The Rectorate’s Column
Summer greetings from the Rectorate
Summer is upon us. In these parts, the month of June goes together with bright nights, strawberries, high school graduation parades in decorated lorries, exams, new graduates (and proud parents), festivals, blackbirds singing at 3.45 in the morning, new potatoes and Midsommervisen, a Danish song traditionally sung at the midsummer bonfires. Even people with a penchant for pessimism are struggling to stay gloomy.
June is also the month in which the academic year draws to an end, with all the associated last-minute meetings, the exam papers to mark and the papers to finalise and submit before we can leave the office behind for a while. It is the familiar race to finish all tasks before the summer holidays.
But the summer holidays and the end of the academic year are also a good time to take stock. The Rectorate would like to express our great and sincere appreciation for the great efforts that have been made across all of SDU over the past year.
These days, when we meet colleagues and partners from other institutions, businesses and organisations, they often remark that ‘SDU is developing fantastically well at the moment’. And it is true. In many ways and in many areas, we are developing in a very positive direction. However, this is only the case because you – the people who populate the University – are pulling SDU in the right direction every single day. Whether it is research, education, innovation, administration, building maintenance and development or something else entirely. So once again: thank you for your efforts! You are the reason that the sun shines so beautifully on SDU.
This brings us to the year that awaits us when we return from our summer holidays. We cannot promise that it will be any calmer than the past year. But in the Rectorate, we are confident that the positive trends will continue. With regard to education, 13 percent more people than last year have accepted the place they were offered on one of SDU’s master’s degree programmes; and overall, the preliminary application figures for the BA programmes look rather promising. With regard to research, there will most likely be even more of it due to a steady increase in external funding. And the list goes on.
The sum of the many positive trends contributes to a general narrative of a strong University that creates considerable value for the surrounding society through high quality. We should be very pleased with that. It is good to create considerable value. But it is even better to create considerable value and be recognised for it.
Thank you for the past year. We wish everyone a great summer holiday. And we look forward to continuing the promising development when we return from the holidays.
Have a great summer!
The Rectorate
