Our work is affected by the coronavirus, without a doubt. To totally rethink the way we interact with people is a challenge. Trips and meetings are cancelled, education transformed, seminars and workshops are postponed, as are the deadlines for applying for external funding. But some projects stay their course. In this case because the content is immune against virus outbreaks.
The steering committee have had two meetings during March concentrating on getting LUs action plan in place. The expression “kill your darlings” has been uttered several times, as actions in the long original action plan (see previous blog post) have been cut and put on what we call “we wish list” for coming years. What remains are now 8 actions, which have been presented to the Vice Chancellor Torbjörn von Schantz, our pro vice chancellors and the University Director. They’re fine with it as well. They are also aware that if we want to be able to stand with head held high in two years, after our self-evaluation, we have to reorganise efforts and get resources.
Next step is to talk to the different stakeholders who are pinpointed in the actions, so they can start planning. As soon as they’re on board and the vice chancellor has made his formal decision, we are putting the final version of the action plan up here for all to see. We can’t get in to details now, but we can give you some key words: Career development, transparent recruitment and on-boarding, research ethics, outreach, re-packaging information for various target groups.
Now, if this isn’t good news when we need it the most, I don’t know what is.