Research and Higher Education in Sweden

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The Governance of Uppsala University

• Presentation at the Siena MEHEM
• Workshop, April 2, 2009
• Linda Wedlin, Uppsala University, Sweden

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Institutional Characteristics
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History

• The oldest university in Northern Europe founded
  in 1477
• Low activity between 1530s and 1595
• Land grant from the King in 1624
• 17th and 18th century development of the natural
  sciences (Celsius, Rudbeck, Linneus)
• 19th century Romantic century
• 20th century The rise of the modern university

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Domestic Competitors

• Universities (10)
• One old (Lund, 1668)
• Two late 19th century (Stockholm, Gothenburg)
• Two mid-20th century (Umea and Linkoping)
• Four new universities (former university
  colleges)
• Specialised Institutions (6)
• University Colleges (14)
• A Few Research Institutes

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Some Basic Figures 2007

• Total revenues of 430 million
• 70 of the revenues for research and research
  training
• 6,000 employees corresponding to 4,600 FTEs
• 4,000 teachers and researchers corresponding to
  3,000 FTEs
• 1,500 faculty members (36 women)
• 1,000 with a Ph.D. (30 women)
• 500 full professors (20 women)
• 2,000 (33 ) employees have administrative
  functions
• 40,000 students
• 20,000 FTE (58 women)
• 2,000 doctoral students (48 women)
• 4,000 students graduate each year

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Organizational Structure
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Composition of the University Board
3 union representatives (with 3 deputies) have
the right to participate but not to vote.
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Governing Bodies below the VC

• Three Discplinary Domain Boards and Vice-Rectors
• A Faculty Board and Dean of Educational Sciences
• Five Faculty Boards and Deans within the
  Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social
  Sciences
• Department Boards and Heads of Departments
• At all levels faculty and student influence

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University Administration
Registrar
Evaluation Office
Registrars Office
Student Affairs
Information Office
Office for M P
Office for H SS
Office for S T
Financial Office
PA Office
Buildings Office
International Office
Legal Office
Development Office
Baltic University
Telecommunications
Continuing Education
Service Functions
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Funding
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Field Level

• Education
• Number of FTEs
• Completion rates
• Tuition fees from individuals not permitted
• Research
• Significant government grants
• Concentration to universities
• Concentration to medicine, science and technology
• Variety of sources
• Tendencies towards market solutions
• Priorities of innovation and strategic
  allocation of resources
• Strong government involvement but increasing
  market links

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University Income 2007
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External Research Funding 2004-2007
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University Costs 2007
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Recruiting
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Field Level

• University leaders
• Traditionally a collegial selection process
• From the 1980s an increasing government control
  over university leadership
• Presently a trend towards more freedom
• Students
• Numerus clausus
• Centralized national application procedures
• Selection on the basis of school or test
  performance
• Faculty
• Double career tracks
• Bureaucratic selection procedures

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Recruting a VC (2005)

• April 2005 Decisions to create an Election
  Assembly and a Selection Group (ChairDeputy
  Chair3 fac-ulty2 students1 union
  representative)
• May 2005 Appointment of members in the Election
  Assembly
• June 2005 Decision on profile and engagement of
  a search consultant
• October 2005 Proposal from Selection Group to
  Election Assembly
• November 2005 Decision by University Board
• December-January 2006 Appointment by Government
• February 2006 Decision on Pro-VC
• July 2006 The new team in office

• Election Assembly

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Recruiting Students

• About 50 programs for first-year students
• About 45 programs on master level
• About 2,000 additional courses
• Programs and courses usually start both in the
  fall and in the spring
• Central applications through the web
• On average 2 students for each opening and the
  most popular programs have more than six students
  per opening
• Selection on the basis of school or test
  performance

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Recruiting Faculty

• Department decision to get permission to start a
  recruitment process
• Decision by Faculty Board or Faculty Office to
  permit the recruitment
• Decision on job description
• The opening is advertised with a closing date at
  least three weeks later
• Outside experts of both sexes are called upon to
  evaluate the candidate
• Expert reports are delivered to the Recruitment
  Committee of the Faculty
• The Recruitment Committee makes a recommendation
• The relevant person (the VC or the Dean)
  negotiates the salary
• A decision is taken on hiring a person
• Appeals against the decision can be submitted
  within three weeks after the decision

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Monitoring
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Field Level

• Quality
• Education
• Cyclical evaluations by a government agency
• So far no link to funding, but negative
  evaluations are increasingly leading to warnings
  and removals of examination rights
• Research
• Discipline evaluations but no formal links to
  funding
• Accounts
• Management accounting systems
• Government reviews
• Various government reviews but only indirect
  links to funding

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Quality and Renewal 07 (KoF07)
Project Time-Table
Project Organization
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Conclusions
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Features of Governance

• An old complete state university high research
  activity
• A majority of external members of the University
  Board
• Three disciplinary domains and a Faculty of
  Education
• Faculty and student influence on all levels
• Personnel account for about 60 per cent of costs
• One third of the staff in administration
• State grants account for two-thirds of the
  revenues
• A large number of programmes and courses offered,
  most of them with a high demand
• Student recruiting through a national web-based
  application system
• Formalized procedures for recruiting leaders and
  faculty
• A large internal evaluation project of the
  university accomplished

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Thank you for attention!
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