Independent University Newspaper
Copenhagen Business School
Independent University Newspaper
Copenhagen Business School
Exam anxiety? Lost student card? I’ve wedged my car between a Fiat 500 and a lamp post, can you help? You never know what you’ll be asked next. But that’s just how the Campus Desk team like it. And if they can’t fix your problem, they’ll know someone who can. CBS WIRE asked the team about the whole range of topics they advice on every day.
Raised beds with berries and vegetables, wildflowers and professors with wheelbarrows and rakes – it might not be the typical image of a business school – but that could all change in the future. CBS faculty members Isabel Fróes and Maribel Blasco’s idea of creating a permaculture garden at CBS has finally set down roots. On a piece of land next to Kilen, they want to build a community around permaculture principles and rethink how the green spaces of the campus can be used. “It gives us a lot of energy and meaning,” says Maribel Blasco.
Globally, the amount of electronic waste is only going one way – up. In CBS’ Campus Sustainability Profile from 2019, CBS aims at limiting new item purchases. But what is being done to limit the purchase of new iPhones and computers and recycle the old devices?
Every year, the number of electronic devices used increases by 2.5 billion tons, and according to the European Parliament, very little of it is recycled. What does CBS do to reduce and recycle its electronic waste? CBS WIRE asked the Head of IT Support.
CBS’ first program devoted to teaching entrepreneurship is in line for closure. Former line coordinator and teacher at the MSocSc in Organizational Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Christina Lubinski, criticizes the Senior Management’s focus on unemployment rates and fears that the start-up environment in Denmark will suffer.
“We use the hearings to see whether input from the organization can give grounds for adjusting the plan,” says Inger Askehave, the Acting President of CBS. She and the Dean of Education, Gregor Halff, also answer questions regarding whether CBS can live up to its strategy and how they will avoid layoffs.
The General Consultation Committee (HSU) has met with Senior Management about the proposed plan to close six programs. Ole Helmersen, HSU member, explains that alternative implementations of the two phases were discussed, and that he believes that the risk of layoffs can be reduced.
Before the rumors of a proposed closure of six CBS programs was confirmed, the Chairmanship of the Academic Council sent a letter of concern to the Senior Management, in which they worry that the process will be “very closed”, like the one leading to the approval of CBS’ strategy behind closed doors in the summer 2020.
Mads Taudal Nyeng, President of CBS Students, is against the political premise behind the reduced intake. He predicts that the government will not get what it wants, which is more and better educational opportunities.
More than 350 current and previous students from programs at risk of being closed are forming alliances, protests and petitions against CBS’ proposal. Students call the current process “undemocratic” and fear CBS will become just “an ordinary business school”.
By 2030, CBS is to reduce its intake by 10%. In total, that is 628 study places in Frederiksberg. On November 12, the Senior Management presented a study place reduction plan to the CBS Board of Directors. The plan includes closing the BSc in Business Administration and Philosophy, and several master’s programs. Now, hearings will be held regarding the plan until the final agreement is made at a CBS Board meeting on December 2.
Jespers Torvekøkken runs experiments to find solutions to their single-use coffee cups, paper bags and plastic packaging problems, for example, a pilot with coffee-cup rental, and a closed trash circuit. “Reuse is the ultimate goal,” says Chief Commercial Officer at Jespers Torvekøkken.
November 15 to 19, all of CBS’ employees are invited to participate in various events, all with a common purpose – to increase psychological and physical wellbeing. “The moment I got back to CBS after the lockdown, I was challenged by my bad habits,” says Tina Falch, Ergonomics Ambassador at CBS and co-initiator of wellbeing week.
Howitzvej 11–13 once used to house an electroplating factory and a laboratory. Now, the grounds are being investigated for hazardous substances such as heavy metals and chlorinated solvents that can threaten the groundwater, explains a consultant from the Capital Region of Denmark.
Now, students and employees can sort their waste at CBS wherever they are on campus in up to seven different fractions. The student organization oikos Copenhagen initiated a pilot project in 2019 that, with help from CBS, grew and become permanent, putting CBS one year ahead of the Danish government’s waste sorting policy, according to the Program Manager.
