HoD News - 12 March 2018
Dear colleagues,
To follow up on my announced plans for office relocations, I have met with most sections to discuss the relocation process.
I still need to meet with the administrative section and the NCRR, who will be less affected by the relocation; the meeting with the administration will be on 19 March, and I plan to arrange the meeting with NCRR soon. The section heads are going to meet with their sections within the coming weeks to discuss the relocation plans and to decide who will be given preference as regards moving to the new macro environment, which is to be established in the upper south corridor in building 2632(L). I know that there might be different views in this regard, but I prefer discussions to take place locally within the sections without my interference. My plan sets the general frames for the relocation, and to the extent possible, I will leave micro level decisions to the sections and their members. Once a further overview has been established, the next step will be to allocate the offices with local involvement.
In connection with assessment committee selections and recruitment decisions, the head of department is supposed to consult colleagues who are not in the management team for their views (medarbejderinddragelse). So far, this process has been arranged on an ad hoc basis. However, to ensure that the recruitment process from start to end takes place as smoothly as possible with no significant delays, and to involve colleagues in decisions, I have decided to appoint a support committee for employer involvement within the department. I have asked the section heads to suggest members from their section to participate in this committee work. The purpose of the standing committee is to assist the head of department with feedback and views in relation to the assessment and recruitment decisions. The final decisions are still the responsibility of the head of department, of course, but it is important to receive input in the process and to include views from the employees to support decisions. Similarly, the management team will be involved in decisions.
In connection with the merger of Aarhus University and Aarhus School of Business and the establishment of new departments, it was decided to have a Core Business Committee (CBC) to focus on education programmes, activities, and the promotion of the business area within Aarhus BSS. The former CBC consisted of the heads of department from ECON, MGMT and BTECH as well as the dean and the pro-dean for research. However, this construction may appear odd given that Aarhus BSS is promoted as a broad business school and the fact that Aarhus BSS as whole now has received the three major accreditations, EQUIS, AMBA, and AACSB. As a consequence, it has been decided to replace the CBC with the Aarhus BSS-business committee (Aarhus BSS-erhvervsudvalg), which consists of the dean and the two pro-deans, the new associate dean for corporate relations, the department heads at Aarhus BSS, together with the division manager of Aarhus BSS External Relations.
Niels Haldrup