Dean's Column

September is always a special month at a university. It is when we truly get back into full swing after a period of holidays, research time, time for reflection, and departmental seminars, returning with renewed energy to take on the tasks ahead. It is also the beginning of a new semester, when we welcome both new and returning students.

This year, however, September was also the month when the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences said goodbye to SDU Business School and became the (new) Faculty of Social Sciences. Many of you at the departments may not have noticed much of a change, and in many ways, that is a good thing. During a major reorganisation, it is important to ensure that organisational matters do not distract us from our core tasks. The same applies to the Administration Centre, even though the organisational changes there have undoubtedly been more significant.

Behind the scenes, however, the division of the faculty has occupied much of our attention over the past several months, and we are now ready for faculty version 2.0: a new and sharper faculty with the same overall responsibilities, priorities, and ambitions as before, but with a clearer focus.

At the same time, I believe it is important that we are clear, both internally and externally, about who we are and what our strategic ambitions are. We have therefore launched a strategic planning process in which all of you will have the opportunity to contribute over the coming months. The process will culminate in a new faculty strategy early in the new year.

The new strategy should reflect the fact that the faculty now consists of the Department of Political Science and Public Management, the Department of Law, the Department of Economics, and the Digital Democracy Centre. This gives us the opportunity to establish an even clearer social science profile and to ensure that we have a strong voice in both research and collaboration with the wider society around us.

The organisational changes have also led me to adjust the faculty's leadership structure. Going forward, we will have a smaller Deanship consisting of Vice-Dean for Education Jan Guldager Jørgensen, Faculty Director Torben Durck Johansen, and myself. In addition, we have a Faculty Management Team which, alongside the Deanship, includes Heads of Department Lars Tønder (Political Science), Ole Hammerslev (Law), and Lone Grønbæk Jørgensen (Economics). The Digital Democracy Centre and the Vice-Heads of Departments for Education will also play important roles as strategic partners in the continued development of the faculty.

I am very much looking forward to closer collaboration with our Heads of Department, through which we will strengthen our shared ownership of the faculty's development. With the new leadership structure, we are bringing strategy and operations closer together. This will support better decision-making, incorporate a wider range of perspectives, and strengthen the flow of information between the faculty and departmental levels. At the same time, it will enhance our ability to turn shared decisions into action and create a clear sense of direction across the faculty. For you, I hope this will translate into a greater sense of proximity to leadership, more transparent decision-making processes, and a stronger connection between local needs and the faculty's strategic direction.

Now that the practical implications of the split are largely in place, I am very much looking forward to working together to unlock the faculty's full potential and to building a strong and attractive Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Southern Denmark for staff, students, and partners alike.