The Executive Board has decided to initiate a restructuring of SDU’s study administration across departments, faculties and the Central Administration. The restructuring is intended to help improve the efficiency of the study administration and prepare the University to implement the new student information system, Eduhub.

Eduhub is a brand-new and standardised student information system that SDU is developing and implementing together with six other Danish universities. The university collaboration is called New SIS. The universities have mutually committed to adopting 100% common processes, which calls for significant changes in the administrative processes and workflows that we know today. Many processes in the study administration will need to be standardised at SDU, which will streamline and optimise the use of resources in the study administration.

Background

The framework conditions of SDU are changing as a result of changing political, economic, demographic and technological conditions. In particular, the anticipated decline in the number of full-time students, political reforms in education and the imminent replacement of STADS with a new student information system (Eduhub) necessitate a transformation of the overall study administrative structure.

At the same time, the University is undergoing a shift in the educational landscape; where greater emphasis will be put on laboratory-intensive disciplines, international students and the provision of education at SDU’s campuses in Jutland.

The vision for the transformation is centred around people and the results should be tangible for students and lecturers alike. The solutions we arrive at must not be perceived as a deterioration in the quality and service currently offered.

Students and lecturers should therefore experience a study administration that provides high levels of service and quality. This will be achieved through a high degree of self-service solutions, ensuring a user experience free of hassle, uncertainty and detours, and by correctly allocating tasks between lecturers and study administrative staff.

This leads us to the following vision for the study administration at SDU:

SDU’s overall study administration must continually create value and deliver high quality through continuous improvement, coherence and efficiency.

The Executive Board, comprising the Rectorate and the deans, makes all key decisions related to the restructuring efforts, based on recommendations by the steering committee.

To head the restructuring efforts, a steering committee has been set up and tasked with the analysis, development and implementation of solutions. It is also responsible for local involvement, realisation and achievement of goals. The steering committee consists of management representatives from the Rectorate, all faculties as well as SDU Education:

• Thomas Buchvald Vind, project owner (University Director, Central Administration)
• Stinne Hørup Hansen, chair of the steering committee (Deputy Director of Studies, SDU Education)
• Annette Schmidt, member of the steering committee (Head of Secretariat, Faculty of Business and Social Sciences)
• Mads Funding, member of the steering committee (Head of Secretariat, Faculty of Humanities)
• Merete Munk, member of the steering committee (Head of Education and Head of Secretariat, Faculty of Health Sciences)
• Niels Kring, member of the steering committee (Head of Secretariat, Faculty of Science)
• Kirsten Præstegaard, member of the steering committee (Head of Secretariat, Faculty of Engineering)
• Maria Vonsild, project manager (SDU Education)

The restructuring will not include all task areas within the study administration. In March 2025, the Executive Board decided on the following focus areas for the continued work:

1. Choice of study (marketing, recruitment, events)
2. Applications and admissions (particularly international and EVU students, as well as support in relation to academic assessments) 
3. Teaching and examinations (especially timetable planning/room booking and the overall planning and execution of examinations) 
4. Student communication, guidance and case processing (all types of guidance as well as dialogue and process in student cases) 
5. Programme regulations and course descriptions (templates, editing and approval processes)

The work will also include the geographical location of the tasks, and all types of students will be included as a target group.

The restructuring follows a provisional timetable, which may change as the work progresses.

The work on the selected task areas is organised into multiple tracks, which will run either in parallel or sequentially, each following four distinct phases:

The first task of the steering committee has been to develop proposals for defining the scope of the restructuring, to be submitted for decision by the Executive Board (Phase 0). The selected task fields will be analysed in more detail in Phase 1. In Phase 1, the steering committee will ensure the involvement of subject-matter experts and the heads of division from the Central Administration whose process areas fall within the scope. After this, proposed solutions can be prepared (Phase 2), after which changes are implemented (Phase 3) and potentials are realised (Phase 4).

The overall phase plan is:

0. Scoping – defining the focus of the restructuring (February–March 2025)
1. Analysis and assessment of possible outcome spaces (May–June 2025)
2. Proposed solutions (starting on an ongoing basis from July 2025)
3. Implementation (starting on an ongoing basis from September 2025) 
4. Realisation (starting on an ongoing basis from January 2026 and to be concluded by the end of December 2026)

The efforts will focus on creating robust professional communities and coherence in tasks, skills and resources across SDU’s departments, faculties, the Central Administration and campuses. Therefore, productive cooperation and involvement of specialist knowledge are a prerequisite for the successful restructuring of SDU’s overall study administration.

We will involve students, lecturers and study administrative staff in different ways to ensure that specialist knowledge and user needs contribute to the solutions.

We will also continuously engage in dialogue with a reference group of employees, union representatives and managers. In addition, we will work on the ongoing involvement of various stakeholders, especially students.

News will be posted on the information page on an ongoing basis as the work on the restructuring progresses. The steering committee will endeavour to make a monthly update.

If you want to know more about the restructuring, please find more information in the materials below.

SDU’s 2030 strategy

The restructuring of SDU’s overall study administration contributes to the University’s 2030 strategy in terms of our strategy on education. It aims to ensure that SDU continues to attract and engage curious, motivated and talented young people by fostering excellent educational environments where talent and professionalism can thrive. We will also support lifelong learning for people in employment. This also includes developing an organisation that delivers quality through a high level of competence and resilient environments while continuously improving workflows and digital solutions.

You can read SDU’s 2030 strategy on the information page on SDUnet (opens in a new window).

New SIS (Eduhub)

We are facing an exciting time in which we must prepare SDU to implement a new student information system.

You can read more about New SIS (Eduhub) on the information page on SDUnet (opens in a new window).

Analysis of SDU’s study administration

In 2023, CARVE conducted a review of SDU’s study administration. This pointed to a large degree of task fragmentation, arbitrary organisational structures and a focus on the operation of regular education programmes.

You can read more about the analysis on the information page on SDUnet (opens in a new window).

Who will be responsible for which tasks?

The restructuring must strengthen our academic communities by placing tasks where it makes the most sense. Tasks that require a high degree of specialisation must be handled by specialists. Workflows with many subtasks should be allocated in a way that minimises the number of task switches between employees. This can lead to more specialisation, which will increase both the quality and opportunities for collegial discussions.

How can standard solutions meet the individual needs of faculties?

The new student information system, Eduhub, will provide standard solutions that require closer collaboration. The level of local adaptation we are accustomed to at SDU will be reduced. However, the faculties may have specific academic needs that we must take into account. It is therefore important to involve experts from the faculties to identify these needs.

What requirements does Eduhub place on SDU’s organisation of the study administration?

Eduhub has built-in default roles with standard rights and procedure descriptions. If we are to succeed in transitioning to the new system, we need to adapt our procedures and organisation to these standards. By standardising, we will free up resources to implement the new working method and gain the capacity to support special needs that require individual solutions.

If you have any questions or input on the restructuring, please feel free to contact us:

• Maria Vonsild, project manager (SDU Education)
  mcv@sdu.dk

• Stinne Hørup Hansen, chair of the steering committee (Deputy Director of Studies, SDU Education)
  stinne@sdu.dk