Frequently asked questions

The system is primarily used to document the results and attendance of students and doctoral students. Its purpose is to support the day-to-day work of departments, faculty boards and administration at SLU. It is also used for local and central planning, as well as for follow up on credits awarded and for ensuring the legal security of students.

The Higher Education Ordinance forms the basis for the content of the system and there is a separate ordinance on the reporting of studies and other matters at universities and colleges (SFS 1993:1153). The system is used by most of the other universities and university colleges in Sweden.

Why is it being updated?

The current LADOK system is based on an old technology platform that dates back to the 1980s. Over the years, new internal functions have been added, as well as external users who obtain information from the system. We can no longer just keep patching things up.

At the same time, there is currently a lack of consensus with regard to our working methods for study administration at SLU. This affects processing times and the level of service and creates irritation among both staff and students.

The LADOK3 project at SLU is therefore not just about an IT system. It is also about how we can develop and improve our activities within study administration.

What is the aim of the new LADOK?

The new LADOK will be web-based and focus on self-service. The aim is to provide a better, more secure service to the university’s students and doctoral students. It will also make day-to-day study administration more straightforward for our staff.

The system is being developed centrally. Exactly what it will look like is not yet completely clear, as the work is taking place in stages through to 2017, when the system will replace the current LADOK.

What is happening nationally in the project?

The system is jointly owned by 38 higher education institutions and the Swedish National Board of Student Aid (CSN) through a consortium. System development is carried out jointly for all higher education institutions at national level. There is also a national project that deals with the administration of the new system.

What is happening locally at SLU?

Each institution has its own LADOK installation and its own register.
SLU has a local project group that is tasked with preparing, training and launching the system at our university.

Who is affected?

Most people will be affected as the project is huge. The new system is being implemented at 38 Swedish higher education institutions simultaneously and each has its own local system that must be integrated into the new one. Systems affected at SLU include LINS, SLU’s course database (SLU-kurs), Moveon and the joint admission database for higher education in Sweden (NyA).

So the LADOK3 project does not only affect study administrators. Students, doctoral students, teachers and those who work with all kinds of follow-up on activities will also be affected in different ways by the transition to the new system. The introduction of LADOK3 entails the adaptation of both activities and technology.

When will it be ready?

The project at SLU is being implemented in several stages through to 2017, when the system will replace the current LADOK.

The timetable is affected by the cooperation between the national and local projects. The national project will produce the system and the local project at SLU will prepare, provide training and launch the system.

Will study administrators be able to see information about a student from other universities?

Students will be able to see their results from all the universities they have studied at. However, study administrators will not be able to see this information.

The reason for this is an ordinance that stipulates what public authorities are permitted to do. Ordinance 11:53 deals with how universities manage their systems. It states that information cannot be shared electronically with another university unless it specifically relates to a designated area, such as documentation for admissions or degrees.

So information from other universities can be viewed in the joint admission database for higher education in Sweden (NyA), which is an admissions system, but not in LADOK, which is a study documentation system.

What reference groups are there?

Reference groups will be formed at various stages during the course of the project. Information about reference groups will be published on this project homepage.

How are requests made for people to be part of a reference group?

The process is slightly different, depending on the competence required. Whenever the project needs to form a reference group, our project leader will send a request for participants to all heads of administration at department level. If specialist competence is required that is available at a specific unit, the request will be sent to the head of this unit.

How can I participate in the operations development sub-project?

Small working groups will be formed where the work focuses on small, limited areas for a short period of time. The project leader for the project will send a request for participation to the heads of administration at the departments, among others.

Will the new LADOK be more expensive than the current LADOK?

The current LADOK system was built in the 1970s and is expensive to keep patching up. It is also not flexible enough to allow new functions to be added to meet future requirements. The aim is for the new LADOK to be cheaper to run than the current LADOK.

What does LADOK stand for?

LADOK is an acronym formed from the initial letters of the Swedish “Lokalt ADB-baserat Dokumentationssystem” (local computer-based documentation system).