Christmas shocker for humanities staff as move is cancelled

The massive logistical operation moving departments to KUA 2 in the Faculty of Humanities from 1 January has been halted by a last-minute edict from the University of Copenhagen, postponing it to a date in early 2013.

This has been made clear by an e-mail sent to those affected, Thursday afternoon, up to the Christmas break.

Offices had been packed down and libraries emptied, and the new move is the cause of anger, and is ridiculed among staff.

Grotesque, tragicomical

PhD student Kristine Ringsager in musical science was all set and ready for the move, she explains to our Danish-language sub-site Uniavisen.dk.

»This is a grotesque situation,« she says.

»When I unofficialy heard of the postponement a couple of days ago, I started to laugh. But there is nothing to laugh at. The situation is tragicomical.«

Not defensible to use buildings

The official explanation is that the new buildings aren’t completely constructed yet. Apparently an inspection of the KUA2 buildings, was conducted on Tuesday, 18 December, by faculty and university management together with representatives from the building project owner – the Danish Building and Property Agency.

After a number of meetings following the inspection, the authorities deemed the building unsuitable for use.

»We cannot live with the state of these buildings. And it would not be defensible to take these buildings into use, and have staff and students working there. They need to have longer time to be made ready,« the release says which is signed by Dean Ulf Hedetoft and Faculty director Kristian Boye Petersen.

See our gallery of the old KUA (humanities buildings) before reconstruction here. Note: This is the old KUA.

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