Why is this reorganisation being done? After all, it wasn’t very long ago that you went from division to unit and now you are back be being a division again.
“There are some coincidental reasons for this. Previously, the Division for External Relations had two units: International Coordination and Contract Education. International projects and cases were transferred to the newly established Division for Internationalisation during the course of 2019. That meant the Contract Education unit was the only unit left within the Division for External Relations, so it was the most rational thing to reorganise the unit as a Division.”

Does the reorganisation mean any change in your remit or activities?
“No, our remit does not change with the reorganisation. Our remit is to support the University’s work by offering continuing professional development at an academic level for organisations and businesses. We still aim to be the first choice of private and public sector customers for educating professionals at the academic level, that still lies at the core of our activities. Our goal is to contribute to the University’s cooperation with the community through contract education.

“Internally, we are a support function for the departments and teachers we work closely with in business development, course structuring, planning, implementation and follow-up of contract education. It gives the departments important external contacts, inspiration for developing their undergraduate (first-cycle) courses and study programmes, and opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations. And it can also provide a financial contribution. The Division for Contract Education has no basic grant from direct government funding. This means that all our activities, including the development of new courses and study programmes and projects, are financed through revenue from courses and study programmes that we have sold and through assignments.”

Has the pandemic impacted your business?
“We have been greatly impacted by the pandemic. Almost all production of our courses for professionals has had to be converted to distance education and some courses have had to be cancelled altogether.”

You have just moved from floor 0 to floor 3 in the Segerstedt Building – how does that feel?
“A bit of a change in surroundings is nice when most things are happening online these days. The move has brought us closer to the Communications Division and the Development Office and that’s positive for our cooperation.”