“The expert group’s report, the analysis panel’s recommendations and the consultation responses indicate that there is a particular need to improve the management’s communication with staff, so that it becomes based on dialogue and contributes to the exchange of ideas, arguments and viewpoints as well as ensuring that employees are included in due time. At the moment, the senior management team’s communication is often perceived as unreasoned or as out of context in relation to employees’ daily working lives.”

This was the message from the senior management team at a meeting in the Main Hall on 22 October at which it presented its solutions to the problems of standardisation and centralisation, which have characterised AU since the reorganisation in 2011.

Back then the senior management team presented a plan for how a new organisation of the communication departments at the four faculties would consolidate and support decentralised communication by being closer to the academic environments.

However, what would happen to the communications department in the central administration remained unclear at that time, explained Rector Brian Bech Nielsen.

During the six weeks since then, Pro-rector Berit Eika has been in charge of an intense process aimed at finding the best way to organise communication in the central administration.

Employees moving to three new areas

Based on this work the senior management team decided on 3 December that some of the staff who had been working with internal and external communication in the communications department, together with the employees in the press office, would now form a new department under the Rector’s Office.

Other employees from the communications department would in future belong to the new administrative division which was briefly called Research and Business Collaboration, but which will now be renamed Research and External Relations.

In addition, some employees from the communications department will now transfer to the administrative division AU IT, which will be renamed IT and Digital Media.

Would have liked to stay together

During the entire process, the four division managers and the majority of staff members in the communications department in the central administration have argued that they would prefer to remain together in one unit so as to have the best possible opportunity to maintain their close, professional collaboration.

Pro-rector Eika underlines that finding the best possible way to safeguard this collaboration following the reorganisation of communications as a whole is a very important task.

During an interim period until the new year the employees will remain together with official reference to Pro-rector Berit Eika. Employees will subsequently begin working in the new units and areas.

The management must become more visible externally

With the new organisation the senior management team aim to ensure that its voice is heard more clearly in public debate on issues related to teaching and research. And not least strengthen AU's position in the face of ever-increasing competition.

Ensure better internal communication

The reorganisation should also be viewed as an attempt by the senior management team to improve internal communication, an area that received devastating criticism from staff and students in connection with the problem analysis.

“The senior management team is very aware of the need to work with how the new organisation of the communication resources in the central administration and the administrative departments can ensure better internal communication between the management, staff and students," says Pro-rector Berit Eika.

Translated by Peter Lambourne.