MANAGEMENT. The new faculty management has now established the forms for its cooperation. Dean Jenny Nyström and Pro-Dean Magnus Simrén have spent much of the initial period meeting people, both within and beyond the faculty.
The beginning of April marked the first hundred days of our new management’s mandate period.
“It’s been a fun and very intense initial period!” says Dean Jenny Nyström. “I’ve met a lot of people, some of whom I’ve had contact with before but I’m now in a different role, and others whom I’ve only recently met – new people and new contexts.”
“We’ve been struck by the fantastic things we do here at Sahlgrenska Academy,” adds Pro-Dean Magnus Simrén. “It’s a multifaceted, dynamic, and fascinating environment, with a very high level of expertise. From a management perspective, our breadth is also our biggest challenge. It’s impossible to meet all the needs and wishes of every part of our operations!”
A myth-based milestone
One hundred days of new management is often celebrated as a milestone, but this tradition is actually based on a persistent myth. Management research has shown that it actually takes much longer than a hundred days before a new manager can start leading seriously.
As the new dean and pro-dean, both Jenny and Magnus are focusing on understanding the needs and conditions within different parts of the faculty, and on getting involved in the faculty’s collaborations with external parties. Collaboration has already begun via discussions with the management of the Faculty of Science, Chalmers University of Technology, and Sahlgrenska University Hospital, as well as the various innovation platforms. These are all extremely important partners for the faculty.
“As a clinical researcher, I already have experience of the faculty’s national medical training and research collaboration with Sahlgrenska University Hospital, so this is an area where I feel very much at home,” continues Magnus. “However, collaborating with Chalmers and the Faculty of Science is new to me, including our fair for theses within health and technology. I’m also very much looking forward to our joint Engineering Health conference, focusing on health and technology, which will take place on April 24 and 25 at Chalmers.”
Many common issues
Now that all the pro-deans are in place, the management team has started discussing major issues that affect several of them, as well as allocating responsibilities among themselves to cover all the areas and contexts where Sahlgrenska Academy needs to be represented.
“It really feels like we’ve put together an incredibly good management team,” says Jenny. “We complement each other very well, and we work well together. Some of the pro-deans have more experience within their areas of responsibility, and the clarity of the assignments varies somewhat. But things are already working extremely well.”
One issue that affects the whole of Sahlgrenska Academy is, of course, finances. Here, student throughput is currently a central issue. New strategies and approaches are needed to ensure that more of the students who are admitted to our education programs make it all the way through to graduation. The study environments on Campus Medicinareberget are also a recurring issue at the management team’s weekly meetings. Developments within advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP) is another broad issue, with the management team discussing how Sahlgrenska Academy – together with Sahlgrenska University Hospital and other life science actors in western Sweden – can grow together and make a greater contribution toward developments, both within the region and at national level. Once the region has made its decisions on Sahlgrenska Life, this project will also be a topic for the management team’s weekly meetings.
The first Deans’ Meeting
The faculty must now work together on its objectives and strategies. Sahlgrenska Academy’s strategy document will serve as an extension of the university’s objectives and strategies, based on ‘Vision 2021–2030. A university for the world’. The Heads of Departments’ Council will play a central role in working with the faculty’s strategies, and other forums and councils will also be involved.
The time has also come for this year’s Deans’ Meeting, which will be Jenny’s first. The meeting will be held in Örebro on April 11–12, and will provide an opportunity for several different functions within Sweden’s medical faculties to discuss common issues.
“For me, this is an excellent opportunity to hear about how other educational institutions are doing on issues where we face similar challenges,” adds Jenny. “It will be particularly valuable to understand whether we stand out in any way when it comes to how we are affected by a particular issue or how we have chosen to deal with it.”
Since both throughput and finances are challenges for all faculties, these issues are likely to be raised during the meeting.
Major Swedish Research Council evaluation during the year
During the year, the Swedish Research Council will be carrying out its next major national evaluation, this time looking at the research field of medical and pharmaceutical basic sciences.
“The evaluation will require the efforts of many staff at Sahlgrenska Academy,” concludes Magnus. “For our part, the evaluation means that many of the research fields that were not covered by the national medical training and research evaluations will now undergo a similar assessment.”
Unlike the national medical training and research evaluation, this review will not lead to a reallocation of research funding. After the summer, the faculty will present the articles that will represent the University of Gothenburg in the evaluation. Immediately after that, we will also provide examples of basic research that has led to benefits for healthcare and for society as a whole.
The Swedish Research Council has recently carried out similar national evaluations within the fields of political science and physics.
BY: ELIN LINDSTRÖM
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