“Open to change, where it makes sense”
The role of the academic departments at ETH Zurich is to be strengthened. Workstream 4 of the rETHink project has analysed what this means for the organisation of these decentralised units. Concrete proposals have since been drawn up. Mirian Berrocal, Coordinator for D-BIOL, and Giovanni Salemme, Coordinator for D-HEST, offer an initial assessment.
Workstream 4 is currently drafting minimal standards that will apply to all academic departments. At the same time, departments are to be left to look after their own administration. Let’s start with a very basic question: How open to change do you think the departments really are?
Mirian: I think the academic departments are open to change in principle. If changes are envisaged, I think it’s important to highlight both the benefit and the added value for the departments. The criteria should also include a certain amount of flexibility and freedom to make decisions. After all, the departments are very different in terms of size, orientation and research.
Giovanni: The benefit of the rETHink proposals needs to be communicated clearly. Will rETHink help us make better decisions more quickly? How does it help us in concrete terms? Overall, we cannot expect a quantum leap. But we do of course hope that rETHink will make the academic departments complete their tasks more efficiently and allow smoother cooperation between departments and the ETH Executive Board.
The rETHink project has now provided an analysis of the tasks, responsibilities and processes in the departments. But each department is organised very differently. Purely from a personal perspective, where do you see the biggest need for change in your department?
Mirian: A lot has already changed, in my view. The tasks that the staff units and Executive Board expect the departments to perform are completely different from 10 or 15 years ago. Generally speaking, the complexity of business in the academic departments has increased, along with political pressure and controversial issues in the public domain, such as animal welfare. In such times, I find it extremely important to talk about values and try to find ways of working together more efficiently.
So no urgent changes are forthcoming, as far as you can see?
Mirian: One thing that has certainly changed in recent years is the administrative burden on professors and the department management. Many tasks could be streamlined or delegated directly to the responsible body. Examples that spontaneously come to mind are the risk management process, or the fact that the head of department must separately approve permanent contracts for administrative-technical staff.
Giovanni, how much do you think change is necessary?
Giovanni: I think the rapid growth of ETH Zurich is itself the key reason that is making an analysis of responsibilities and processes in the departments unavoidable. D-HEST has grown from 20 professorships in 2012 to 45 in 2022, for example. The volume and frequency of business transactions has risen sharply as well. What’s more, the Executive Board has concrete expectations regarding what an academic department should deliver. However, we also need the required resources if we are to adapt the structure of the department management and how it operates.
Let’s talk about the current status in your departments. As Coordinator, how do you work with your department management?
Giovanni: I talk with the department manager every week – the two of us work as a team. After that, topics are discussed in the department committee. This functions as an extended department management, since all institutes are represented on it. Then comes the Professors’ Conference and finally the Department Conference, which is attended not only by the department head and the professors, but also the representatives of scientific staff, students, teaching staff, and administrative and technical staff. I believe this “cascade” organisation works well and produces good results. It provides a decision-making process that is consensus oriented.
Mirian: The department management comprises our department head, their deputy and the director of studies. The extended team includes the teaching coordinator and myself, in the role of department coordinator. The five of us meet every week. We deal with all topics that arise, such as requests from the institutes or professorships, and prepare the various conferences and business in collaboration with the Executive Board. A vote is taken in the respective conferences on all major decisions of a strategic or financial nature. This allows us to refer to the department’s long-term memory, and in any case assures an in-depth analysis and thorough preparation.
rETHink recommends orienting department management towards executive activities, in other words, daily operations. How would you rate the management in your own department, and why?
Giovanni: In a traditional company, “executive” means that the CEO decides. In its current form, the department management only prepares decisions. In the department we do not want to force through “our option” via a majority decision, but to have a genuine discussion. That’s why we also try to achieve clear majorities. In the department we do not have the duality of “strategic” versus “executive” in this form.
Mirian: My view is similar. The department management acts in the interest of and on behalf of the department and implements the decisions taken in the conferences. But we can also interpret the term “executive” differently here. If this means that the department management deals with the daily business efficiently, then I agree. This is the best way to look after the day-to-day business, which tends to be repetitive.
Apart from the daily business, however, there are also strategic activities. Who do you think should make decisions about strategic matters, and why?
Giovanni: Strategy plays a very important role in academic operations in particular, such as planning the professorships. Here it obviously makes sense if the researchers make the decisions. Ultimately, they have the best overview of their research areas and trends.
Mirian: Only the professors actively engaged in research can help to support strategic decisions about further development. These decisions must also be broadly supported, as many subject areas are very closely interconnected nowadays. It would not benefit research – or the university – if pure management considerations were the only factor dictating professorship planning.
Proposal workstream 4
Many departments have grown considerably in recent years, but have not updated their organisation. According to the comprehensive survey conducted by Workstream 4 in the departments, the need for action was identified especially in the collaboration between the academic departments and the Executive Board and central administrative units, in the role of the department head, and in the operational functions within department management. The Executive Board then asked for proposals to be drawn up to address these three areas. These proposals are now available in the form of six underlying principles.
Organisation of department management: Principles of WS 4 (proposal)
- Orient department management towards executive business.
- Set up department management as a committee with collective decision-making powers.
- Prepare department heads better for their role.
