Collaboration between the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences and SDU Business School

Hanne and Jacob: It's spring Easter is just around the corner. We hope you will enjoy the days off - whether you are doing absolutely nothing, celebrating Easter with family and friends, taking for a walk in the garden, relaxing in the summer house or something completely different. When we arrive in early April after this well-deserved break, we will reach an important milestone in our new organisation with SDU Business School becoming an independent unit.

Jacob: As the new Director of the business school, my first working day will be right after Easter. I look forward to visiting all four campus cities during my first time at SDU. This also means that we can move ahead, make decisions and continue developing the work involved in creating two independent, yet closely connected units. We recognize that many of you have felt in a waiting position until now.

Hanne and Jacob: Until 1 September, we will work in close partnership between our two managements. We do this to ensure a mutual understanding of the decisions that are made.

Jacob: Until the business school stands on its own two feet in September, I will as It´s new leader - gain valuable insight into the strategic initiatives at SDU level by participating as an observer on The Executive Board.

Jacob: An important task that I will prioritise from the start is the organisation of the research environment. The working group looking at the academic organisation has done thorough preparatory work, and while the proposal for the organisation of our administrative part has been undergoing a hearing, the time has now come for the research organisation, and here you can of course expect a participatory process with consultation along the way.

Hanne and Jacob: In the time leading up to 1 September, we need to get to know each other better so that we can support one another in the work of developing the two faculties. We know each other from Aarhus BSS and have met each other in connection with the recruitment process, but we've already found time for a coffee together in Aarhus. In addition to the fact that we will likely meet each other on the train platform during the early morning hours from time to time, we also have a common strategic ambition. It's about creating knowledge, perspective and solutions to complex societal challenges. We do this with leading researchers and by actively developing and prioritising our education programmes and creating close relationships with the business community.

Hanne and Jacob: To succeed in creating visibility around the societal agendas in which we must and should play a role, we need to work closely together as two units to fulfil initiatives and strategic ambitions. We are working together to strengthen the two units in the areas where we have a common interest.

The advantage of being organised as two independent units is that together we can have a stronger voice in the public debate while clearly distinguishing the social sciences from the business area. This will help us to present a clear and distinct voice in the 'dry' areas related to the societal challenges we face.

Jacob: As the new Director of SDU Business School, I bring experience from a comparable background from Aarhus University as head of department at a department with a strong strategic position. This means that I am familiar with many of the tasks that will be a central part of the business school for example, accreditation work. I come from a broad organisation that is very similar to SAMF, which means that disciplines such as economics, political science and law are recognisable to me when it comes to cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Jacob: One of the things I can particularly contribute is my extensive experience of working with strategic partnerships in the development of education programmes and working with lifelong learning. These are areas where it's natural for SDU Business School to be a frontrunner, so it's obvious to look at how we can develop the area for the benefit of us both.

Hanne and Jacob: We have a shared ambition that the business school area should not only be directed towards the private sector and social sciences towards the public sector. This is an area where we can complement each other. The same applies when it comes to funding. We are currently experiencing a shift from education towards research and an increased economic and political interest in the wet areas, which affects both units, and here we have a common interest in looking at our resources and opportunities and how we can be strong together. Collaboration must be based on mutual respect and trust, supporting one another and drawing on each other´s strengths when it makes sense, so that we can create the best possible solutions together.