The Governance of Uppsala University

Presentation at the Siena MEHEM

Workshop, April 2, 2009

Linda Wedlin, Uppsala University, Sweden

Institutional Characteristics

History

• The oldest university in Northern Europe founded in 1477

• Low activity between 1530s and 1595

• Land grant from the King in 1624

• 17th and 18th century: development of the natural sciences (Celsius, Rudbeck, Linneus)

• 19th century: Romantic century

• 20th century: The rise of the modern university

Domestic Competitors

• Universities (10)– One old (Lund, 1668)– Two late 19th century (Stockholm, Gothenburg)– Two mid-20th century (Umea and Linkoping)– Four new universities (former university colleges)

• Specialised Institutions (6)

• University Colleges (14)

• A Few Research Institutes

Some Basic Figures 2007

• Total revenues of € 430 million – 70 % of the revenues for research and research training

• 6,000 employees corresponding to 4,600 FTEs• 4,000 teachers and researchers corresponding to 3,000 FTEs

– 1,500 faculty members (36 % women)– 1,000 with a Ph.D. (30 % women)– 500 full professors (20 % women)

• 2,000 (33 %) employees have administrative functions• 40,000 students

– 20,000 FTE (58 % women)– 2,000 doctoral students (48 % women)– 4,000 students graduate each year

Organizational Structure

Composition of the University Board

Government appointees; 8; 53%

VC with pro-VC as deputy; 1; 7%

Faculty representatives with one deputy; 3; 20%

Student representatives with three deputies; 3; 20%

3 union representatives (with 3 deputies) have the right to participate but not to vote.

Governing Bodies below the VC

• Three Discplinary Domain Boards and Vice-Rectors

• A Faculty Board and Dean of Educational Sciences

• Five Faculty Boards and Deans within the Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences

• Department Boards and Heads of Departments

• At all levels faculty and student influence

University AdministrationRegistrar

Registrar’s OfficeStudent Affairs

Office for M & P

Information Office

Evaluation Office

Financial Office

Office for H & SS

PA Office

International Office

Office for S & T

Buildings Office

Baltic University

Legal Office Development Office

Service Functions

Telecommunications Continuing Education

Funding

Field Level

• Education– Number of FTEs– Completion rates– Tuition fees from individuals not permitted

• Research– Significant government grants– Concentration to universities– Concentration to medicine, science and technology– Variety of sources– Tendencies towards market solutions– Priorities of innovation and “strategic allocation of resources”

Strong government involvement but increasing market links

University Income 2007

External Research Funding 2004-2007

University Costs 2007

Recruiting

Field Level

• University leaders– Traditionally a collegial selection process– From the 1980s an increasing government control over university

leadership– Presently a trend towards more freedom

• Students– Numerus clausus– Centralized national application procedures– Selection on the basis of school or test performance

• Faculty– Double career tracks– Bureaucratic selection procedures

Recruting a VC (2005)• April 2005: Decisions to create an

Election Assembly and a Selection Group (Chair+Deputy Chair+3 fac-ulty+2 students+1 union representative)

• May 2005: Appointment of members in the Election Assembly

• June 2005: Decision on profile and engagement of a search consultant

• October 2005: Proposal from Selection Group to Election Assembly

• November 2005: Decision by University Board

• December-January 2006: Appointment by Government

• February 2006: Decision on Pro-VC

• July 2006: The new team in office

Election Assembly

Science/Technology; 11; 17%

Medicine/Pharmacy; 7; 11%

Education; 2; 3%

Humanities/ Social Sciences; 13; 20%

Students; 21; 32%

Unions; 11; 17%

Recruiting Students

• About 50 programs for first-year students

• About 45 programs on master level

• About 2,000 additional courses

• Programs and courses usually start both in the fall and in the spring

• Central applications through the web

• On average 2 students for each opening and the most popular programs have more than six students per opening

• Selection on the basis of school or test performance

Recruiting Faculty• Department decision to get permission to start a recruitment process

• Decision by Faculty Board or Faculty Office to permit the recruitment

• Decision on job description

• The opening is advertised with a closing date at least three weeks later

• Outside experts of both sexes are called upon to evaluate the candidate

• Expert reports are delivered to the Recruitment Committee of the Faculty

• The Recruitment Committee makes a recommendation

• The relevant person (the VC or the Dean) negotiates the salary

• A decision is taken on hiring a person

• Appeals against the decision can be submitted within three weeks after the decision

Monitoring

Field Level

• Quality– Education

• Cyclical evaluations by a government agency• So far no link to funding, but negative evaluations are increasingly

leading to warnings and removals of examination rights

– Research• Discipline evaluations but no formal links to funding

• Accounts– Management accounting systems– Government reviews

Various government reviews but only indirect links to funding

Quality and Renewal 07 (KoF07)

Project Organization

Project Time-Table

Conclusions

Features of Governance• An old complete state university high research activity

• A majority of external members of the University Board

• Three disciplinary domains and a Faculty of Education

• Faculty and student influence on all levels

• Personnel account for about 60 per cent of costs

• One third of the staff in administration

• State grants account for two-thirds of the revenues

• A large number of programmes and courses offered, most of them with a high demand

• Student recruiting through a national web-based application system

• Formalized procedures for recruiting leaders and faculty

• A large internal evaluation project of the university accomplished

Thank you for attention!