
Education seminar: Cutbacks of DKK 2.7 million to education and teaching
The Faculty's Study Board, the departments' teaching committees, the Academic Council and the Management Group gathered once again on 7 June, this time in the new field and research station in Svanninge Bjerge.
The education seminar was planned as a follow-up to the seminar held on 25-26 January in Fredericia and cutbacks to teaching and education were on the agenda. The day in Svanninge Bjerge was used to discuss how we will implement cutbacks of DKK 2.7 million which the Faculty needs to make on education and teaching. The day's objective was also to think across the Faculty as well as ensuring that the planned cutbacks did not have detrimental consequences in other areas of the organisation.
Before the seminar, the teaching committees had done a great deal of preparatory work, and they each gave a presentation of how they expected to implement the cutbacks in each department. During the presentations, the other participants contributed with feedback on what they heard.
Some of the proposals from the departments included:
- Reduction of lessons taught by DVIP or instructors
- Optimisation of laboratory courses or adjustment of number of laboratory exercises
- Changes to class sizes, overbooking of classes
- Fewer external examiners
- Fewer lecture hours for students
- More use of PhD students and postdocs for teaching
- Increased Student FTE earnings by reducing drop out and increasing completion
See all cutback proposals in the teaching committees' presentations (pdf - in Danish only).
Dean Martin Zachariasen was very positively surprised about how the day went:
"It was great to see how enthusiastically the members of staff approached the task - despite the slightly grim objective. The teaching committees had done a lot of work on inclusivity throughout the departments. If everybody helps to find good solutions, we can better secure the continued high quality of our study programmes in the future. As dean, for me it was very inspiring to see the great willingness to come up with joint solutions and shared responsibility that I experienced at the seminar," says Martin Zachariasen.
The day was suffused with a constructive atmosphere, and all of the participants made an effort to look critically at all of the proposals. Nothing seemed to be left to chance, and there was a great willingness to give each other feedback. The event concluded with the departments preparing their first draft of a time and action plan for the cutbacks, based on feedback from the other departments. This is particularly to ensure the necessary follow-up so that we achieve the cutback targets.
"On seeing how professionally and responsibly everybody approached the task at the seminar, I have full confidence in our reaching the cutback targets. As dean, I will always take the lead, but I can't do it alone, and I will at all times need goodwill and support from staff members if we are to deliver visible and valuable science in the future," concludes Martin Zachariasen.
The next step now is for the departments to work on their proposals and in the coming months mould the proposals into a concrete action plan. These action plans will then be presented to the Faculty's management group in September, and following this the plans will be implemented in the individual departments.