University heads of department play a key, strategically important role in the organisation. They lead the departments, which are the hubs of our organisational structure. As a result, heads of department can easily end up in the classic middle management position, with pressure and demands coming from every direction, but too little support and opportunity to act strategically. The Head of Department Role Project has prepared a number of action proposals to address the problems.

Head of Department is a mandate

Uppsala University’s ambition to combine collegial management with a line organisation is a fundamental prerequisite.
“We want faculty who are involved in making decisions, but that also means that the role of head of department is a temporary mandate”, says Margareta Brattström, professor of private law and one of the two project leaders. For that reason, we need to create the conditions necessary for the change of head of department to work without causing a slump that lasts a couple of years.

“We want to create a structure to help new heads of department. These would include rules of procedure at all departments and an induction course to be completed before acceding to the role, so that new heads of department are fully functional from day one”, says Staffan Svärd, professor at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology and the other project leader.

Work with the rules of procedure is in progress.

Heads of department need a support organisation

Heads of department also need various professions surrounding them who can support the head and take on various tasks. But the substructure currently differs from one department to the next.
“We need to create the conditions necessary for all departments to be able to resolve their problems based on their specific situations” says Professor Brattström.

Further develop the recruitment process

The project is also recommending further development of support for staff recruitment. It can be difficult to express required qualifications clearly when it comes to the ‘soft values’ a new employee should have.
“Heads of department need help writing and specifying the qualifications to avoid vague nonsense. We must take advantage of the expertise we have and should not be dependent on individuals; it should be embedded in the process”, says Professor Brattström.

Narrow the gap between operations and administration

The project also observed the tendency towards a wider gap between the departments and university administration.
“This is a difficult issue, but an important one”, says Professor Svärd. “Heads of department may get different answers depending on who they happen to get hold of in University Administration, and may even feel undermined.”

“Certainly, this could be a mutual perception, where people from administration feel they are fighting the good fight and just get stick for it,” interjects Professor Brattström. “It is always easy to think other people are in the wrong, but both parts are important pieces of the puzzle. We have to solve the problems together.”

Consequently, knowledge and trust between university operations and university administration is one of three priority focus areas for University Administration in 2021-2023.

Employee policy

Another proposal was to institute an employee policy to clarify demands and expectations on all employees. The proposal is now included in the University Administration’s operational plan.