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This is my first blog after the vacation, which by the way was great! I had a 3 weeks road trip in the north western part of the US, to see the red woods, Lake Tahoe, national parks and deserts. However, since the return from vacation I have already been involved in interviews to hire new faculty, been at an international conference in Qingdao in China, and started to teach two courses. Thus, working lite has returned to a normal state!
This fall, ITM is preparing a number of new faculty positions. The department of energy is seeking an assistant professor in integrated system analyses focusing on sustainable energy, the materials science and engineering department is hiring an assistant professor in materials science with a focus on mechanical properties of metals, and the department of industrial production is seeking a professor in cybernetic production systems. Meanwhile, recruitments of the positions advertised before the summer is ongoing. Me and Anton will keep you updated.
I also wish to mention some things about the environment and safety work. Our systematic work focusing on the working environment for the personnel and the students is ongoing. As we have explained in earlier blogs ITM has appointed the following experts to lead the work in their respective area of expertise:
They have their meetings with their groups, where each department has a representant. Currently, they are planning for an internal environmental revision and to discuss how environmental issues at ITM can be improved.
On October 17, we will have an internal environmental revision at the ITM school. Allpeople involved are currently being informed.
Finally, I hope that you have a stimulating and exciting start of the fall at work. However, do not forget to enjoy the coming of the fall with its beautiful colors as well as abundance of mushrooms and berries in the forests!
Pär Jönsson, Vice Dean
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The work on this year’s salary reviews is in full swing. In the course of the process, we will consistently send information to all of the managers at the school to ensure that everyone gets the same information.
The timetable for this work is presented below. If you have questions, contact ITM’s HR Manager, Anna Thöresson Berg, atb@kth.se.
Regler och riktlinjer för lönesättning vid KTH
Regulations and guidelines for salary level setting at KTH
If everything proceeds according to plan, disbursements should be made on 23 December 2017!
Timetable
| When What |
| By 31 May 2017 |
Joint/separate information |
| 1-30 June 2017 |
Identify what is included in the review |
| 13 June 2017 |
Training session for managers setting salaries |
| 7-14 Aug 2017 |
Entry of salary data in the salary review module |
| 15 Aug-15 Sept 2017 |
Info meeting on salary process at workplace/dept. meeting |
| 1-30 Sept 2017 |
Salary discussions under way |
| 1-31 Oct 2017 |
Salary setting talks Saco-S |
| 1-31 Oct 2017 |
Negotiations with OFR/S (ST) and SEKO |
| 1-30 Nov 2017 |
Negotiations Saco-S, non-agreed salary talks |
| 1 Nov-15 Dec 2017 |
Feedback new salary |
| 23 Dec 2017 |
Disbursements of new salary |
/Christina Carlsson, Head of administration
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The doctoral student survey that was published during the spring has been analyzed and the results were presented at the PhD student conference. It was very satisfactory to note that overall results were positive. Now we analyze the results at the level of detail for our five doctoral programs. The result will also be available for presentation at our departments.
About half of the e-ISPs that have been started are now established. I know there have been some problems due to bugs in the software and that it is unflexible, but overall, I think the system is a big improvement compared to the paper version. Hopefully, we will soon see some updates of the software.
/Malin Selleby, FA
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Archiving of Bilda
KTH Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) is terminating its Bilda system agreement with Ping Pong. The termination comes into effect on 31 Dec 2017. To replace Bilda, KTH is implementing Canvas. The School of Industrial Engineering and Management (ITM) holds courses in this. If you have any questions, please contact Anna Jerbrant, director of first-cycle courses and study programmes (GA).
A public authority such as KTH has a responsibility to archive various types of documents/outcomes. There are also rules on how long it is before such materials can be disposed of.
KTH has now procured an archive licence. As this gives all of us access to the materials for three years, we have more time to analyse what has been saved in Bilda and if it needs to be archived for a longer period. The items that have to be saved for a long period are detailed in KTH’s document management plan. Unless otherwise stated, this latter constitutes the public authority’s decision on disposal.
We will be returning to this subject when we have received more information from KTH/University Administration (UF).
Examination rules at KTH
Background
In 2013, KTH implemented scanning of examination papers. Ahead of this, there had been a general mapping out of the examination situation at KTH’s course-giving units. This mapping out showed: wide variations in examination administration; various interpretations of the examination regulations; and, differences in examination invigilators’ implementation and practical handling of written examinations. Around 100,000 students a year sit examination papers at KTH. There are also several partial examinations that have the same format as standard examinations and are handled in the same way.
As the steering documents did not meet the need for clear guidance in the various situations that arise in current written examination sittings, the need for a review of examination rules at KTH was palpable. Proposals for new examination rules were finalised in March 2017 and were then circulated for comment to the GA group and the education committee. The issue was prepared in the education committee on 8 Mar 2017 and 10 May 2017. Statements from the education committee have been taken into consideration in the new proposal currently under consideration.
In the autumn 2017 semester, ITM will be implementing examination rules developed in line with the above. The school’s director of studies group will be supplementing KTH’s examination rules from an ITM perspective.
We will be returning with more information on this in the autumn 2017 semester.
I wish you all a wonderful, sunny summer!
/Christina Carlsson, Head of administration
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Finally we have reached the end of the spring semester after a very intense period. The last couple of weeks my time has been filled with both examination, research conferences and the graduation ceremony for masters, masters of engineering and architects in the City Hall. The graduation ceremony was a new experience for me, and during this ceremony the presentation of the diplomas to each graduate was mixed with musical entertainment by the KTH academic orchestra conducted by director musices Gunnar Julin and the student choir. It was a very impressive and an incredible nice arrangement, I really appreciated the opportunity to present and congratulate all of ITMs graduates 🙂
But I have also, as probably most of you, put a lot of time the last couple of weeks on grading, for example master thesis projects. I really think supervising master thesis projects is a rewarding teaching effort, since these students are almost finished with their education and therefore are ready to apply all parts of it. It’s thrilling to be able to see the students execute this in a satisfactory way.
Finally, some educational issues being discussed at KTH tight now. For instance; there is a lot of discussions on how to enhance the quality assurance process (course evaluations and analyses), what the content of the program analysis should be, and off course the shift from Bilda till Canvas. Hope you all have attended a workshop and feel prepared for teaching with the help of Canvas as of this fall semester.
But before we all start to think about the fall I want to wish you all a Glad Midsommar and hope you have a nice vacation.
/ Anna Jerbrant, GA
