NUAS PROGRAM FOR LEADERS IN ADMINISTRATION 2023-2024: Sustainable worklife in Nordic universities

STRENGHTEN YOUR ABILITY TO LEAD WITHIN A COMPLEX UNIVERSITY ORGANSIATION  

IN COOPERATION WITH

MAIN THEME

Sustainable worklife in Nordic universities

The overall theme of 2023-2024 program will focus on the role and responsibility of the administrative leader to create and maintain a sustainable work life in Nordic universities.

OBJECTIVE

    • Increase participants’ insight into developments influencing administrative leadership in the Nordic higher education sector.
    • Examine important challenges and themes facing administrative leaders in the changing university environment.
    • Provide time and guidance for participants to reflect upon and develop their leadership roles.
    • Create an arena for professional networking and knowledge sharing.

CONTENT and THEMES

The programme is designed around the roles and functions of administrative leaders in an academic setting. Each of the five host institutions is responsible for preparing the theme for their seminar, so the programme content as a whole is a result of a cooperation between the host institutions.

    • Participants learn about different Nordic HE institutions and gain insight in similarities and differences between organisational structures, institutions, and countries.
    • The programme covers a broad spectrum of themes related to the role that administrative leaders play in modern higher education.
    • Some themes are directly related to the role of the administrative leader at an academic institution, while others are related to the development in societal or financial demands that influence universities.


The role of leaders in administration in the Nordic HE context : Reykjavik Seminar

    • Leaders´ role in building a healthy and sustainable workplace 
    • Diversity and inclusion in the workplace – in a broad sense 
    • Leaders professional development and self awareness 

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Change Management :  Helsinki seminar

    • Role of the leader in organizational change 
    • How to support the work community in the change 
    • Resilience of the leader in the change 


You, as a leader:  Karlstad Seminar

    • Self-awareness, and leadership
    • Openness, vulnerability, courage and trust, in leadership 
    • How you want to show up as a leader 


Higher Education in the Nordic countries – Building a Great Place to Work : Oslo Seminar

How should our future academic work life look like if we are to attract and retain talent?

    • The competitive edge of Nordic countries
    • Hybrid work and work – life balance


Future-proof organizations and regenerative leadership : Aalborg University/Faroe Islands seminar

    • A new approach to leadership logic
    • Creating more optimal conditions for well-being in the way we produce, lead and live

METHODS

    • Information exchange and experience sharing is a core element of the programme.
    • Seminar programmes are developed to encourage active participation.
    • Seminars are organized with lectures, discussions, and workshops; networking and social activities are important elements.
    • Participants get insight into methods and tools, and have the opportunity to participate in peer-to-peer counseling with their Nordic colleagues.
    • Participants receive some homework between seminars, to try out exercises in practice and prepare them for sharing their experiences with others.

 

WHO CAN ATTEND?

The program is designed for administrative middle management. The ideal candidate is an administrative middle or line manager with a year or two in the management position, or an administrative manager with more experience but who is new to a university setting.


REQUIREMENTS

The participants are expected to be present during all seminars and do home assignments in between. The participants will be assigned to a core group and some of the assignments will be based on group involvement.


WHERE AND WHEN

The program will span a 13 month period comprising five three day seminars in total.  Each of the five universities and countries will host the program on one occasion. Here you can find the seminar dates and places. Please note that the dates will be confirmed in due course.

Seminars Dates Host university
Seminar 1 June 6 – 7, 2023 University of Iceland
Seminar 2 September 18 – 20, 2023 University of Helsinki, Finland
Seminar 3 November 6 – 8, 2023 Karlstad University, Sweden
Seminar 4 February 5 – 7, 2024 Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
Seminar 5 June 5-6, 2024  University of the Faroe Islands


APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS

The program takes up to 35 participants from NUAS universities only.  We will strive to have a balanced representation of participants from the five Nordic countries.

 

FEES

The fee for the program is 35 000 NOK.

Travel and accommodation is not included in the fee and has to be covered by each participant/university

 

THE TEAM BEHIND THE PROGRAM:

    • Guðrún Margrét Eysteinsdóttir, Division of Human Resources, University of Iceland
    • Solveig Merete Svantesen, Senior Adviser Dept. of Human resources, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
    • Christer Clerwall, HR-strategist, Karlstad University, Sweden
    • Tine Corfitsen, Special consultant Rector´s office, Aalborg University, Denmark / Louisa Adam Fjallsbak, Executive Secretary, Central Administration  University of the Faroe Islands[1]
    • Sari Mikkola, HRD Specialist Human resources, University of Helsinki, Finland
    • Jónína Ó. Kárdal, Program coordinator, NUAS contact

 

ABOUT NUAS

NUAS is a member-driven collaborative organization established in 1976. Initially, one joint seminar was arranged annually. Today, NUAS’ membership base includes 64 universities and university colleges. NUAS has 14 groups that focus on specific administrative disciplines.

NUAS’s activities maintain a development-oriented and interdepartmental focus, in which the objective is to cooperate on improvement and professionalization of administrative solutions in the university sector.

To accomplish this objective NUAS organizes seminars, workshops and the NUAS Programme for Leaders in Administration, in addition to the informal exchange taking place in the groups

 

BACKGROUND

Nordic cooperation has a long tradition and is built on common values and willingness to share and exchange thus strengthening the Nordic region. Collaboration between the Nordic universities is a stated political objective.

NUAS believes that a platform for exchange and networking for administrative leaders within the Higher Education sector will support this aim and therefore we offer the NUAS Program for leaders in administration.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Please contact Jónína Ó. Kárdal

joninaka@hi.is

+354 525 4336

[1] In collaboration