Dear students and staff

At last year’s summer party I said that we were on our way towards a new kind of normality characterised by continuity and the absence of major organisational changes. Two days later I was presented with the idea that the language programmes at the Department of Business Communication could be transferred from Aarhus BSS to the Faculty of Arts. The huge task of implementing this change started after the summer holiday and continued until the board finally approved our proposal on 14 June 2016.

The decision is the result of a lot of hard work and a great sense of collaboration. I’m delighted to announce that the School of Communication and Culture is to be expanded to include staff and students from the language subjects at the Department of Business Communication. They are all extremely welcome, and we have great expectations. The two language departments are already neighbours in the Nobel Park, and the ambition behind this new collaboration is to develop Denmark’s best environment for linguistics and language degree programmes.

So my dream about a new kind of normality certainly didn’t last long! The decisions made during the faculty’s development process have had an impact in other areas, too. During the past year our schools have been busy developing the way they organise their research. At the Danish School of Education this resulted in the formation of the National Centre for School Research – the focal point for collaboration with other universities and university colleges in the field of school and pre-school research.

The faculty has also received a number of inspiring proposals for research focus areas. Two of these proposals – with the working titles Human Futures and Uses of the Past – have been accepted. The faculty management team has also decided to try to develop the other proposals into research focus areas at school level.

The biggest task facing the faculty management team during the year has involved girding our loins to face the financial and academic challenges connected with the government’s degree programme resizing initiative, which will reduce the intake of Bachelor’s and Master’s students by 25-30 per cent by 2024. The government’s budget also contained another blow: the 2% reallocation contribution. To meet these challenges, we have been focusing carefully on following up on the review of our degree programmes.

On 2 June 2016 the faculty management team finally agreed on a package of decisions based on all the hard work done by six working groups and the discussions conducted in the Forum for Education. These decisions include a minor adjustment of our supplementary subjects as well as measures to ensure that students start preparing for their Master’s thesis at an earlier point in time. Lots of other decisions have been made as well, covering supplementary subjects, types of exam, joint study, academic regulations and teaching premises – all with a view to saving resources and creating the conditions needed for the planned administrative cuts.

In other words, the faculty management team and schools have made a range of tough decisions. Taken as a whole, these decisions were necessary to cope with the financial consequences of the degree programme resizing initiative by introducing long-term, gradual adjustments. In the spring of 2016 the faculty has also been working with the rector and board to develop a long-term plan lasting until 2024.

The key features involve increasing the efficiency of our degree programmes, making administrative cuts, and gradually adjusting staff capacity to meet future needs in terms of education once the resizing initiative has taken full effect. It has been agreed with the board that the Faculty of Arts – supported by the university’s strategic funding – will continue to recruit excellent researchers and teachers; but this will not always compensate entirely for the number of staff leaving the university because they retire or find other jobs. This will make it possible to continue the progress made in recent years in terms of education and research.

It’s true that the future looks a tad uncertain, and our goals are undoubtedly challenging and ambitious. But we aim to ensure that gradual adjustment, long-term planning and maximum control of resources will guide us through the somewhat choppy waters that lie ahead. By 2024 the Faculty of Arts will be smaller. But if we manage to maintain our current progressive course in terms of the quality of our education and research, we will also grow stronger in these two vital areas.

Our academic staff, administrative staff and students have already felt the effects of the study progress reform and the necessary changes it has forced upon us. I’d like to thank the students in particular for their cooperation during our discussions of how to avoid the huge fines that could result from the study progress reform – fines that would have major consequences for what we can offer students in future. It’s still too early to say anything about the effects of all this, but we do know that our administrative staff and teachers have been overwhelmed by the increasing level of exam activity. I’m impressed by the way everyone has taken the extra work in their stride. Here, too, there are good grounds for praise and respect.

In one sense, the workplace assessment and the things that it reflected are also a result of the faculty’s development process. It’s very pleasing to see that progress has been made in relation to the previous assessment, but the result also shows that there is still a long way to go in order to develop our ideal working environment. I’m convinced that the other topics mentioned above will be vital in helping us to achieve our goal: planned, long-term development of our financial situation; calm organisational development; and the space needed for excellent research, education and administration.

It’s difficult to say what will happen when we return from the summer break. The political barometer looks changeable. But there are some things we can count on. We know that the Faculty of Arts conducts excellent degree programmes. And we also know that the faculty’s research leads the field in Denmark – as evidenced by our research results, the awards we win, and the steady increase in the external research grants we manage to attract.

During the year it has been confirmed that our organisation is characterised by teamwork and loyal staff possessing great expertise. We know we have some of the best students in Denmark. We have a long-term development plan characterised by both gradual financial adjustments and high academic ambitions. And finally, we know that we have the support of the university and board for our long-term development plans. So if this is the kind of normality that awaits us, I have to say that it really is a good deal rosier than many people feared.

I hope you all have a great summer holiday, and thank you for all your hard work during the year.