People first – Vision for SDU’s Study Administration

(Read more here.) In November and December, the Deputy Director of Studies visited employee and management representatives of the Central Liaison Committee, the University Council, the local liaison committees and SDU’s Administrative Leadership Team (ALT), which consists of the University Director, the heads of secretariat of the faculties, and the heads of division of the Central Administration.

At the meetings, the Deputy Director of Studies informed about the overall process of realigning the study administration and presented a proposal for a vision for SDU's entire study administration. The transformation is about how SDU’s study administration can be organised in a more cohesive and efficient manner. The value must be felt by SDU’s students, and this requires that both academic and technical/administrative staff find that the study administrative tasks can be solved without hassle, doubt and detours. Therefore, the focus in the transformation of the study administration will be to create coherence in tasks, skills and resources in SDU’s administration across departments, faculties and the Central Administration, as well as across the University's campuses.

The meetings in recent months provided a lot of valuable input, which will form part of our further work. For example, the dialogues called attention to the importance of putting people first in the study administration of the future. Specifically, it is about making it abundantly clear that the study administration exists to create value for the students. At the same time, it is important that the well-being and involvement of employees are included in the transformation. Finally, it is important to incorporate lessons learned from similar transformations, as a significant change task lies ahead for the managers concerned.

Engaged Dialogues

‘I would like to thank you for the good and engaged dialogues, which have provided us with many valuable inputs. Fundamentally, the feedback has been about ensuring an open and involving process, which will be key to our efforts going forward,’ says Stinne Hørup Hansen, Deputy Director of Studies.

‘The involvement of employees, managers and students will take place in different ways; on the one hand, we will ensure a structured involvement of relevant employees and managers through the organisation of the work, where, among other things, project groups with professional experts will be appointed. 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. The list is not exhaustive, but it will be one of the first tasks we will begin to clarify, Stinne Hørup Hansen explains.

The Next Steps

On 1 January, Maria Vonsild from SDU Education will start as project manager for the transformation. Maria Vonsild has extensive experience in implementing projects and has experience in institutional accreditation, test-based admission and New SIS.

In January, a start-up meeting will be held with the participation of the Deputy Director of Studies, heads of secretariat, heads of division and the University Director. They will work on the vision and discuss how to implement the transformation during 2025.

After that, an approval process will follow within the Executive Board, after which concrete actions will be announced and the initiation of work and involvement can begin.