The Rectorate’s Column
Why a Rectorate newsletter?
If you are reading these lines, it means that you have clicked on and opened the first edition of the Rectorate’s newsletter at SDU. Thank you! I can well understand if you’re thinking: ‘Yet another newsletter? Why do we need that? I already get heaps of newsletters as it is. How can I unsubscribe from the Rectorate’s newsletter?’
We in the Rectorate have decided to launch a new newsletter that will provide a range of information about current activities and discussions at the University. The main reason is that we want to strengthen the University’s communication culture, and to a significant extent we have a solid foundation in the good work done by the working group, which over the past year has drawn up recommendations for SDU’s future communication.
Specifically, it is my hope that first of all the newsletter will contribute to strengthening our collective SDU identity. A solid knowledge of activities at different levels, campuses and in different parts of the organisation is, in my view, a crucial basis for employees to identify with the University and not ‘just’ their research group, administrative unit or department. A strong shared SDU identity makes a strong University.
Secondly, it is my wish that the newsletter will promote the general availability of information at the University so that more people feel informed in a timely manner about new initiatives and activities. Timely information is essential for employees to be aware of new opportunities and challenges, and it is also a necessary starting point for an inclusive and broad dialogue on important topics and decisions.
Thirdly, I hope that the newsletter can contribute to strengthening the interdisciplinary dialogue at SDU. For good reason, we often work in relatively narrow research environments, but many of us can also recognise that collaboration across professional areas can be fruitful. However, the condition for this type of collaboration is knowledge about what is being done in other specialised environments.
Finally, I would like to emphasise that it is very important to us that the Rectorate’s newsletter does not develop into a southern Danish version of Pravda from the 1980s. We will of course share good stories in the newsletter, but there should also be room for critical voices and concerns. Therefore, in addition to news and a column by the Rectorate, the newsletter will also include a regular column for students and staff. In this first version of the newsletter, student Rikke Staal Rasbøl, MSc in Business Administration, and Mette Præst Knudsen, professor and chairperson of the University Council, have contributed columns.
Happy reading!
