Inclusion has been an important theme in the senior management team’s internal problem analysis follow-up discussions over the past few months.

2015.02.04 | Sys Christina Vestergaard

“Inclusion ought to be an approach that characterises the way we make decisions in the entire organisation, at all levels,” states Rector Brian Bech Nielsen. Photo: Lars Kruse, AU.

“Inclusion mustn’t end up as a intention or an admirable goal. We’re very conscious of this. Relevant employees must be involved and be able to contribute their ideas and well-informed perspectives on solutions before major decisions are made. But it’s not enough for us to just think of inclusion as something that takes place in the formal bodies, committees and forums,” explains Rector Nielsen.

In his view, inclusion must be a part of our shared culture in our daily work.

“Inclusion ought to be an approach that characterises the way we make decisions in the entire organisation, at all levels. We all need to keep in mind: Who should I examine this issue with in order to find the right solution?” says Rector Nielsen.

Cooperative teams

Rector Nielsen believes that inclusion on all levels is necessary to ensure the coherence of the organisation. This is also the philosophy behind the cooperative management teams who are to make sure that decisions are taken on the most informed basis possible. These teams are described in the memo of 22 October 2014.

But at the same time, Rector Nielsen emphasises that it’s not just a question of structure. In fact, it’s just as much a question of culture:

“We’ve created a framework for greater inclusion. But we all have to work on our culture. We need to get to the point where it’s natural to think in terms of inclusion when it’s time to make major changes and decisions.  Cultures aren’t changed from one day to another, but through a prolonged collective effort.”

Initiatives to promote inclusion

At the senior management team’s meeting of 28 January, a number of decisions were made that are aimed at supporting increased inclusion - both of employees and students:

• The two university-wide committees will continue the work of developing new initiatives aimed at ensuring a higher level of inclusion in the committees’ activities. Activities such as workshops and seminars are being planned to strengthen ties to the faculties and departments.
• The future role of the four forums was also discussed, and two proposals were sketched out:

1. 1. That two forums should be established, each of which would be linked to one of the two AU-wide committees.
   2. That one common forum be established for the entire university.

When concrete proposals have been drafted, they will be discussed by the university as a whole.

• The idea of including employees to a higher degree has led to a proposal from Health that  academic staff members should chair the departmental forums (as is the case in the academic councils).  The deans will present this proposal for discussion at the three other faculties, after which the issue will be presented to the senior management team.
• In relation to student inclusion, the senior management team has decided to establish a new forum where representatives from the student organisations will meet with representatives from the senior management team. All of the faculties have also instituted regular meetings between the deans and a number of students. These initiatives are an important supplement to the important work carried out in the boards of studies, the academic councils and the departmental forums, bodies in which studies are represented.