Holiday greetings from the Dean's Office 2024

As the holidays are approaching, it is time to reflect on the past year and look forward to an interesting and, in many ways, challenging 2025. 

For the first time in the school’s history, we have obtained five-year accreditations from EQUIS and AMBA as well as a 6-year accreditation from AACSB. This is a great recognition of our high standards and quality in education and research. We would like to thank all of you for your dedication and hard work, which made this milestone possible. 

At university level, we have once again received a positive institutional accreditation by the Danish Accreditation Council. It is a result of the great efforts that go into ensuring and developing the quality of the university’s overall educational portfolio from many corners of the organisation both at Aarhus BSS and at other faculties and the central administration.

All our departments have also, for the first time, conducted evaluations of research quality. The next step is to discuss the valuable input from the evaluation panels and reflect on where and how we can further strengthen our well-functioning academic environments. The process has been time-consuming, but there is hardly any doubt that it has been extremely beneficial, highlighting both our successes and areas for improvement.

Within education, 2024 has been marked by the master’s reform, with sector resizing and restructuring of the master’s programmes being high on the agendas of both the university senior management team and our own faculty management team. 

In October, we announced the faculty management’s comprehensive plan for the implementation of the master’s reform. The plan has also been reviewed by staff and students through the school’s collegial bodies: the Academic Council, Faculty liaison committee, and the School Board of Studies. The review confirmed that we have devised a sensible implementation plan, considering the established frameworks of the political agreement. We would like to thank the heads of department for the exceptionally responsible and competent handling of a very difficult task. We are now awaiting the final decisions on the political agreement that has been reached before the implementation of the reform’s components can begin.

Campus Development and Relocation to University City
Throughout 2024, we initiated numerous campus development projects in both Herning and Aarhus, and the work will continue into 2025. 

In the northeast corner of the University Park, we are optimising existing study environments and will soon commence with the renovation of the canteen, relocating the library, and making internal relocations within the departments and the administrative centre. Some of the administrative units (Studies, IT & Communication) will move to the University City during 2025, while other units (Finance and HR & PhD administration) will relocate to buildings 1326-1328 along Ndr. Ringgade. The Dean’s Office and Secretariat will move to building 1323 in the middle of the northeast corner, close to our departments and administrative units on both sides of Nørrebrogade. Ongoing updates on these renovations and relocation plans will be provided on the campus development website.

From the summer exams of 2025, AU’s new exam building in Lisbjerg will be operational, consolidating all written exams in one location. The new facilities will streamline the examination process and provide improved conditions for students with regards to acoustics, indoor climate and lighting. Targeted communication regarding the exam building will be sent to faculty, staff and students at the beginning of the upcoming semester.

Changes in the Faculty Management Team
As most of you are likely aware, Niels Mejlgaard will be leaving Aarhus BSS at the turn of the year to take up the position of Director of the Danish National Research Foundation. We would like to take this opportunity to wish Niels all the best for the future and to thank him for his many years of service and contributions to Aarhus BSS as a researcher, colleague, and vice dean for research. The position of vice dean for research and talent development will be advertised at the beginning of next year. 

Morten Rask will continue as vice dean for education from 1 January 2025 following an extension of contract for a further period of three years. Also, Jan Tønnesvang (Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences) and Anders Frederiksen (Department of Business Development and Technology) will continue as heads of department from 1 December 2024 and 1 January 2025, respectively, following an extension of contracts for a further three years.

Torsten Iversen has announced that he wishes to step down as head of department of the Department of Law and return to his professorship from 31 March 2025. We would like to thank Torsten for his contribution to the Department of Law and Aarhus BSS both as head of department and as a member of the faculty management team. The position will be advertised at the beginning of next year. 

Aarhus BSS’ Strategic Priorities for 2025/2026
At the faculty management team’s annual strategy seminar held at the beginning of December, we agreed on a number of strategic priorities for the coming year. 

Within education, the master’s reform will undoubtedly be in focus throughout 2025 and beyond. In the coming year, we will initiate a review of all our master’s programmes to ensure progression and coherence in our overall educational portfolio, and most importantly, to ensure that our study programmes reflect the demands of the labour market and prepare our students as effectively as possible for their future careers.

Additionally, we will consider how to work with the recommendations from the research evaluations, internationalisation, and the scool’s outreach and external profile to best support Aarhus BSS’ strategy. The strategic priorities for 2025/2026 are outlined here.

Thank you all for your hard work over the past year. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration in 2025!

Kind regards,

Anne, Morten, Niels and Thomas
Aarhus BSS Executive Team