TAP Prize 2018: Shout-out for the specialist consultant

The sun was shining on specialist consultant Thomas Haaning Christiansen from the Faculty of Law when he was awarded the annual TAP prize for technical administrative staff at the University’s spring festival on Friday, 25th May.

The TAP prize was set up by students in recognition and appreciation of the effort made by one, or a group of, technical-administrative staffers for the UCPH education and study environment.

The award consists of a cash gift (DKK 10,000 which has been collected from students) and a trophy in the form of engraved gear cogs in stainless steel. The gear cogs symbolise technical/administrative staff’s importance in keeping the UCPH machine running for the benefit of both students and researchers.

Students’ shout-out for the specialist consultant

At the awards ceremony on the festival’s Frekvens-stage, student Cielia Vedel Eckardt from the prize committee said that:

“Thomas has, as a specialist consultant at the Faculty of law, been responsible for the move to KUA3. He made sure that the transition from the inner city campus to the campus in the Amager district went smoothly.”

In the move, Thomas managed to balance the different demands and requirements of grumpy researchers and dissatisfied students.

From the recommendation of the prize committee

 

“As a law student, I feel very lucky that I have been allowed to hand over this prize, because I see every day with my own eyes what happens when you work with the faculty and students.”

“When we had to move to South Campus, not everyone was happy with us leaving the historic buildings in the Inner City. And it has been a relocation with feelings of ambivalence. In the move, Thomas managed to balance the different demands and requirements of grumpy researchers and dissatisfied students.

Mutual satisfaction

The University Post caught up with the happy winner on the phone on the Monday morning after the party.

“For me personally, the prize is a good and yet unusual take on my work. And I must also say that I feel great pride in it being someone from the Faculty of Law that takes the prize this year. I see this as proof that we have worked hard on the study environment in recent years.”

Thomas Haaning Christiansen has been the students’ point of contact throughout the relocation process, and this included helping the law students open the first student-run café on South Campus, the ParaKaffen on 1st January 2017.

Now we share a location, and it is a pleasure to have the daily interaction with students

Thomas Haaning Christiansen

“On top of the physical relocation, there followed the work in bringing the soul and identity from the inner city along with the students. This has been a project for everyone. The café is now in place, and we are in the process of developing the rooms that surround it. We have, for example, set up a table football room and a reading room where the walls are covered with photo wallpaper so that it looks like the Danish Supreme Court. Now we are in the process of decorating the area with some legal landmarks that the student organisations will be able to identify with,” says Thomas Haaning Christiansen, who every day is grateful for the Faculty’s new setting:

“We moved from many different locations in the city centre, so that contact with students were few and far between.. Now we have a location in common, and it is a pleasure to have daily interaction with students.”

The satisfaction is mutual. In their recommendation, the students write:

“Thomas is always in a good mood and ready to help, regardless of whether we have a power failure or need a new decoration of our study environments.”