HoD News - 10 February 2022

Dear colleagues,

Campus life is slowly returning, and all teaching activities, and most meetings and seminars, are now on-site. In the coming weeks, there will still be staff and students who need to isolate due to Covid infection, and as mentioned previously, teaching staff may choose to convert to online teaching if self-isolation is necessary. 

Follow-up Post Corona work survey

In the autumn, LSU and Departmental Forum initiated a survey amongst employees at the Department to provide an overview of perceptions and views regarding experiences with working from home and working from office. I would like to thank everybody for contributing to the survey. The results have been discussed in all sections, and at LSU and Departmental Forum meetings as well as in the Management Team.

A conclusion to be drawn from the survey is that employees generally appreciate flexibility, although the survey also shows that most junior faculty and PhD students prefer to work less from home compared to senior faculty. Also, it is a general view that there is no need for a departmental attendance policy and that people wish to return to a work-life similar to pre-corona.

I agree that flexibility is a key aspect of the way we work and an important element of the work-life balance of many of our colleagues - and this flexibility should be maintained. But it is also important that physical attendance is significant, so that everyone contributes to the daily departmental life and interaction with colleagues, students, visitors and so on. Aarhus University is an on-site campus, and from my perspective, the benefits of in-person and on-site interaction are of crucial value to ECON as a workplace.

Hybrid and remote ways of working demonstrate that there is a need to draw attention to the fact that the individual employee must make sure that it is clear how and when he or she can be met (in office or online), so that colleagues and students do not go in vain several times. A common view expressed in the survey is that colleagues should keep their Outlook calendar up to date and clearly state if they are working remotely. This also goes for the small notice board outside the office door.

In conclusion, let me briefly outline a few upcoming items that are on the agenda within the coming months. In the early spring, the University will conduct the workplace assessment (APV in Danish), which is held every three years. You will receive more information about this questionnaire later this month. As mentioned previously, the Department Management plans for a one-day ECON meeting in late March. The programme will be announced within the coming weeks. We are looking very much forward to this event academically as well as socially.

Niels