Text

MDU reorganisation: from academies to faculties

There is now a proposal that MDU should make changes to the way the university is organised to be more like other universities. If this is decided, instead of the four academies we have today, we will have two different faculties, each led by a dean.

The proposal is that, as of 1 January 2026, all education and research will be conducted within two faculties. Faculties are the name most universities in the world give to the highest organisational unit of their activities. Therefore, the reorganisation will make it easier to collaborate with others in the academic world and we will have a more appropriate organisation within the university.

The proposal is that:

  • MDUs will go from four academies to two faculties. They will be organised as follows:
    • A Faculty of Engineering and Health Sciences
    • A Faculty of Social Sciences, Educational Sciences and Humanities, including Mathematics and Physics.
  • The faculties will be led by deans.
  • What are currently departments will be called departments, led by heads of department. This is also more like other universities.
  • The aim is for this issue to be taken up by the University Board when it meets on 18 February this year.

Many things will need to be decided later, once the first part of the division into faculties is finalised. For example, it has not been decided what the faculties will be called or how the different departments will be organised.

The proposal has been developed with the involvement of many MDU staff. All staff have been able to sign up to working groups and around 70 people have subsequently been involved in the working groups that have produced the evidence that led to the final proposal.

How will it affect you as a student?

As a student, you will probably not notice much of the reorganisation at first. The subjects and courses or programmes we offer will be the same when the reorganisation is implemented. What will change is where the people working at MDU belong organisationally.

In the long term, this may lead to new interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary initiatives or new subjects. It may lead to new courses and programmes in the long run, but it is too early to say what it will be.

The student perspective is taken into account

To ensure that the student perspective is taken into account, the Chairman of the Student Union is part of the steering group for ‘our orange transition’, as the reorganisation is called. The name of course alludes to MDU's colour orange!

For those who are more interested

Are you interested in becoming more involved in the changes at MDU? We invite you to a working group for students at MDU who want to know more or who want to engage in the work with the changes in some way.

Do you want to join or have any other questions? Please email us at orangeomstallning@mdu.se

Rector's Framework Order (Case Number 2023/2949)

The most important decision in the work to develop MDU is the rector's framework order. In this order, the rector tasked everyone working at MDU to come up with proposals on how MDU should be organized. This decision was the starting signal for the entire project.

In the framework order, the rector set up frameworks – a number of requirements that they wanted to be fulfilled in the new organization. They are briefly described below:

The rector is the client for the new organization and gives the project organization the task of developing two to three different proposals for MDU's new organization. After in-depth discussions and considerations, the university's management team will then recommend which of the existing proposals should be realized. According to current regulations, it is the board that determines the university's overall organization. The frameworks are a proposal and may be adjusted.

The work to develop two to three different proposals should be based on the following frameworks:

The new culture should meet four effect goals

  • MDU should be a co-creating university.
  • MDU should be an international knowledge hub.
  • MDU should be characterized by a curious learning culture.
  • MDU should educate future-ready brave fellow human beings.

The new organization should be formed within the following framework conditions

  • A robust and clear organization in harmony with the outside world and easy to understand.
  • Four academies are developed into a number of faculties led by deans with a unified management structure.
  • Each faculty is organized into a number of departments led by heads of departments.
  • The collegial structure interacts with the faculty structure.
  • Responsibilities and authorities are clear and transparent.
  • The organization supports both subject depth and breadth in multidisciplinary activities.
  • Education and research are integrated.
  • A strong focus on education with students' learning at the center should be the core of all development for MDU.
  • Open science and academic freedom are safeguarded.