Changing process to
strengthen SLU
SLU develops the understanding
and sustainable use and
management of biological natural
resources
Why is change needed?
• The world around us is changing; other universities are increasingly
competing in "our" core scientific fields, for funding and for students.
In addition, the number of potential applicants will fall over the next 10
years, which will further increase competition for students.
• SLU has unique and important missions that need to be clarified both
within and outside the university. An integrated SLU is needed to
meet the major national and global challenges we face.
• Our priorities should always be set on the basis of SLU's collective
interest, particularly in times of financial constraint.
• We have internal structure and procedures that can be improved so
as to achieve more efficient collaboration within the university.
What do we want to achieve?
• Create better conditions for gathering our strengths and setting
priorities – thereby becoming more competitive – in key strategic
areas, not least degree programmes
• Create clarity within and outside SLU about what SLU stands for
• More efficient use of resources
• Facilitate and increase intra-university collaboration across
organisational and geographical boundaries, by further developing
university-wide principles and procedures, among other things
• Develop collegial leadership (in which heads of department and
deans are nominated by staff) to make it a more effective decision
maker and capable of making well-founded decisions on difficult
issues
Four sub-projects
•
•
•
•
Faculty Structure
Management Structure
Education and Organisation
Harmonisation of Administrative Procedures
Faculty structure: premises
• Each faculty should be able to make overall decisions throughout its
field of activities
• Provide more scope for strategic management within the faculty
• Provide scope for greater cost-effectiveness and increased
collaboration between applied and basic research
• Improve SLU's ability to compete for students, research funding and
increase the scope for collaboration with the surrounding community
and the relevant sectors
• SLU should be a single organisation without harmful internal
competition
• Develop intellectual closeness between SLU's geographical locations
Faculty structure: premises
(Contd.)
•
•
•
•
•
No reassignment of staff between locations
In principle no change in departmental structure
Deans at Alnarp, Ultuna, Umeå
Clearer operational profiles for the faculties
Collaborative centres, centres of excellence, interdisciplinary
research and collaborative platforms, etc. are important and will
remain
• Multi-faculty departments will be given resources to stimulate
activities within the growth areas shared by the faculties
o In general, the entire Management Group considers that the departments/
activities doing work for more than one faculty will constitute key centres
in SLU's future development
Management structure
"SLU develops the understanding and sustainable
use and management of biological natural
resources"
Faculty 1
Veterinary medicine
Faculty 2
Faculty 3
Faculty 4
Agriculture
Landscape
Forest
Animals
Horticulture
Plant protection and plant breeding
in horticulture and agriculture
Health Life quality
Food Environment
Production
Water
LTJ
Work Science, Bus. Econ.
and Env. Psychology
Movium
Landscape Architecture,
Plant Protection Biology Planning and Management
Biosystems and
Technology
Plant Breeding
Molecular
Biology
Plant Biology and
Forest Genetics
Food Science
S
School for Forest
Management
South. Swedish Forest
Research
Forest Genetics and
Plant Physiology
Forest Ecology and Management
Forest Products
Forest
Economics
Forest Resource
Management
Field Research
Unit
Forest Mycology
and Pathology
Biomass
Technology and
Chemistry
Chemistry
Wildlife, Fish and
Environmental Studies
Ecology
Microbiology
Agricultural Research
for North.Sweden
Soil and Environment
Animal Breeding
and Genetics
Plant Production Ecology
Biomed. Science and
Veterinary Public Health
Animal Nutrition and
Management
Energy and Technology
Aquatic Sciences and Assessment
Economics
Anatomy, Physiology
and Biochemistry
Animal Environment
and Health
Biodiversity
Centre
Urban and Rural Development
Species Information Centre
Clinical Sciences
Aquatic Resources
NL
VH
Movium
Plant Protection Biology
Biosystem och
Biosystems
and
teknologi
Technology
Landscape Architecture,
Planning and Management
Plant Breeding
Molecular
Biology
Plant Biology and
Forest Genetics
Food Science
South. Swedish Forest
Research
Work Science, Bus. Econ.
and Env. Psychology
.
Forest Genetics and
Plant Physiology
Forest Ecology and Management
Forest Products
Forest
Economics
Forest Resource
Management
Field Research
Unit
Forest Mycology
and Pathology
Wildlife, Fish and
Environmental Studies
Chemistry
Biomass Technology
and Chemistry
Ecology
Microbiology
Soil and Environment
School for Forest
Management
Agricultural
Research
for North.Sweden
Animal Breeding
and Genetics
Plant Production Ecology
Biomed. Science and
Veterinary Public Health
Animal Nutrition and
Management
Energy and Technology
Aquatic Sciences and Assessment
Economics
Anatomy, Physiology
and Biochemistry
Animal Environment
and Health
Biodiversity
Centre
Species Information Centre
Urban and Rural
Development
Aquatic Resources
Clinical Sciences
Responsibility and mandates in the
line organisation
• Continued collegial leadership
• Management team at each managerial level with a
contract
o Vice-Chancellor – University
o Dean – faculty
o Head of department – department
• How will the future educational organisation be
incorporated in the line management?
Principles for management
models
• Responsibility for content and finance in first and second-cycle
education will be centralised
• The whole of SLU must benefit
• Decision-making channels from the Ministry for Rural Affairs to
department must be clear
• Models based on vision and trust
• Models must increase openness and promote collaboration within
SLU
• Frameworks for missions and resource allocation must
-
be matrices
-
be transparent
-
be long-term
-
favour development
-
be capable of being systematically followed up
Proposed standpoints
• Education is part of the university's core activities, and
should be included in the same line as research for the
purposes of planning, decision making, implementation
and follow-up.
