After more than 20 years at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Malin Schatz has taken up her new position as Head of Education at the Faculty of Science. She brings with her extensive experience from both departmental level and the faculty office, a strong commitment to educational development and a clear ambition to work in close collaboration with the departments.
Malin took up her post in mid-January, and her first weeks have largely been about settling into the new role.
“It is still very early days. I have only been here for about a month and a half, so there is a great deal to take in and many new contexts to understand. At times I get a little frustrated that I do not yet have the full picture, but that simply takes time and is part of the process,” she says with a smile when we meet to talk about her new position at the Faculty Office."
Could you tell me a little about your background?
“I started as a study adviser and international coordinator at the Department of Psychology, where I worked closely with students for many years. For the past thirteen years I have been Director of Studies at the Faculty Office of the Faculty of Social Sciences, with a more overarching responsibility for educational matters."
“A great deal of my work has concerned regulations, processes and routines designed to support the departments, as well as quality enhancement and quality assurance in education. In recent years I have also served as Deputy Head of the Faculty Office, working with organisational development and change management. It has been very rewarding and has given me a broad understanding of educational issues, but also of other processes in a constantly evolving organisation.”
How do you want to use your first period here at the Faculty?
“At the moment my main priority is to understand the organisation and to get to know both my colleagues at the Faculty Office and those at the departments. There is a great deal of expertise and engagement here, and building strong collaboration feels like the most important step before I start driving other issues.”
Looking ahead, which questions do you see as particularly important?
“AI is one of them. It is already part of our everyday lives and students are using it in their studies. This is something we need to develop together – both staff and students. It is about legally secure forms of assessment, what is and is not permitted in the use of AI in courses and examinations, but just as much about how we can use AI in a pedagogically well-considered way in our programmes. I also think it is important to dare to try it ourselves and understand how AI can support our daily work. This will remain a major issue for a long time."
"Another important issue is the role of the Director of Studies. We need to continue reviewing how it can become more sustainable and strategic, and how we can strengthen the Directors of Studies in their role as academic leaders in higher education pedagogy."
“And then there is the continued work of making our programmes more visible. A unified education web (in Swedish: "En Samlad Utbildningswebb" (ESU)) is an important step, but only the beginning – now we need to build on what has been initiated.”
What have you seen so far that you would like to build on?
“Bringing first-cycle and second-cycle education, doctoral education, internationalisation and collaboration together within the same division creates better conditions for a holistic perspective and clearer shared goals. I hope this will also be visible at departmental level."
“I am also very much looking forward to the strengthening of collaboration through labour market contacts, alumni relations and external engagement. This will give us better opportunities to work more strategically with students’ and doctoral students’ transition into working life and to highlight the value of our programmes. The Education Office can contribute by providing clearer and more coordinated support to the departments."
“The quality enhancement work at the Faculty appears to function well, for both first- and second-cycle education and doctoral education, and I look forward to developing this further together with the organisation. There is also an exciting benchmarking initiative comparing our education with a number of selected European universities.”
What are you most looking forward to in your new role?
“I enjoy working closely with the departments, as this is where the subject expertise is and where the student-facing work takes place. Our task at the Faculty Office is to support both the departments and the Faculty leadership in matters relating to education. If we can move in the same direction, we can work together towards our shared goal – to provide our students and doctoral students with the highest-quality education."
“I am truly looking forward to collaborating with colleagues, both at the Faculty Office and across the organisation, and to taking part in all the knowledge that exists here. It feels both new and very exciting.”
This article has been written by the author with some assistance from AI-based language tools, including translation into English.
