Yvonne Svanström: Systematic follow-ups must not take over
Words from the management: As a university, our mission to educate and to do research must be prioritised above all else.
Yvonne Svanström, Deputy Vice President. Photo: Sören Andersson
Each semester, the President has meetings with the Deputy Vice Presidents of all faculties. It is an opportunity for the faculties to come together and discuss pressing issues. This autumn, the theme of the meetings has been “increased control and increased bureaucracy”. The traditional group discussions began with a presentation by the Deputy Vice Presidents, based on two reports: Ökad kontroll och ökad byråkratisering [“Increased control and Increased Bureaucracy”] and Interna effekter på lärosätena [“Internal Effects on Sweden’s Higher Education Institutions”].
The reports were written by Shirin Ahlbäck Öberg and Johan Boberg, both employees of Uppsala University, on behalf of the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions. The first shows how collegial governance at several higher education institutions has been eroded over the past decade, and that the requirements of certain laws and regulations for “systematic management” have increased, resulting in feedback reports, follow-ups, action plans and other paperwork. The second report deals with how universities and university colleges handle these increased demands internally, and how and where we set the bar for our work.
In a co-authored editorial published in June, the Deputy Vice Presidents pointed to the danger of the detailed governance of education by politicians, for example in the designation of certain academic subjects as more important than others. This, combined with an increased administrative burden, can be seen as a threat to collegial governance.
The question is, what can we do to reduce this burden? It may seem safe and attractive to create internal rules and guidelines at all levels – departmental, faculty, area, and central – and of course, some are needed. At the same time, a glut of rules and follow-up needs can lead to what the authors of the report call “akut målträngsel” (loosely translated as “acute target overcrowding”), in which all areas become the most important.
As a university, our mission to educate and research must be prioritised above all else. Our core and support organisations must therefore continue to work together towards the goal of avoiding the burden of “overwork” in our systematic follow-ups.
This text is written by Yvonne Svanström, Deputy Vice President. It appears in the section ”Words from the University’s senior management team”, where the management take turns to write about topical issues. The section appears in News for staff.
