Rector: This is not a 'coup'

Merger proposal defended in front of hundreds of angry staff and students at a packed Faculty of Life Sciences

by Anna Meera Gaonkar

You could hear a pin drop after Rector Ralf Hemmingsen's speech this morning Tuesday at the Faculty of Life Sciences.

No-one clapped after he had attempted to assuage the crowd with a name competition for the new Faculty.

»Life Nat is, after all, not a sustainable name,« he joked.

Board wanted fast action

He had spent ten minutes explaining the different phases in the planned merger process that will join Life Science to the Science faculty, and Pharma to Health. An input phase, he explained, was from 15-25 September. Staff and students will get their say until 14 October . Management will then make a new action plan until 1 January, followed by an integration year until 1 Jan 2013.

Students and staff pointed critical questions at Rector, but he defended management's decision.

»For those of you who have said that the change has come with the speed of a coup d'état. This is no coup. It is the result of the Board's demand for fast action and response from management,« he said.

No shopping around, physically

A female academic staff member in the audience expressed worry that students, in the future, will have to use all of their time moving from campus to campus.

To this Rector answered in English:

»There will be no shopping around, physically«.

Affiliation worries

The University Post caught up with a young first year female Faculty of Life Sciences student before the meeting.

»I am worried about transportation and the huge geographical scope that the new Faculty will have,« she said, preferring to remain anonymous.

»Too much paperwork will be confusing for students, and I am worried there will be no personal affiliation to your place of study,« she added.

Confusing

After the meeting, our source was grave.

»The meeting was confusing, and not enlightening for me at all,« she said.

uni-avis@adm.ku.dk

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