• Decision-making levels should be few and clear;
preparation is organised pragmatically.
• Resources for education are allocated in line with multiyear missions.
• Degree programmes must be the basis for planning;
teaching and examination take place within courses.
Board/V-C
Central
Educational
Board
Preparation of
documentation
for cost
classification
(blue)
Faculty Board
PN
PN
PN
Educational
Board
Departmental
management
Decision on
missiond and
frameworks (black)
Areas of responsibility of Educational Boards,
proposals based on the professional qualifications that
SLU may award under the Higher Education Ordinance
Agricultural Sciences
Agricultural and Rural Management
Master's
etc.
Landscape Architecture
Landscape Management,
Design and Construction
Master's
etc.
Forestry
Forest Management
Master's
etc.
Veterinary Medicine
Veterinary Nursing
Domestic Animal Science
Equine Science
etc.
Horticulture
Hortcultural Management - Design
Master's
etc.
A single Educational Board
Educational offerings
•
•
Revised timetable Sub-project C – proposed decision to be
considered by the Board
Joint activities:
o 26/4 Workshop on joint principles for education programmes; directors
of studies, administrators, student representatives
o 15/5 Education conference on future educational offering; external
stakeholders, teaching staff, students
•
•
Web debate forum on education
Working groups led by assistant deans in various fields: animals,
forest, agriculture, as well as landscape architecture and horticulture
Reasons
To facilitate collaboration within the university
To allow multi-faculty departments
To increase transparency of allocation of funding
and costs
Harmonisation – nothing new
Process survey – administrative roles: uniform approaches
Uniform regulations (e.g. third-cycle education, docent
admissions, etc.)
The "SUHF" (Association of Swedish Higher Education)
model
Overall processes for construction and investment
IT – e.g. joint e-mail system
Document and matter management
Review of service organisation (SLU Service, supplies
units)
Funding allocation
Uniform principles for allocation of funding from faculty to
department, focusing on research and third-cycle education.
Allocation of funding for first and second-cycle education falls
under Sub-project B.
Aim: Fewer and more general principles for calculating a budget
framework for each department – linked to an operational mission.
Heads of department: desire a model supporting a long-term
approach and predictability, as well as the ability to manage
funding within the department.
The allocation is split into
1. Basic allocation 70 – 80% (mainly subject grants)
2. Performance 10 – 20% (publishing and external grants)
3. Limited-time initiatives, approximately 10%
Overhead costs
Background
Wide variations in overheads when departments
collaborate on projects
Aim
To develop uniform rules on what should and should not
be included in various overhead costs, to create uniform
practice at the university
To develop procedures for purchase/sale of services
within the university
A comparison with other higher education institutions is in
progress
Recruitment to senior positions
Background
The process of recruiting professors and senior lecturers
– a series of formal decisions involving many parties.
Varies somewhat from faculty to faculty.
Aim
To agree on a uniform process
Simplify the process using a good IT tool supporting the
work flow – digitalisation
Analysis:
How can the best use be made of the advantages of multifaculty departments?
How will multi-faculty departments be managed in practice –
consequences?
Questions
Consultation and discussion on
proposed faculty structure
15/4
Org.cttee
w14
w15
w16
2/4-19/4
Individual meetings
with heads of
department
24/4
Board
w17
20/5
27/5
MG Org.cttee
w18
w19
w20
23/4-13/5
Joint consultation and
discussion procedure
22/4
Large-scale meeting for all
staff
After the meeting:
Staff web article on faculty
structure and feedback
process
w21
w22
w23
Impact analysis
20/5 LR
Modify proposal
based on feedback
13/5
Feedback on
proposal sent to
project team
20/6
Board
Unions
w24
w25
20/6
Faculty
structure
decision
23/4-13/5 Joint consultation and
discussion procedure
Aim:
•
•
•
To enable all staff to express their views on the proposed faculty
structure
The proposal is discussed at the department
The head of department will be responsible for ensuring that
comments are documented and sent to the project team, preferably
via the deans
Feedback must be sent in by 12.00pm Monday, 13 May to
louise.winkler@slu.se
Consultation on management
structure, education and
organisation
24/4
Board
w17
20/5
27/5
MG Org. cttee
w18
26/4
Workshop
Principles in
education
programmes;
directors of
studies,
administrators,
student reps.
w19
w20
w21
w22
May
Working group meetings
Management structure
15/5
Educ. conf.
Future educational
offerings, external
stakeholders,
teachers, students
20/6
Board
w23
w24
25/9
Board
w25
20/6
Decision
Management
structure
18/6
GUR reporting from
working groups
w39
25/9
Decisions
guidelines
educational
offerings,
implementation
plan
Implementation: The organisation for educational planning and decisions will be
established as of 1 January 2014. Final decisions on educational offerings and resource
allocation for 2015 will be made by the organisation
Consultation on harmonisation of
administrative procedures
15/4
Org. cttee
w14
w15
w16
24/4
Board
w17
Feedback with heads of
department:
9/4 VH, 10/4 NL, 18/4 LTJ,
23/4 S
20/5
27/5
MG Org. cttee
w18
w19
w20
w21
w22
20/6
Board
w23
Working group meetings: Funding allocation
models, Overhead costs, Recruitment to senior
positions
25/4
Reference group
meeting
28/5
Reference group
meeting
w24
w25
20/6
Decisions
funding
allocation
models,
calculation of
overhead costs,
recruitment to
senior positions
Staff web
• Project site for Future SLU
• One page per sub-project with participants in different
groups
• Meeting calendar
• News, articles and contributions to the debate
• Q&A
• Discussion forum for education
• Questionnaire
https://internt.slu.se/framtidens-slu/
Changing process to
strengthen SLU