- Set up committees for specific and strategic topics.
- Establish interfaces between department management and central administrative units.
- Strengthen engagement in self-administration.
WS 4 is drafting minimal standards for these six principles, along with concrete proposals for their practical implementation. These were discussed at the Executive Board retreat on 21 June 2022 and should be submitted for consultation later.
Generally speaking, the department management is to be structured as a committee with collective decision-making powers. What does that mean for your department, in concrete terms?
Giovanni: I have enormous respect for directors of studies and teaching coordinators, who set aside two to three hours every week for this type of management committee. At D-HEST, adding members to our management team would be a radical move. I reckon this would require a lot of persuasion – at least initially. Especially when it comes to recruiting new members to department management.
Mirian: This type of management committee requires a lot of time and energy, but it does generate plenty of added value. The different perspectives and feedback coming from the team are extremely helpful. The set-up in D-BIOL, where we prepare the decisions in the committee and present them to the respective conferences in a transparent manner, has further increased confidence in the department management. Prior discussion and preparation of important aspects of a topic within the team gives backing to the department management.
One way of supporting department management could be additional committees led by delegates, for example, which could be responsible for real estate, room planning, IT, communication or quality assurance. What do you think of this idea?
Giovanni: Committees are a nice idea, but they need to be managed effectively. It takes a lot of time to prepare the agendas for the committees, to put together the documents needed for making decisions, to take minutes of meetings and then of course to implement the decisions taken. For professors, working as part of a committee is important in a research project, for example, in a major undertaking such as an EU project (once Switzerland is allowed to participate again) or the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). But to be honest, committee work is an extra burden for many people in the department. Even so, committees are an important component of self-administration. They simply come at a price.
Mirian: With committees, the trick is finding the right balance. Is a permanent committee always necessary, or can it also meet on an ad hoc basis? Individual tasks could also be delegated to colleagues with specific expertise in that field.
Let’s talk about cooperation: In the analysis, WS 4 has identified six or seven different ways of how departments could coordinate with the support functions of the central administrative units. The interfaces were not clear. To what extent would a single point of contact help?
Giovanni: The staff unit often serves as the department’s long-term memory. Depending on the function, we have our contact in the staff units of the Executive Board and also in the central administrative units. Personally speaking, I have never felt clearer regulation was required. But it could help departments align the way they work more closely with the way the Executive Board and the central administrative units operate.
Mirian: As far as day-to-day business goes, the relevant contacts in the various staff units are quite clear. I believe a single point of contact would be more suited to matters that are not part of everyday business.
The rETHink analysis identifies the role of department head as an important area of action. How can department heads be better prepared for their role?
Mirian: As mentioned previously, in D-BIOL the deputy head of department is also a member of the department management team. Their term of office is two years. As deputy head, they are involved in all business transactions and help to make decisions. We coordinators also provide support with this process, by contributing information that can be helpful for reaching decisions. I can’t think of a better form of preparation for the department heads.
Giovanni: In D-HEST we have started to include the deputy head of department in the management team around six months before they assume their role. That’s definitely rather late. It might well be worth considering doing so much earlier. The university could also offer management courses especially for department heads. However, this is never as effective as practical experience.
So what makes the department head’s job difficult?
Mirian: We’d need to ask the heads themselves (laughs). Keeping up their own research during their period of office is only possible through a substantial amount of extra work. Furthermore, many of the tasks performed are not visible to outsiders and are therefore not appreciated. Many department heads take on the responsibility out of loyalty or gratitude, as they’d like to give something back to the departments. During their tenure, however, they gain insights into diverse and multi-faceted issues, and get to work with the central administrative units, the Executive Board and other academic departments. That in turn makes the role very interesting and provides insights that would otherwise have never been possible.
Giovanni: A department head is not like a dean: an individual holding this office is not in charge of the professors, but is effectively someone who “stands up front”. During their term of office, department heads get to know and understand the university better. Sometimes, however, the job is also a thankless position sandwiched between the Executive Board and the department itself. Furthermore, the department head’s current room for manoeuvre is overestimated. If they are unlucky, department heads only manage to implement very little during their two years of office. Much is controlled externally. It therefore makes sense to view the period as deputy head and serving head in its entirety. As part of a revamped department management, this would make an important contribution towards improving continuity.
A department’s self-administration relies on the professors who get involved in department affairs – whether it be in the management team or as a member of committees, boards or projects. How do we manage to keep motivation levels high?
Mirian: Strong identification with the department and the university is a basic prerequisite for taking on responsibilities beyond one’s actual area of activity. I think it’s important to foster and live out a culture of appreciation in the departments, and across the entire university. This requires willingness and commitment from each individual and should be appreciated through appropriate recognition. In addition, tasks should be distributed as broadly as possible across the department or should balance out over time.
Giovanni: As long the system of additional duties assumed on a voluntary basis continues, the commitment of professors is needed in the university’s self-administration structure. It is an essential component. Professors today have multiple roles as lecturers, researchers, communicators and managers. They liaise with industry and politics and are the university’s public ambassadors. Within ETH, they strengthen the community and its cohesion. The Executive Board needs to consider this when recruiting personnel: candidates have to be willing to fill all these roles. And it must be made clear to them that part of their job is to foster cooperation within the department.
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