Corporate Governance

As Switzerland’s expert organization for vocational education and training, the Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training (SFUVET) holds a unique position in the collaborative partnership between the three main VPET system stakeholders: it sees itself as an interface between professional organisations, cantonal policymaking and government bodies, and training providers at both upper-secondary and tertiary levels. As such, it seeks to build a bridge between the Swiss VPET system and the Swiss higher education sector. 

The SFUVET Act of 25 September 2020 establishes SFUVET’s remit as a federal university of teacher education. This remit includes the following: providing initial and continuing training to teachers and other VET professionals; conducting VPET research; and providing support and guidance services for the creation, review and revision of training programmes. SFUVET thus performs important tasks that are assigned to the federal government under the Federal Vocational and Professional Education and Training Act (VPETA). 

SFUVET is subject to political oversight by the Federal Council and the Federal Parliament. The main frames of reference for this are the Federal Council Dispatch on the Promotion of Education, Research and Innovation (ERI Dispatch) and the Federal Council’s corresponding strategic objectives, which are adapted in accordance with this dispatch. 

As the strategic management body, the SFUVET Board is responsible for ensuring that strategic objectives are met, for establishing the budget and for submitting annual reports to the Federal Council. The SFUVET Board also supervises the SFUVET Executive Committee and appoints its members, with one exception: the Federal Council’s approval is required in order to appoint or dismiss the SFUVET Director General. 

The SFUVET Director General and Executive Committee are responsible for operational management. Their main tasks include managing and co-ordinating SFUVET training courses and services and representing SFUVET in dealings with the outside world. The Executive Committee reports regularly to the SFUVET Board and provides it with the basis for strategic decisions. The members of the Executive Committee are: 

• Dr. Barbara Fontanellaz, Director General 
• Jean-Pierre Perdrizat, Deputy Director / National Head of Centre for the Development of Occupations / National Head of Continuing Training Division a.i. / Regional Head of SFUVET Lausanne 
• Dr. Laura Perret Ducommun, National Head of Basic Training Division 
• Prof. Dr. Carmen Baumeler, National Head of Research and Development Division 
• Pierre-André Schenkel, National Head of Services Division 

Vested interests and how they are handled  

According to the SFUVET Act and the federal government’s Corporate Governance Guidelines, the SFUVET Board is required to disclose information in the Annual Report on the vested interests of its members and measures taken to mitigate any conflicts of interest.  

SFUVET Board members are required to regularly notify the SFUVET Board of any changes to their vested interests, secondary mandates and memberships. Regular reviews are carried out to ensure compatibility with SFUVET Board membership (pursuant to Art. 9, para. 6 SFUVET Act). Specifically, vested interests, secondary mandates and memberships must not result in any conflicts of interest or create any reputational risks for SFUVET. The mandates and memberships of SFUVET Board members are published on both Confederation and SFUVET websites and are updated on an ongoing basis. 

The mandates and memberships of the SFUVET Director General and the other members of the Executive Committee are also reported on an ongoing basis, reviewed and – insofar as this complies with the provisions of the Federal Personnel Act and the Management Salaries Ordinance – approved. The vested interests of the members of the Executive Committee are published on the SFUVET website. 

The proactive handling of vested interests – immediate notification of changes, abstention in the event of potential bias – was addressed at one of the SFUVET Board’s regular meetings in the 2022 reporting year. The SFUVET Board also conducted a self-evaluation based on the ‘job requirements profile for SFUVET Board members’, which had been approved by the Federal Council. The SFUVET Board pointed out that all requirements have been met with regard to the board as a whole, to individual members and to the Chair.  

Remuneration of SFUVET Board members 

In 2022, the Chair of the SFUVET Board received a gross salary of CHF 55,000 for his 30% position (corresponding to an annual salary of CHF 183,333 for 100%). In addition, SFUVET paid social insurance contributions of CHF 10,432, in accordance with SFUVET’s Personnel Ordinance and the regulations of the Swiss Federal Pension Fund. The other members of the SFUVET Board, including the Vice Chair, are not employed by SFUVET. In total, these eight members of the SFUVET Board were paid lump-sum fees of CHF 45,000 for 2022. In addition, the Chair of the SFUVET Board and the other Board members were reimbursed for their actual expenses in accordance with the provisions of the FDF Ordinance of 6 December 2001 to the Federal Personnel Ordinance (FPersO-FDF), which also apply to SFUVET employees. 

