It really feels like we’re in a new phase in the University Administration. After a few years of “waiting for the change”, things are starting to fall into place and it is becoming clearer how we should work together in order to provide good support for the activities of our institutions.
Issues are being sorted into different areas of responsibility and hopefully we will soon see more effective co-operation in more areas.
For example, we are starting exciting work with the schools’ new faculty boards where the first steps are to build the management offices and where we support and learn from each other before planning the first meetings. It is clear that we must continue to develop working methods for the preparation of issues and decisions so that our decision-makers at both school and departmental level feel confident about the basis on which important decisions are to be made.
In a time of change and when it can feel like everything is being questioned, it is good to have some perspective and thought about our mission. It is important for us to feel that we are contributing and that we are focusing on the right things so that our teachers and researchers get the support they need in their everyday lives. I attended the farewell of a much appreciated colleague who has worked for a long time in the administration.
In a speech, her contribution was summarized as the art of doing just enough. It is potentially easy to do too little and it is always easy to do too much. Just the right amount is the challenge and this is where we should aim for an efficient and smooth administration.
Marie Larsson, Head of Administration at CBH.