The proposal that has now been presented entails that university-wide support will be reduced to cover a smaller node with two to three full-time employees. The unit LUCE (Lund University Commissioned Education) currently has 23 employees and is part of the Research, Collaboration and Innovation Division. The node is needed to ensure correct agreement management and that the University fulfils certain requirements set by the Swedish Higher Education Authority.

 The future assignment for the University will include financial follow-ups and reporting of commissioned education. Other support for commissioned education will be provided at faculty or department level. A decision to reduce university-wide support means that most of the existing support needs to be wound up or, if possible, taken over by faculties and departments.

Consultation round

“The University Management’s assessment is that this is the only option to enable university-wide support for commissioned education which does not operate with a deficit,” says pro vice-chancellor Jimmie Kristensson. The planned change means an annual saving of SEK 2 to 3 million in the long term, among other things through reduced costs for premises.

“Working in an organisation that constantly has an operating deficit and is thereby called into question also entails a poor work environment for both managers and staff,” he emphasises. He also stresses that certain faculties have made clear that they consider the current administrative superstructure for commissioned education to be too large.

The next step is a consultation round with the faculty managements, which is now in progress. A decision on implementation is planned in the next few months. The change will then be implemented gradually in 2024 and 2025.