In three weeks, a new chairman of the European University Association will be elected. The candidates are the former rector of Universidade de Aveiro i Portugal, Maria Helena Nazaré, and the rector of Aarhus University, Lauritz B. Holm-Nielsen.
The EUA represents approximately 850 universities, rectors' conferences and university organisations from forty-six European countries. The election for the chairmanship will be held in connection with the EUA 10th anniversary conference which will take place at Aarhus University on 13-15 April.
Rector Holm-Nielsen has been a member of the EUA board since 2008, where he has worked to increase develop Europe's competitive strength as a unified knowledge region in the global university system. If he is elected chairman, he will continue this work. The term of office for an EUA chairman is four years; the first year is a transitional year of cooperation with the former chair.
If Rector Holm-Nielsen is elected chairman, he will retain his position as rector of Aarhus University, like previous EUA chairmen. This will also be the case if he is not elected chairman and continues as member of the board.
The theme of this year's EUA conference is talent development.
The senior management group has appointed centre director and research director Lars Moseholm as acting deputy director for AU Knowledge as of 1 April.
As acting deputy director, Lars Moseholm will collaborate with the senior management group to develop and organise outreach and consultancy services for major public and private sector clients, including the central Danish ministries.. AU Knowledge will have activities in Aarhus and Emdrup, and Dr Moseholm will have offices in both locations.
The position of deputy director for AU Knowledge will be advertised as soon as possible.
Last week, meetings were held with administrative staff and management on the reorganisation of AU Administration. University Director Jørgen Jørgensen and the deputy directors for AU HR and AU Finance and Planning, Louise Gade and Søren Trangbæk explained the changes which will take place in connection with the implementation of the Tomorrow's AU strategy.
On the Fremtidens AU website, a video of the AU Administration meeting and slides from the three presentations are available in Danish.
A significant number of AU managers will be participating in full-day seminars on change management in the near future. AS3 Development will provide inspiration and strategies for handling change processes.
Managers must both be able to guide their staff through changes and handle their own reactions to changes which affect their own positions and responsibilities. In addition, managerial staff are responsible for ensuring that day-to-day operations are not affected by change processes while at the same time implementing numerous new initiatives.
In the period 29 March - 4 April, seven seminars will be held, two of which will take place on Zealand.
The senior management group and the student council met with students earlier this week. The meeting provided a forum for students to ask questions about the senior management group's vision for the university's future.
Students who were unable to participate in the meeting had the option of submitting their questions by email beforehand. The meeting was taped and a video will be available on AU's student portal.
U.S.Special Representative to Muslim Communities Farah Pandith held a master class for AU students at Dale's Café on 23 March. Ms Pandith works to promote dialogue with and among Muslims all over the world - with a special focus on the intellectual and political Muslim leaders of the future.
Laurie S. Fulton, American ambassador to Denmark, accompanied Ms Pandith to Aarhus University. After the master class, Pro-Rector Frandsen presented Aarhus University and the university's international strategy and activities at the Dale T. Mortensen Building.
Denmark has been selected to host the largest conference on research policy in Europe, Euroscience Open Forum, in 2014. The event represents an excellent opportunity for Danish universities to set the agenda for the four to five thousand guests who are expected to attend in order to discuss research, education and innovation. The slogan for ESOF 2014 is 'Science Building Bridges', which reflects the conference's focus on creating connections and partnerships across different sectors of society.
A survey performed in connection with U-Days confirms that the event, which gives coming students an introduction to Aarhus' many degree programmes and educational institutions, has a major effect on their choice of degree programme.
Over 1,2000 of the approximately 9,000 U-Days guests responded to the survey. U-Days has helped 82 per cent of the respondents come closer to a decision. U-Days has contributed to a decision to apply for admission to a specific degree programmes for 65 per cent of the respondents.
Nine out of ten respondents said that it was good to experience educational institutions first hand. Eight out of ten found that having a chance to speak to a student, lecturer or counsellor during U-Days was important or very important.
U-Days took place in the period 3-5 March. The new event website was viewed by 5,000 visitors. There were 8,779 visitors to the event, an increase of more than a thousand over last year. Approximately 4,500 of these visited Aarhus University, 300 more than last year.
Sincerely,
The University Management Group, March 2011
The Senior Management Group publishes a newsletter every week. This newsletter includes a brief description of current activities and discussions. You can sign up for the Danish version of the newsletter at http://info.au.dk/medarbbreve, after which you will receive an e-mail whenever the newsletter is issued.
If you would like to subscribe to the English version of News from the Senior Management Group, please go to http://info.au.dk/medarbbreve/index.asp?sprog=en. The English version of News from the Senior Management Group is available at http://www.au.dk/en/about/uni/seniormanagement/newsletter/. You can read previous editions of News from the Senior Management Group at http://www.au.dk/en/about/uni/seniormanagement/newsletter/2011.