An excellent start

Rector Jens Ringsmose claims that the sun always shines on SDU. This is not necessarily wrong, although I have had to use my umbrella many times since I started working at SDU.

And what a welcome you have given me. Rarely have I been met by so many talented and friendly people, who all appreciate that the learning curve is quite steep during the first period of a new job. 

Although I am still in the midst of the introductory programme, I have gained an initial impression of the structure of the Central Administration and how it interacts with the faculty administrations.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of having a meeting with the managers from our administrative collaboration interfaces. I left the meeting with a good feeling and with the impression that the ambitions are high and the insight is deep. 

It could reasonably be argued that I should not be giving my perspectives on our joint administrative ambitions already on day 25; but I can’t help it. However, I share the perspectives with an enormous respect for what SDU is and for the Administration that has been developed over the years by others. I will point out three key benchmarks in our daily administrative work.

Firstly, it is absolutely crucial that we always lift our gaze and look out into the world. We must never forget that we support research, education and innovation so that SDU creates value for and with society. We are not here to serve ourselves – we are here to serve others.

Secondly, we must always strive for the highest possible professional level in our respective administrative areas. The Central Administration must provide reliable task solutions and sound expert guidance.

Thirdly, and as a natural extension of the previous points, the cohesion across the Central Administration and the rest of the organisation is an indisputable point of departure. We should make sure to use each other when multiple professional perspectives will contribute to better task solution.

In the writing of this column, I have spent a long time thinking about how I could respectfully touch on the exceptionally delicate task of taking over the position of University Director from Thomas Buchvald Vind. I met Thomas several times in my previous job, and in addition to his great professional capacity he was a genuinely pleasant person to work with. It is clear to me that he left a significant imprint on SDU. I am well aware that replacing him will be no easy task. 

When the sun shines on SDU, this is largely due to the foundations Thomas helped build. My ambition is to help make sure the sun keeps shining on SDU and to work with you to help ensure that SDU continues to be a place where ambitions, collaborations and results can grow.