The Controlled Slowdown, KOP-23, at SDU and at SUND

There is an imbalance in the economy at SDU and at all of the other universities in the country. At SDU, the operating income for 2022 ends with a deficit of approximately DKK 138 million (expected). In 2023, a deficit of almost DKK 168 million has been budgeted.

For SUND, the move to New SUND is in itself a major burden on the economy. This was budgeted for, but increases in construction prices mean that the budget has to be revised. For SUND and for the rest of SDU, the serious situation of decreasing education income (decreasing bachelor intake by 26% from 2019) is also weighing heavily. There is also political uncertainty about the continuation of the taximeter rate #1 increase for some of the education programmes at HUM, SAMF and SUND.

Once the management of SDU knows the Finance Bill (budget) for 2023 and the University’s application numbers via quota 2 in mid-March (application deadline 15 March), it will assess the overall financial situation and decide on adjustments to the economy. In other words, SDU is facing serious political, demographic and economic conditions. You can read more about this and the key initiatives to address the issues on SDUnet her

Due diligence for the process at SUND

The Board has decided that SDU will reduce its activity level by 1.5 per cent from 1 January, which corresponds to DKK 35.6 million of SDU’s financial allocation. Technically, a so-called ‘disposition limit’ of 1.5 percent of SDU’s budget grant will be introduced, which is intended to dampen the level of activity at SDU.

At SUND, a process has therefore been initiated so that by the end of March we will have an overview of what options we have so that the departments and the Faculty Secretariat can comply with this restriction. For us, the 1.5 per cent corresponds to DKK 5.1 million in 2023 overall for all of SUND.

However, for the budget years 2023–2026, expected cost reductions have been included in the Faculty’s overall budget of DKK 120 million (excluding the disposition limit) for the entire period. As mentioned above, this is due to the increased costs associated with the construction of New SUND but also to the increasing costs of salaries at SUND (DKK 20 million more than budgeted was paid in salaries in 2022) and a decrease in education revenue of DKK 45 million in the budget estimate for the period 2023–2026. In connection with KOP-23, all of this will be implemented in the departments and the Faculty Secretariat, and the reductions will bring SUND’s finances into balance by the end of 2026.

A coordination committee has been set up at SUND to ensure control and an overview of the process and the actions that are to be implemented over the next three years. The controlled slowdown plan for SUND 2023–2026 will receive input from four groups that are to be established: one group representing the heads of departments and research managers; one group representing the PhD committee; one group representing administrative staff; and, fourthly, one group representing the education programmes.

The process begins

All four groups will prepare proposals for action, which will be reported back to the coordination group, which will coordinate the overall process with the purpose of advising the Dean. The process will culminate in the adoption of the final proposal by the heads of department at SUND at the end of March.

The coordination group will be responsible for advising the Dean by

1. Designing the process to be implemented
2. Monitoring and adjusting the process
3. Contributing to coordination between the different participants in the process
4. Qualifying presentations for the discussions and the decision of the heads of department in accordance with its tasks in the process

The members of the coordination group are

• Chair of the Academic Council, Professor Henrik Dimke
• Vice Chair of the Liaison Committee, Associate Professor Lars Elbæk
• Head of Department Jesper Bo Nielsen, IST
• Head of Department Jens Troelsen, IOB
• Vice Dean for Research and Innovation, Uffe Holmskov
• Head of Education and Secretariat Merete Munk (Chair)
• Appointed members, Finance: Lene Helth Søholt and Peter Kejser
• Project management/secretariat support: Pia Nykær Hansen