After the Academic Council directed incisive criticism at the Senior Management and the CBS Board of Directors in its annual report from spring this year, the chairs have been meeting to improve relations. At the Academic Council’s latest meeting, the Chair of the CBS Board of Directors, Torben Möger Pedersen, was invited to share his ambitions and priorities for CBS.
Normally, the large reading room at Dalgas Have offers students 150 study places, but until March next year, the Department of Digitalization will be moving in while its ‘home’ at Howitzvej 60 is renovated. The Head of Department, Helle Zinner, acknowledges that the working conditions are not ideal, but calls the situation “a blessing in disguise”. Meanwhile, Station will provide temporary study places for the displaced students.
CBS’ walls and halls are decorated with art by famous and upcoming artists. With campus reopening, a new art season kicked off, including CBS Digital Art Space, showcasing beautiful and provocative video art at Solbjerg Plads.
Students and teachers are back on campus after three semesters of lockdown and online teaching. Where is CBS heading? CBS’ Associate Dean for Technology-Enhanced Learning and CBS Students’ two Vice Presidents explain their views. They are sure of one thing – CBS will not become a university in the cloud.
Male faculty have a higher average wage than their female colleagues in all job categories – except two, an employee portfolio analysis shows. Most noticeable is the difference at associate professor level. A CBS researcher points out several potential explanations – including office housework – and calls for more transparency.
The clock is ticking. On Thursday morning (5 October), CBS employees will know if they are up for dismissal or not. But what will happen on the day? What emotional stages are you likely to encounter? And who will be there to pick you up when you are feeling the blow of being laid off? CBS WIRE has talked to HR and the consulting agency Actief Hartmanns to provide you with answers.
03 Oct 2023
There are many approaches to finding your first job. Three recent CBS graduates talk about how they landed theirs. Their approaches were quite different, yet they all highlight networking as a key element.
02 Oct 2023
In these final days of September, the fate of a number of CBS employees is being decided. The final amount of money saved on salaries via voluntary severance agreements (aka redundancy packages, Ed.) and senior agreements will be known. After this, the actual number of employees up for dismissal will be decided by management – and then the individuals will be selected.
30 Sep 2023
CBS is laying off a number of employees soon, which will affect our university in different ways. When employees are fired without having done anything wrong, it shatters the trust between the organisation and employees, while also taking a toll on productivity, according to a CBS expert. Layoffs also affect the ‘survivors’, who are forced to adapt to a changed workload and the loss of cherished colleagues.
27 Sep 2023
Exam anxiety? Lost student card? I’ve wedged my car between a Fiat 500 and a lamp post, can you help? You never know what you’ll be asked next. But that’s just how the Campus Desk team like it. And if they can’t fix your problem, they’ll know someone who can. CBS WIRE asked the team about the whole range of topics they advice on every day.
22 Sep 2023
A successful university environment such as CBS is often associated with academic pursuits, but campus life extends far beyond the classroom. At CBS Quiz Time, a student society motivated by creative thinking and social engagement, students join in a refreshing range of creativity, excitement, and social interaction. CBS WIRE talked to Celine Møller-Andersen to find out about the society’s vision, strategies and the factors that are driving its rapid expansion.
22 Sep 2023
Employees and union representatives have posed many questions in the wake of the 17 August announcement of a firing round. In this interview, University Director Arnold Boon explains how Senior Management has been working with the budget and a change of financial strategy since the fall of 2022, and why layoffs are now necessary.
11 Sep 2023
Qiuzhi Huang
If you believe that going on exchange is difficult, you might be surprised to learn that there is a space for everyone. Grades and points from extra-curricular activities do matter to some extent, but even with grades at the lower end of the spectrum, an exchange trip is within reach.
18 Nov 2022
Algorithms have a hold on the stock markets that has fuelled the need for regulation. But how do we regulate what we don’t understand? The second generation of trading algorithms are designing their own investment strategies – and they are so complicated that we are unable to understand them.
12 Sep 2022
BOOK REVIEW: Read about new methods for managing stress in working life.
22 Oct 2021
Two researchers tell the story of how the pandemic completely altered their research topic and how they dealt with it.
23 Sep 2021
BOOK REVIEW: Scapegoating the finance sector has become a national sport. Imagine, banks are daring to charge negative interest. But much of the criticism is based on prejudice, claim two professors.
17 May 2021
