Kari Suokko, Head of Administration
Administrative and support services are prepared for changes
For the university administration, 2008 was a year of preparing for new challenges readying the university for the start of its reformed operations in 2010. The implications of the university reform for university administration are quite dramatic, as the management system and administrative structure of the university will be overhauled in many respects.
The position and duties of managers of the management will change. Their financial responsibility in particular will increase, and at the same time that the departments become much larger units, their number will be reduced. The preparation for the reform in departments, faculties and the administrative unit has been a formidable administrative effort. The staff has been highly motivated and shown excellent co-operative and professional skills in the preparation work.
Launching the internal service centres for the university is still underway, but considerable progress has been made in information technology, project financing and international personnel services. The different campuses have progressed each according to their own schedule in financial administration, and therefore the service provision has yet to meet the intended standard.
The objective of the structural reform currently in progress is to develop the organisation and operations of the administration to better meet the needs of the renewed university. The basic tenet is to support the Rectors and the Board in their decision-making and strategic planning work and to organise the services provision for the university community into appropriate units. These units will work, as before, in close collaboration.
The university reform makes it possible for the administration and support services to improve their structures and operating models. One of the development targets is for the administration and support services to co-operate closely with other higher education institutions within the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. To achieve this co-operation, new openings and initiatives have already been made.
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