Week 41 - Ongoing information about the analysis of the study administration

The analysis of the study administration, which was announced on SDUnet on 23 September, 2022 (see link to the news item here), has begun, and many managers and employees have shown interest in knowing more about the analysis and further work. Therefore, during the analysis period a weekly news item about the project will be published every Thursday at 12 noon, in which interested parties can read about the work in progress. All information will be gathered on SDUnet on this page, where you can read the various news items and other information about the project.

In this week’s news item, you can read about the organisation of the analysis, the status of the analysis, the timetable and the New SIS.

 Organisation of the analysis

The organisation of the analysis consists of a steering committee, a working group and a consultancy firm.

The steering committee has overall responsibility for the analysis and makes executive decisions about the progress of the analysis. When the analysis is complete, the steering committee will prepare a recommendation to the Executive Board on the further process and any decisions.

The working group will help qualify the analysis framework and the consultancy firm’s ongoing findings from the analysis. The working group is composed of people who represent different perspectives on SDU’s study administration (see the latest news item, in which the members of the working group are presented).

It has been deemed not necessary to involve all faculties or all areas of the Central Administration in the steering committee or the working group. The composition of both the steering committee and the working group has been designed to represent different perspectives on study administration. The members of the steering committee and the working group are therefore not there to represent their faculty or their own area but to contribute with the perspective they have in respect of their different roles in the field of education.

The consultancy firm Carve is carrying out the analysis by collecting information and data, entering into dialogue with various managers at SDU and preparing recommendations for what SDU’s study administration should be able to do going forward. Carve has experience in the university area and is also involved in the process work of the national SIS programme, which will replace STADS in the coming years.

The project owner of the analysis is the University Director, and the analysis is serviced by the Rector’s Office.

Status of the analysis and analysis design

The steering committee held its first meeting with Carve on 29 September to start the analysis, and the working group held its first meeting with Carve on Tuesday 11 October.

Carve and SDU will use the first 2–3 weeks together to gather various information about the existing task solutions of the study administration at SDU. Study administration should be understood very broadly in terms of tasks and services that support the education programmes at

SDU. Once the information has been gathered, Carve will prepare a proposal for an analysis framework, which will be qualified by the working group and approved by the steering committee.

The analysis framework will be used to carry out a survey at SDU of which tasks are solved within the study administration and which resources are used to solve these tasks. At the same time, information will be gathered about population and activity on SDU’s full-time and part-time education programmes. The resource statement will include the specified purpose accounts that SDU submits annually to Universities Denmark. Through interviews with managers at SDU, the resource estimates will be qualified and distributed among the tasks included in the analysis framework.

In parallel with the survey, Carve will initiate a process that will lead to the formulation of a vision for what SDU’s study administration can do in the long term. The vision will be formulated in a close dialogue with the steering committee, the working group and other stakeholders in the education area. The vision is intended to help guide SDU in the handling of external factors in the form of political reforms about admissions and regionalisation, increased focus on continuing and further education, internationalisation, a demographic development with fewer students and a new study administration system to replace STADS. On this basis, Carve will prepare recommendations for future organisation and governance, as well as system, process and data ownership within the study administration.

Timetable

The steering committee and Carve have agreed that the analysis will be submitted by December at the latest. Originally, the plan was to submit the analysis before the end of November, but since the process has started a little later than planned the submission date has been moved to December. In the coming weeks, Carve will prepare a more detailed timetable for the analysis period leading up to December.

When the analysis has been submitted, the steering committee will prepare proposals for the further process and any decisions on the basis of the analysis. Involvement, dialogue and decisions are scheduled for the entire first quarter of 2023. Depending on the decisions made, implementation may start during the second quarter of 2023.

New SIS

In parallel with the analysis of the study administration, several people at SDU are also involved in the New SIS programme. You can read more about New SIS here: https://sdunet.dk/da/ledelse-og-strategi/projekter/nyt-sis. In the near future, managers may receive requests to provide information and input for both the analysis of the study administration and for SDU’s New SIS programme. We kindly ask for your understanding in this matter.

Thomas Buchvald Vind

University Director
Project owner and Chair of the steering committee for the analysis of the study administration