Minutes of the Joint cooperation meeting, 26 February 2020

Participants: Kaj Grønbæk, Marianne Dammand Iversen, Tina Rudolph, Kristoffer Arnsfelt Hansen, Olav Bertelsen

Absent: Simon Enni

Taking the minutes: Søs Markussen

Agenda:

1.      Financial situation

2.      Staff news

3.      Salary negotiations 

4.      PhD WPA

5.      Summing up from the work enviroment session at CS Retreat

 

Item 1: Financial situation:

Kaj informed the meeting participants that the department's finances for 2019 look good. It is possible to transfer a surplus of 2%, so the department has a small surplus which can be carried into the 2020 financial statements. The budget for the next four years has not yet been drawn up, as we are waiting for the new Finance Act. The budget is expected to be completed in June 2017. ØR1.

Kaj informed that there is DKK 1 billion in the form of external funding, which can be applied for. CS should apply for as many relevant funding  as possible, so that these many funds can have a positive effect on the department's finances and research.

The agreement on starting packages for new academic staff who have so far been paid by the faculty is about to expire. In the future, the department will be looking for funding in other places and, if necessary, pay for the start packages for the new PhD students and Tenure track.

Item 2: Staff news

Kaj presented a status of the academic staff recruitment, which showed that the Tenure Track call in September 2019, only resulted in one appointment after an associate professor candidate backed out.

In addition, Kaj told that the Tenure Track/associate professor call in January 2020 has resulted in: 140 applicants, where 15 candidates were shortlisted and 8 are invited to interview. Among the eight invited candidates, there are a number of promising candidates. Kaj also mentioned that we are in fierce competition with other universities, as many graduates have applied in several places.

Item 3: Pay negotiations:

Kaj informed that the salary negotiations for 2020 are underway, and that the salary grade this year is DKK 225,000. At the meeting, it was agreed to use the same pay criteria as ones used at the faculty.

 

Item 4: PhD WPA

Olav informed  that the WPA  action plan for PhD students was discussed at the last FØL meeting, especially the issues about teaching and stress. Olav expressed concern about how the communication of PhD students' option to opt out of teaching is to be. Olav prepares a draft about this, which will be sent to Kaj and Anders Møller.

Item 5: Summing up from the work environment session at CS Retreat

At the meeting, we reviewed the group work from the CS retreat, incl. the initiative proposals from Caroline Tøttrup. In particular the issues concerning the pressure to apply for external funding, teaching assessment, mentor schemes and more support for Tenure tracks were highlighted. A number of initiatives for the four items were discussed, and it was agreed that the initiatives will be presented at the Faculty meeting. Søs prepares a draft for the presentation and sends it to Kaj and Na Ree.