Aarhus university is facing a major round of cutbacks. However, the rector asserts that the university will make every effort to ensure that the quality of education will not be affected.

2013.11.27 | Thomas Sørensen

Although the 2014 budget is not finalised yet, Aarhus University will most likely be forced to cut approximately DKK 200 million by 2016. The administration will be making the greatest cuts relative to its budget, but all main academic areas will be affected. The cost reductions will mean that layoffs will be necessary, though it’s too early to say how many.

“We will do everything we can to make sure this doesn’t affect our degree programmes. High quality is important for society and for Aarhus University’s competitiveness, and we’re definitely not going to compromise on that. The university exists for society’s sake, and educating highly qualified graduates is our most important task,” says Rector Brian Bech Nielsen.

Stagnating revenues

“The cuts will affect our employees a lot, and that’s why we thought it was important to announce them so early as possible, even though the final budget isn’t in place yet. This means a longer period of uncertainty, but that’s unavoidable, unfortunately,” the rector explains.

The cutbacks are necessary because the university’s revenues are stagnating after a longer period of growth. This means that we have to adjust our costs. Exactly how this will be done won’t be decided until early 2014. However, Rector Bech Nielsen emphasises that the university will continue to develop its degree programmes:

“We have to remember that the quality of our degree programmes doesn’t just depend on how many classroom hours you have - it also depends on what goes on between classes. So we will keep on working, for example on implementing the new learning management system that will strengthen computer-supported learning.”