanović, Ph.D., President of the FON Council, emphasized three key factors in how FON achieved excellence. First, the key starting point is the foundations: tradition and all employees, professors, and mentors who have been building FON for years with hard work and expertise. Second, successful leaders and teamwork are important to fully realize the vision of FON. Third, the student should be at the center of the learning process, and programs should be created based on the needs of students and in line with the strategic goals of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the private and public sectors, and all significant partners in society.
In the academic year 2022/23, FON recorded successes in many fields. Dean, prof. Milan Martić, Ph.D. presented the achieved results and summarized the past year through a presentation.
For the best results, awards in the form of laptop computers were presented to students by prof. Dušan Savić, Ph.D., Vice-Dean for Undergraduate Studies, who said, “I am extremely pleased to see that among the awarded students are those who participated in the realization of classes at the UAS as non-employment associates – demonstrators. It is especially gratifying to see that some of the awarded students have received an invitation and accepted to continue their careers at FON as teaching associates. Our Dean, Professor Martić, said that it is much easier to build a house when the foundations are strong. Our exceptional professors have laid the foundations for us, and we truly strive to renew the pillars of our house every year by rejuvenating and improving the academic staff. I wish all FON students a lot of success in their further education, and I wish the students who graduated from the faculty, our ambassadors, a lot of success in continuing their professional careers.”
The awarded students are Đorđe Ivanović, Dušan Tavić, Nevena Cvijović, Veljko Uskoković, Jovana Starović, Aleksandra Tepavčević, and Anja Dimitrijević.
