New Aarhus BSS representative on the AU Board

First of all, congratulations on being elected! What made you stand for the AU Board?

For me, it is important to bring the employees’ interesting and useful views into the bodies at university level. We have an external majority of very capable people on the board, but they are not from the university sphere. As an employee, I can explain how things actually work in the day-to-day life of the departments. This is an important perspective to include when major decisions are to be made.

I didn’t actually plan on standing, but I was encouraged to do so, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I am so grateful for the enormous support that I have received both before, during and after the election, so thank you all so much for that!

What can you contribute to the board?

It is the first time in 12 years that Aarhus BSS has had a VIP representative on the AU Board, and I actually believe that we can contribute another type of perspective. Aarhus BSS has many things in common with the other faculties, but we also stand out in a number of ways. For example, we have many students in proportion to teaching staff, many lectures, very large departments and degree programmes, and a very broad research profile.

Personally, I can contribute my experience as director of studies and chair of the Aarhus BSS School Board of Studies. Both roles have given me a broad understanding of the school across the disciplines and a good grasp of the differences and similarities-  along with the challenges that each of us are facing.  I have also learnt a lot about the interaction between the different management layers in the organisation.  

What do you look forward to most in your new role?

I really look forward to seeing how the board works in practice. What’s the atmosphere like, how open are the discussions etc. I’m very excited. 

Are there any issues that you are particularly concerned with?

I believe that we should place more emphasis on quality when we work to ensure good research and degree programmes. Today, we measure very quantitatively in the form of BFI lists for example, and the number of teaching hours.  Numbers can be useful, but they do not say anything about quality. To me, good research and teaching equal good content that contributes to society. This is an important issue to discuss.

Another important issue which relates to my own area of research is how we can increase the number of talented women in research. As you know, Aarhus University is currently developing a new action plan in this area which will also be discussed by the board, so I am really looking forward to this. 

It was the highest turnout ever for a university election of 39.5 % compared with 22.5 % in 2015. Why do you think the turnout was so high this year?

First of all, there was a very active in-house effort to get people to vote just as all the faculties and departments had put candidates forward. It shows huge confidence in Aarhus University’s supreme bodies. 

Another reason could be that we are currently facing a number of important and fundamental issues. For example, our freedom of research and external cooperation where the key task is to protect our research. Identity politics is also an important issue where we need to find a pragmatic balance between showing consideration and protecting the university’s basic principles. I look forward to contributing to this work.