News from management

Dear staff at SDU,

Trees and shrubs are now bursting with beautiful autumn colours, and we have now begun the last quarter of the year. In many ways, 2020 has been radically different than we expected. And this is also true in recent weeks in September and October, which have seen a rekindled debate on unwanted sexual attention – also in academia – and continued restrictions to curb COVID-19. Read more about this below.

Unwanted sexual attention is unacceptable

At the ‘Zulu Comedy Galla’ on 6 September, TV host Sofie Linde told about a case of sexual harassment while she was working as an intern at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. Many have rightly acknowledged Sofie Linde’s courage to stand out with her personal #MeToo experience. Subsequently, many women have come forward with similar experiences. This applies, for example, in the media industry, the publishing industry, the music industry and not least in political life.

Universities are not exempt from cases of unwanted sexual attention. A large number of women came forward the daily newspaper Politiken on 8 October and told about their experiences at the universities.

Thank you to the many women at the universities for their courage and willingness to stand out.

As the rectorate, we strongly condemn any form of unwanted sexual attention that is exercised towards students and employees at SDU. Our aim has been and still is to create a study and work environment where employees and students do not experience this unacceptable and abusive behaviour.

Since the #MeToo wave rolled around in October 2017, we have initiated and implemented several initiatives at SDU. In the Workplace Assessment and the Study Environment Survey, staff and students, respectively, are asked about their experiences of unwanted sexual attention. A clear entry point for reporting has been established for students, which they may use to report any specific harassment episodes. The health and safety organisation has published a guide on dealing with unwanted sexual attention, and in a number of cases, SDU received an assessment from an independent external lawyer in specific cases.

We need to continue to prevent and take precautionary measures against unwanted sexual attention at SDU. SDU's Central Cooperation Committee will appoint a task force to update SDU's guidelines for dealing with unwanted sexual attention. The task force will establish a procedure that ensures that all specific cases of unwanted sexual attention are assessed with the cooperation of an independent external lawyer. Finally, the task force will provide suggestions on how we can work together on our culture and conduct towards each other, so that we may actively prevent unwanted sexual attention.

And to succeed will take more than rules and guidelines. As students, staff and managers at the University, we all have a responsibility to interact with each other with integrity – be it in the classroom, in the laboratory, in the lunch room, in the office, in the meeting room, at the coffee machine, at the conference, at the reception, at the Christmas party or at the summer party.

The prevention of sexual harassment and unwanted sexual attention at SDU will therefore be a theme that we will all be involved in from now on.

COVID-19

Another current major theme is, of course, COVID-19, which affects everyone's everyday life at the University.

In the September 2020 issue of News from Management, we wrote that we must prepare for the 'pendulum swinging back and forth' in the handling of COVID-19. At present, the continued restrictions and limitations probably make us feel as if the pendulum is stuck on one side. You know the reason: Continued daily infection rates of between 400-600 people in Denmark and the authorities' caution in opening up to social activities that can lead to uncontrollable spread of infection. Unfortunately, many countries in Europe and the world have recently seen high infection rates. This increases the likelihood that the Danish authorities will also continue to exercise caution, which unfortunately can affect our everyday lives at the University in the coming months.

At SDU, we have also seen cases of infection. This comes as no surprise. With generally increasing infection rates in Denmark, we expect that SDU will also have cases of infection among our 26,500 students and 6,400 employees. We hope those of you who have been infected have pulled through and are well.

Source: Reported cases of infection among students and staff at SDU.

Nevertheless, there are a few bright spots in an otherwise gloomy autumn marked by COVID-19:

• For the last three weeks, the number of cases of infection per week at SDU has been much smaller than the first four weeks of September.
• The vast majority of infected persons caught the virus outside SDU. Only in very few cases have we seen infection spread in relation to SDU – e.g. in study groups with close contact between students.

Please allow us to commend you for the very great effort and perseverance that you have put into creating a safe and secure place to study and work. You have all contributed to complying with the guidelines and made everyday life work in difficult circumstances, and your efforts have been absolutely crucial. A HUGE THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!

As management, we are generally concerned that both students and staff get through the many restrictions and limitations that continue to impact on our everyday lives. We have listened to your desire for guidelines with greater stability and longer durability. SDU's management has therefore also approved guidelines for teaching activities until the summer of 2021 on the basis of new guidelines from the Ministry of Higher Education andScience of 5 October 2020.

In spite of the conditions, we hope that you are able to keep your chins up and maintain study and work satisfaction. And we look forward the day when we can gather once again on our campuses in Sonderborg, Esbjerg, Kolding, Odense, Slagelse and Copenhagen.

Many warm autumn greetings,

The Rectorate

Henrik Dam
Rector

Sebastian H. Mernild
Pro-rector

Thomas Buchvald Vind
University Director