Department Head Ole Bækgaard has initiated a reorganisation of the Department of Public Health. The goal is to establish a fast, dynamic and competent management and to support strong professional communities within both research and education. The method includes e.g. a new and smaller department management team and fewer sections.

2018.08.09 | Sabina Bjerre Hansen

The seven employees in the photo above will comprise the Department of Public Health's senior management for the next three years. Photo: AU.

Ole Bækgaard, who has been department head since 1 January 2018, has initiated a reorganisation of the Department of Public Health.

Focus on new management structure and professional organisation
The reorganisation involves and covers all department employees, but is chiefly characterised by an administrative change, as changes primarily take place at management level.

“It has become clear to me that we at the senior level of the department’s management need to increase our effectiveness, work capacity and decision-making ability. This is the reason why we need to reorganise the department, so we are well-equipped to meet future challenges and demands – both internally and externally," says Ole Bækgaard on the background for the reorganisation and continues:

"The biggest challenge was that there was too much distance between the day-to-day management and the section managers, because the frequency of meetings in the previous department management team was low. We were also many people at those meetings when decisions had to be taken. This meant that management work was slow and that the day-to-day management sometimes had to take decisions without receiving the optimal input from the sections," says Ole Bækgaard.

Before the summer holidays he presented a brief version of his proposal for a reorganisation of the department at a general meeting for all employees. Here, the department head also announced that five out of seven positions in the new department management team were vacant and that the reorganisation would include a reduction in the number of sections from eight to three.

New management in place
During the summer, Ole Bækgaard has held interviews with the employees who applied for the vacant positions in the department management team and has discussed the composition of the new management with the dean. Ole Bækgaard could therefore already present his new management team to the department's employees on Monday 6 August 2018:

• Department Head: Ole Bækgaard
• Secretariat Manager Annette Bachmann
• Deputy Head of Department for Research and Talent: Kim Overvad
• Deputy Head of Department for Education: Kirsten Frederiksen
• Section Manager: Ask Vest Christiansen
• Section Manager: Cecilia Ramlau-Hansen
• Section Manager: Charlotte Delmar

"I’m very satisfied with the management team who will lead the department over the next three years. We have a strong and experienced team that is versatile and which academically has insight into the department's research areas. I’m looking forward to beginning work in the new management team and to lots of constructive sparring and joint decisions on day-to-day operation and the department’s future," says Ole Bækgaard.

The reorganisation process
Ole Bækgaard has prioritised a short process, so the new organisation falls into place quickly. The department is therefore working towards full implementation of the reorganisation by around the end of the year.

Now that the management is in place, the reorganisation enters the next phase, which focuses on establishing research units and teaching teams. The new management team will come to head this process during the autumn.