Independent University Newspaper
Copenhagen Business School
Independent University Newspaper
Copenhagen Business School
As part of the new strategy under development, five units are undergoing reorganization, which can result in major changes for the employees involved. According to two shop stewards, the Senior Management cannot eliminate layoffs. The shop stewards say the announcement of the new organization is bad timing and encourage CBS to do everything to avoid layoffs.
CBS’ IT department had spent weeks before the actual lockdown testing different solutions for working at home – in case CBS had to close. Since then, they have helped move campus life online while preventing system overloads. Now, IT is fighting hackers and figuring out how to hand over computers and phones to new employees.
CBS’ campuses are closed due to coronavirus. So now what? Anne Mette Hou, Head of Student Affairs, reports from an abandoned CBS, where staff members are collecting what they need to work from home, and working hard to inform students of the situation that has caused a phone-storm.
No Thursday bars in March, no annual celebration, fewer study seats at the libraries and fewer classes on campus. Coronavirus has resulted in a number of initiatives to avoid spreading the infection that has infected two students and put three individuals from CBS in precautionary quarantine at home.
More time for staff representatives, excellent teaching and research, outreach to society, inclusive and innovative learning environments. CBS is midway through drawing up a new strategy to replace the current one. CBS WIRE has talked to five people from different corners of CBS about their wishes for the new strategy.
While everyone else is looking ahead, let’s take a quick glance back at what caught readers’ attention most on CBS WIRE in 2019.
In the new job satisfaction survey, both TAP and VIP agree that career opportunities are not sufficiently transparent at CBS and that there hasn’t been good follow up on the 2016 survey. However, confidence in the Senior Management has improved. The results are up for discussion at the General Consultation Committee meeting on Friday December 13.
25 students and intro guides have been temporarily suspended from CBS for violating intro activity rules. An additional 44 intro guides have received letters of consultation. Now, the concept of intro weeks is up for discussion, yet again. “Deeply disappointing,” says the President of CBS. “It’s terrible that some students have got off to a bad start,” says the President of CBS Students.
In May, CBS announced a sustainability action plan with concrete goals. Now, the Senior Management has approved a portfolio of projects, also known as the CBS Green Program, to meet the goals. The portfolio includes, for example, technologies to minimize water consumption, increased waste sorting across campus, and right now a soccer field is taking shape by the water tower.
The so-called temporary rise in taximeter funding for the humanities and social sciences is continuing for another three years. This means that CBS will avoid losing DKK 50–60 million a year. What's more, the education cap will be discontinued from the summer of 2020.
CBS is now ready for new collaborations one year after deciding to curb its links with Danske Bank as a direct consequence of the money laundering case that hit the headlines. Replacing the top management and restoring confidence in the bank were CBS’ conditions for reconnecting with its former collaborator.
Students and staff will be electing members to the Board of Directors, the Academic Council and study boards during the elections in week 47. Current members of the Board of Directors and the Academic Council explain why students and staff should seize their chance to influence how CBS is run.
The Director of Universities Denmark would rather find common solutions than rewrite the University Act to address the climate and biodiversity crises, as 558 researchers and university teachers have requested. They want the preamble to focus specifically on how universities can contribute to solving the challenges created by climate change.
The university directors of the eight Danish universities are joining forces to share best practices and discuss potential joint initiatives, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions on campus. The University Director of CBS believes the collaboration will accelerate change.
The education sector and business industry have launched seven recommendations to encourage more international students to embark on careers in Denmark after graduation. CBS had an important seat at the table, explains Tom Dahl-Østergaard, who advocates more language flexibility in the business sector. The recommendations have now been handed to the Minister for Higher Education and Science.
Astrid Tøttenborg and Marie Hansen from Student Hub were frustrated that they couldn’t sort their waste at work. Now, they have four recycling bins working as a pilot project for scaling up the initiative to cover all CBS offices and departments. This aim is supported by the results from the recent recycling project at Spisestuerne, which are so promising that it’s likely to spread to all CBS canteens.
Senior Management and Campus Services have agreed to introduce designated smoking areas in CBS’ outdoor areas starting with Solbjerg Plads in December. The Head of Campus Services explains that ‘smoke police’ will not be lurking around outside, and answers why CBS isn’t introducing a smoke-free policy just yet.
If the government’s draft budget is approved, CBS’ budget will increase by DKK 12 million but be reduced by DKK 50–60 million - a tenth of CBS' education funding. The University Director explains that the budget cut could lead to fewer teaching lessons, fewer teachers and fewer resources to introduce up-to-date teaching methods.
It is too difficult to figure out what research CBS researchers do, if you ask Mette Fjord Sørensen, Head of Research, Higher Education and Diversity at the Confederation of Danish Industry. And at a time when natural sciences are in the spotlight, humanities and social sciences need to step up and show how they can be useful to society and companies, she argues.
Diversity is a vital aspect of disrupting and innovating, but you cannot acquire it simply by hiring a diverse work force, argue Florence Villeséche and Alex Klinge, researchers at CBS. As co-organizers of this year’s Diversity Day on October 8, they are aiming to investigate how diversity and innovation go hand in hand and what role research plays in making diversity a success.
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
