HoD News - 25 February 2019
Dear colleagues,
Course coordination
The department management team is ready with a revised document regarding the future organisation and procedures for course coordination across the range of education programmes in which the department is involved. The revised document accounts for the input we received during the residential meeting in Horsens in November.
There will now be a hearing process within the individual sections, which ends on 14 March. The IOT and LPP sections are asked to coordinate their subsequent work. Later this week, the section heads will submit the full course coordination document and a pixi-version in power point format, and they will inform you about how the hearing process will be conducted in the individual sections.
It is important to stress that the proposal presented is the proposal of the management team. The broad lines are not up for discussion, but we are interested in receiving feedback and suggestions for minor adjustments, justifications, and clarifications. After the discussions in the sections, the department management team will discuss the input received and make the necessary adjustments. The implementation of the proposal will then be prepared such that the new organisation can take effect on 1 June 2019.
I would like to stress that our proposal for course coordination does not change existing procedures in a radical way. Our focus has been 1) to put emphasis on our education programmes by creating study programme panels for the major educations in which we are involved, and 2) to provide a clear delineation of responsibility in solving the course coordination task. W.r.t. 1) it is essential that we have formal fora where the development of the various educations can be discussed and where faculty members can provide input and take ownership of and responsibility for our educations; this will provide important input to the relevant study boards, which have the formal responsibility for the various educations. W.r.t. 2) it is important that the section heads have the overall responsibility for course coordination in order to overview and identify the resource needs within the relevant section.
APV/WPA
As previously announced, the work place assessment 2019 - also referred to as “WPA” – will be conducted from 25 February to 13 March 2019. The questionnaire includes a number of questions that apply to everyone at AU and a number of faculty and administration specific questions that the local occupational health and safety committees and liaison committees have prepared.
Your answers are important, and I will commit to the necessary follow-up when we know the results of the WPA. By completing the questionnaire, you will help draw attention to any issues and challenges that should be addressed at our work place, and I strongly encourage everyone to complete the survey. I will offer an award to the section with the highest participation rate.
Meeting with the rector of Aarhus University, Brian Bech Nielsen
On Friday 1 March 2019, 9.30-11.00, Brian Bech Nielsen, rector of Aarhus University, will visit the department. I would like to invite all department members to the meeting, which will take place in auditorium M1.
At the meeting, the rector will give a short presentation, which will be followed by a dialogue with the department members. I encourage all department members to attend, and I hope that we will have lively discussions. This is a great opportunity to get feedback from the rector if you have general questions about Aarhus University’s policy, administrative, and other matters.
Niels Haldrup