ST to split up – but how?
At a staff meeting for ST employees, Rector Brian Bech Nielsen elaborated on his reasons for deciding to divide ST in two, and he presented a schedule for the process.
![[Translate to English:] Rektor Brian Bech Nielsen fortalte om sine ideer med at dele ST i to på et ST-medarbejdermøde, der blev streamet til blandt andet Foulum og Flakkebjerg. .](/fileadmin/_processed_/0/a/csm_Udklip_eee82a2f66.jpg "[Translate to English:] Rektor Brian Bech Nielsen fortalte om sine ideer med at dele ST i to på et ST-medarbejdermøde, der blev streamet til blandt andet Foulum og Flakkebjerg.")
Rector Brian Bech Nielsen has decided to split Science and Technology in two. The question now is what the two parts will comprise. After a meeting for all ST staff on 19 February 2019, the question is still open.
The reason for initiating yet another restructuring exercise is that the rector believes that ST is too large in its own right and in relation to the other three faculties – and with the extensive efforts within the area of engineering, the prospect is that ST would grow even more. The fact that one of the faculties represents almost half of the whole university’s finances skews the balance when the university management sits around the conference table. At the same time, the rector would like to see AU’s engineering activities made more visible.
How the new structure of ST will pan out is still not decided, and the rector said that all options are open. However, he did point out that some things are certain:
- There will be no changes to the structure of the departments or centres. However, the construction of Bioscience and Molecular Biology and Genetics, respectively, can be debated.
- Staff will not be moved between departments.
- There will be no more than two faculties.
- The two new faculties will have approximately the same size.
- No one will be fired as a result of the changes. On the contrary, maybe more people will be hired in.
- There will be no changes to the present moving and building plans.
A challenge will be to structure the administrative tasks so that none of them are overlooked and duplication is avoided as much as possible. Brian Bech Nielsen was not averse to hiring more people to solve the administrative tasks in two faculties instead of just one. He ensured it will not be a problem.
AU’s new strategy must be complete by December 2019 – and it will be apply to five faculties. This means that the new structure in ST must be in place relatively soon. There is a schedule for the process and it looks like this:
Schedule for restructuring ST
20/2-5/3 – The rector and ST’s faculty management will discuss the possibilities and prepare a proposal.
5/3-28/3 – The rector will visit ST’s departments and centres and discuss what will happen with the staff.
28/3-8/4 – The proposal will be discussed and adjusted.
25/4 – The proposal will be presented to AU’s board of directors
26/4-20/5 – The proposal will be in a hearing
22/5 – The proposal will be fine-tuned
August – The two dean positions will be advertised
1/1/2020 – The two new deans are in place.
With regard to the faculties’ administration, the administrative groups (HR, finances, IT, communication, etc.) will discuss and analyse the possibilities from August to November before the final decision is taken in December 2019. Much of 2020 will be set by for phasing in the changes.
You can see how the meeting went by following the link here (in Danish).