Next meeting for heads of subjects will be a bit different. The main topic on the meeting this Tuesday March 5th is about how to develop our faculty organisation. More exactly the following two questions are on the agenda:

• How can the meetings for heads of subjects and the cooperation between heads of subjects in general be developed to meet all our needs better? How can they better facilitate leadership and communication while also reflectively contributing to a discussion about academic quality?
• Is there a need for a small managerial team in the faculty, for developing the strategic academic leadership together with the dean and for the faculty board? Should it consist of a head of subject from all areas, or of a representative group from the faculty board? Which role and authority could it have?

This discussion is a follow up from last fall when we inquired the possibility to re-organize the faculty. After a long and thorough process, we concluded that changing the organisational structure would require too much and would not necessarily pay off. Nonetheless, through the process we had seen that there were things we could and needed to work with. In general, there was an emphasis on some core values:

• Democracy in the management of the faculty, specifically in the form of transparency and active dialogue together with cooperation and seeking synergies.
• Integrity that secures the unique needs of subjects and programs within the faculty but also the position of the faculty in relation to its larger context.
• Leadership that develops on all levels towards responsibility and competence, and is engaging and communicative.
• Efficiency focused on teaching and research, anchored in a flat structure, and well-defined responsibility, relations, and processes.

The meeting this upcoming Tuesday can of course also bring up other issues of relevance, and will hopefully do so, but the two questions above are essential to the role of heads of subjects.

It does not end here. This is one step forward. We will over the spring term come back to the core question of how to develop our faculty organisation. There is a need for separate dialogues with university lecturers, doctoral students, administrative personnel, and students. Our take on democracy, integrity, leadership, and efficiency depends on what our roles and experiences are in the faculty.

We have currently a lot going on, especially when we consider the upcoming need to balance our budget. Nonetheless, I look forward to these discussions. They constitute an essential piece in the larger puzzle. We have already started to look into ways to enhance wellbeing of students and staff, develop our doctoral education, and to become a more sustainable faculty. These different conversations are all entangled.