News from the management

On November 23, Kristin Andersson starts as faculty programme director. She has a study and vocational guidance degree from 1992 at the bottom, and since then has worked as an administrator at LU and SLU. Since 2003, however, Kristin has been at Malmö University, where she has mainly been project manager for the teacher upgrade at the Regional Development Centre.

On January 15, 2024, Håkan Sandgren will start as head of the faculty office. Håkan is today dean at one of the faculties at the University of Kristianstad. He is basically a university lecturer in literary studies, but has considerable experience in managerial and leadership roles within the university, not least within the academy where he worked as head of department, head of education, dean, etc.

Winter is coming, and with it colder and darker times. This hopefully means some cosy evenings with plenty of time to reflect on life and the future. Given what’s going on in the world such thoughts are likely to generate concern; this makes it all the more important to remember that SLU, and our faculty, are doing well. Work on the faculty budget and the allocation of funds is entering the final phase, and finances are looking stable. This will allow the faculty to publish a call for new doctoral students, and subject funds will be temporarily increased in 2024.

Competence provision plans

At the department level, budget and competence provision work is progressing. Competence provision plans are to be finalised this week, and next week most of our departments will have their budget dialogues with the faculty. It’s always exciting to hear about their plans for the future.

Funding

Another piece of good news when it comes to funding can be found in the Government’s budget proposal (in Swedish only) that was presented in September. Two new fundings presented in this budget proposal aimed at SLU and concern our faculty. SLU Grogrund (Centre for Breeding of Food Crops) is awarded an additional SEK 10 million annually, and the 8 million the government has assigned to the Programme for Diversity of Cultivated Plants will now be allocated directly to SLU. This will give us much better opportunities to develop these two units.

Vision Alnarp

The work on new premises in the Western Node is also progressing, and a referral based on a pilot study has been sent out for consultation. You can read more on the web page about the Alnarp construction/renovation project. By involving everyone affected by this project at an early stage, we’ll create good opportunities for improving our physical work environment.

If everything goes according to plan, it won’t be more than a few years before we can meet in new buildings and ride out the typical Skåne autumn weather – together, over a hot drink!