Aalto is about to start

The opening day of the Aalto University is getting closer and we are soon ready to get going. This blog, the last of the year 2009, is a summary of the developments concerning the new university.

The preparations for the Aalto University have been going on since summer 2008 and the change groups responsible for the work have involved almost 500 people from our three colleges and their stakeholder groups. In early summer I had the opportunity to examine the material produced during the preparatory process and I was able to conclude that the work carried out in the groups has been characterised by thoroughness and ambition, in other words in ac-cordance with the Aalto ideology. After examining the material I became convinced that the Aalto community is committed to the project, enthusiastic about it and eager to embrace change. It sees change as a great opportunity. The final reports of the change groups formed the basis for the first draft strategy of the Aalto University, which was submitted to the Ministry of Education at the end of August.

Concrete openings

Even though the Aalto University will not start until 1 January 2010, there are already a number of concrete openings. The Factories, the joint expertise workshops of the Aalto University, have already been operational for more than a year. AivoAalto, our first joint research programme, was launched in spring and the evaluation of the university’s research activities (RAE) was completed in autumn. This and the next semester will see the launching of a large number of joint Aalto courses. At the same time, the number of study places in a number of courses has been increased to ensure greater mobility of students between the three Aalto colleges. In order to facilitate strategy work and the dissemination of information in the colleges, we have established a joint management forum, the Aalto Leaders Dialogue. Topics discussed in the meetings of the Aalto Leaders Dialogue have included the aims of Aalto, its management systems and the way the plans will be put into effect.

The most important of the reforms is the Tenure Track career system, which will be phased in next year. Other new openings for 2010 include the three-year RAE-bonuses for units scoring high marks in research evaluations, investments in IT, teaching and research infrastructure and the launching of at least one multi-disciplinary theme.

Strategy situation

The Vice Presidents, the Chief Financial Officer, the Director, Human Resources and the Director, Policy and Foresight, who all started their work in the autumn, have continued the strategy work on the basis of the comments that we have received from the students, employees’ organisations and the colleges. The Board decided on the strategy on 18 December, after which the planning of its implementation will start. Sectoral targets and the resources allocated for meeting them will be detailed in the strategy implementation plan. The colleges will draw up their own strategic action plans in the coming spring. The next year’s budget will be largely based on this year’s finances. College-specific research flagship projects and other strategic projects in the schools will be discussed after the colleges have finalised their strategic action plans in spring next year.

Issues concerning the service organisation and recruiting

The next big step will involve the organisation of the service tasks and the recruitment of the necessary staff. In the future, all services connected with research and teaching will report directly to the Vice Presidents or the President. The aim is to create a light central administration that will focus on ensuring uniform service quality, and a matrix organisation in which the services are provided at departmental level or in separate service centres. The posts for staff directly subordinated to the Vice Presidents, the Director, Policy and Foresight, the Chief Financial Officer and the Director, Human Resources are currently advertised as vacant within the community and the interviews of the applicants are under way. The posts of the university’s Communications Director and IT Manager remain vacant and we are using recruiting consultants in order to find the best people for the jobs. The task of the persons selected during the university-level recruiting process is, in cooperation with their supervisors, to build the service organisations for their own sectors.

The organisation of the Aalto’s services and administration is based on the needs and aims of academic activities. The task of the managers responsible for the service processes who will be selected in December-January is to maintain a close dialogue with the representatives of the academic community. The aim of the dialogue is to ensure that the new service organisation can, in the best possible manner, support our aim of becoming one of the world’s best research universities in our sectors. The other members of the service staff in the three colleges will be incorporated in the new organisation during the spring. There are no plans to cut the total number of staff or to increase the size of the or-ganisation. However, as part of the changes, people may be given new tasks or moved to new locations. Our aim is to carry out the change process in a managed fashion so that it is seen as an improvement at all levels. All persons who are moved to new jobs will be provided with the necessary training.

I wish you all a very happy Christmas!