Members of SFUVET Board 

The SFUVET Board currently consists of nine members appointed by the Federal Council. With one Italian-speaking, two French-speaking and six German-speaking members, Switzerland’s linguistic regions are adequately represented according to their share of the Swiss population. Moreover, gender parity within the SFUVET Board has practically been reached, i.e. five men and four women. The composition of the SFUVET Board remained stable in 2022. The current period of office of the SFUVET Board will continue until the end of 2023. The listed mandates/memberships apply for the year 2022. 

Mandates/memberships: 

• Member of the SUVA Council 
• Board member of compenswiss (compensation fund for OSI/DI/LEA) 
• Member of Economic Policy Commission (federal extra-parliamentary attached to EAER) 
• President of Police Officers Association of the Canton of Bern (PVBK) 
• Member of Security Contact Committee for the Canton of Bern and Communes 
• Board member of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) (as President of Travail.Suisse) 
• Member of Administration of the Swiss Travel Fund Reka (as President of Travail.Suisse) 
• Board member of ‘Interessengemeinschaft Angehörigenbetreuung’ (as President of Travail.Suisse) 
• Board member of Formation-ARC.Suisse (as President of Travail.Suisse) 
• Member of Joint Arbitration Committee of Swiss Post (as President of Travail.Suisse) 
• Member of Foundation Board of the Swiss Substitute Occupational Benefit Institution (BVG) (as President of Travail.Suisse) 
• Member of Advisory Board of Compasso Foundation (as President of Travail.Suisse) 
• Member of the Economics Department of the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH) (as President of Travail.Suisse) 
• Board member of Wüthrich Haustechnik AG 
• Board member of ZAR AG training centre in Aarwangen 

Mandates/memberships:  

• Vice-President of ‘Amici della RSI’ association 
• Examiner for commercial schools in the Canton of Ticino 
• Examiner for cantonal baccalaureate school in Lugano and Mendrisio 

Mandates/memberships:  

• Member of Association and Committee: SwissSkills Bern 
• Examiner for the ‘Vocational Education and Training Specialist, Federal Diploma of Higher Education’ qualification 
• Member of the Foundation Board of SwissSkills*  
• Chairman of the Board of Hotel & Gastro Formation’s Intercantonal Cooking School (IFK) in Weggis*  ​​​​​​​

Mandates/memberships:  

• Committee member of the Swiss Conference of Vocational School Directors (SDK-CSD) 
• Member of the foundation board of ‘Le Repuis’, Grandson 
• Member of the foundation board of ‘Technopôle Micro Manufacturing Center’, Sainte-Croix 
• Member of the International Association of University Pedagogy (AIPU) ​

Mandates/memberships:  

• Member of a specialised commission of the Swiss Conference of Higher Education Institutions (SHK) 
• Advisor to the Swiss Conference of Higher Education Institutions (SHK), convening either in council meetings or in plenary session 
• Board member, Intercantonal College for Therapeutic Pedagogy (HfH), Zürich 
• Vice-President of the Council of the Roman Catholic Church, Canton Aargau

Mandates/memberships:  

• Member of the local research commission (RC) of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) 
• Council vice-chairman, Institute of Multilingualism (University of Fribourg and Fribourg University of Teacher Education) 
• Member of Scientific Advisory Board, FHNW University of Teacher Education 
• Various expert assignments for national and international bodies 
• Editor and consultant for international scientific journals 

Mandates/memberships:  

• Canton Zürich Charitable Foundation: Board member, responsible for scholarships and financial aid 

Mandates/memberships:  

• None

Mandates/memberships:  

• Member of the Board of Directors of KV Bildungsgruppe Schweiz AG 
• President of the School’s Council, Wirtschaftsschule KV Zürich 
• Committee member of the Canton of Zurich's VPET Fund

* Held office until end of 2022.