Education unit after the reform: »Uncertainty is still the order of the day«

After a contentious debate, the new organisation of the administration at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) was rolled out in March 2025. Staff and students have now had more than six months to get used to the new post-reform reality.

In a series of articles on the university’s intranet KUnet, UCPH deputy directors of eight central units share how they have experienced the first few months and provide an update from their area of administration.

The University Post is now doing a similar series, where we instead speak to employees and union representatives across the organisation.

Anders Hartvig Hartzen is special consultant in the ‘Education Strategy and Analysis’ section of UCPH Education. He is also the union representative for academic staff working in technical and administrative roles in the central administration at UCPH.

How are you finding daily life under the new administration?

»A lot of things are still up in the air and remain unresolved — to put it mildly. This applies both to interfaces with the rest of the organisation and to questions about who is actually responsible for what. Before the reform, you knew exactly who to go to. Now it’s unclear: Is it us centrally, is it the campus administration centres, or is it someone else entirely? This adds an extra burden to our management of tasks, because you often have to spend time figuring out who you should contact.«

So the main issue is unclear responsibilities?

»Yes, exactly. Previously, you could call a colleague at a faculty who you knew dealt with a specific task. Now people have been moved around, and the familiar lines of communication are gone.«

Especially during the first few months after 1 March, the pressure was intense

Anders Hartvig Hartzen, special consultant at UCPH Education

»I work with education data, which includes compiling annual statistics for quality assurance of study programmes. Before the reform, we could send the numbers to the faculties for review — they knew the programmes better and could check to see if the data made sense. Now the responsibility for educational data lies centrally, and for the time being we have to check all the numbers ourselves, because it’s unclear who it is at the campus administrations who can assist us. This means more work and uncertainty during this transition period.«

What has been the biggest change in your own working life?

»I’ve gotten off relatively lightly. I’m still in the same office doing the same core tasks. But our section was physically split up, so most of my colleagues are now based at South Campus, while I’m still in the central university courtyard. That’s changed the team dynamics. Many others in central administration have gone through bigger changes — new workplaces, new managers, in practice entirely new jobs.«

A key goal of the reform has been ‘stable operations’. Has that worked in your area?

»From my perspective: yes. Mistakes have definitely happened, but they’ve been caught, and we’ve avoided major disruptions that would have affected students or teaching staff. Management has also shown understanding and hasn’t rushed ahead at full pace when it comes to launching new strategic initiatives.«

You’re also a union representative at UCPH. How have the staff you represent experienced the launch?

»It’s been tough. Especially during the first few months after 1 March, the pressure was intense. Many staff stretched themselves to the limit to keep things running — and some pushed themselves too hard and ended up on stress-related sick leave. As union reps, we’ve tried to both warn management and remind our colleagues that it’s not their personal responsibility to keep the whole place running. My impression is that management at UCPH Education has been understanding, but I know that hasn’t been the case across the entire central administration.«

Is there anything that could have been handled differently over the past six months?

»It’s always easy to be wise in hindsight. But me and many of my colleagues would have liked a more specific identification of tasks and their interfaces before the reform was rolled out. Instead it has been as if were laying the tracks while the train was already moving. UCPH is a complex organisation, but a clearer definition of roles from day one would have made the start-up easier.«

Is there anything positive you can highlight about the new administration?

»It’s hard to say now at this stage, but I certainly hope to be able to do so. We’re still in the midst of the transformation, and the changes from the reform will continue through to 2027. The ambition is for students and researchers to experience a simpler and more efficient administration — and I hope that succeeds. But it requires that we, as staff, can also thrive in the system and feel that it’s a good place to work.«

This article was first written in Danish and published on 3 October 2025. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.