TEMPHEAD
It has now been officially announced at ITU, so I guess it is acceptable to post it here as well: I have accepted to step in as TEMPORARY head of my department (Digital Aesthetics & Communication) as of June 1st. The announcement of the position as permanent new head is underway and applications for it will probably have a deadline in September. This means that I will likely be serving as temphead until the end of this year (ie the entire fall term).

Note that I have accepted the position with a specific condition: that my assistant professor contract is extended with hopefully the number of months I serve as temphead. Plus I have secured some form of promise that I will get the possibility to travel abroad as visiting researcher, away from ITU, in late 2005.

Effectively, I will be "managing" 15 researchers, one academic secretary and a student help. Many of the researchers are close colleagues and also friends, so in practice I want it more to be about collaboration than management. However, I get some extra money for making both popular and unpopular decisions, making help sure that we produce the exams we need to produce and that we don't go over budget. I'm the guarantee that DIAC does not come to a stand still while we are waiting for our new head, but that business continues as usual. So that I'll do - continue "business". And, as an added bonus, I also have the chance to perhaps also get some initiatives going that I having been thinking about for some time now...

As for the life of the blog in the months to come, it might change somewhat. I know many of my colleagues read this blog - and since I'm now also their head this is perhaps no longer the place to went the occasional frustrations regarding my job pr private life;). I think one of the more difficult parts of becoming a head, temporary or not, is learning what to say to whom and what not to say. But I'll figure out as I go along I guess.

And then back to business...inquiries are already starting to fill the mailbox!
# posted by Lisbeth at: 14:13