University of Copenhagen to sack first batch of 190 staff in November

The University of Copenhagen has shared an outline of a comprehensive reform to its administration that will save DKK 300 million annually.

The overall proposal for a new organisation of the administration will be considered by the Board of the University of Copenhagen on 19 June. But it will be considered prior to this date by the staff-management committee HSU on 25 April, and at an extraordinary meeting of the university’s working environment committee, AMKU, on 24 April.

You can read the full text of the outline here.

If the Board approves the steering committee’s proposals, the reform work will begin after the summer holidays.

What is the plan?

The majority of the university’s administrative tasks will now be handled by a single university administration that supports students, staff, and managers.

It will be organised into eight administrative areas: finance, educational administration, communications, IT, innovation administration, HR, research administration, and building services. The administration will be housed in three administrative centres. These will be placed in Frederiksberg/City Campus, South Campus and North Campus.

The university administration staff will consist of employees currently working at departments, faculties and in the central administration. Staffing will be planned in a dialogue between employees and managers, and these negotiations begin in the late summer of 2024. If they so wish, staff can agree to a voluntary redundancy up, and until, the week starting 30 October.

READ ALSO: Here is the timeline for the upcoming University of Copenhagen layoffs

In addition to the university administration, there will be local administrative units that will support departments, deans’ offices and the rector’s office.

The plan is for the new organisation to take effect on 1 March 2025, and the message to staff on KUnet states that »approximately half of the administration reform’s savings targets will be fully implemented by 2025.« In addition to the 190 full-time staff equivalents mentioned above – this will be achieved by »clearly demarcating assignments, having fewer layers of administration, and exploiting economies of scale that come from merging tasks. A number of initiatives will be launched which can contribute to efficiency and/or quality improvement. These can include standardization or digital development.

The second half of the cuts target will be achieved towards the end of 2027. This »is expected to take place through efficiency initiatives that have been identified in the design phase, and by gradually reducing the number of administrative full-time equivalent staff by a further 190 through natural wastage.«

Follow the University Post in the coming months to see how academics, administrative staff, and students respond to the plan.