You can see signs that a new semester is starting here in Uppsala. More and more students are returning from summer break. Some “old” students are taking make-up exams and preparing for the semester. Other “entirely new” ones are here to get to know their new hometown, find their nation, and get their bearings. For many of our new students, their first period at Uppsala will unfortunately be marked by a housing shortage.
To resolve the acute situation for our students, we all need to help out to make them feel at home, both in the town itself and with their studies, as soon as possible. Even a temporary place to stay for a one or a few weeks can be of great help in giving our new students a good start with their Uppsala experience. Check out the Uppsala Student Union website .
It has long been known that there is a housing shortage in Uppsala, especially at the beginning of a semester. It is therefore gratifying to see that new construction is underway; in Artillerigatan you can see more than 200 new student flats being created. We have excellent collaboration with the city of Uppsala and other actors in this matter, but it is obvious that both the rate of construction and the supply of housing need to increase. Until this can be achieved, we all have to help out in resolving the acute housing situation. We appeal to all of you who have an extra room or some other form of housing to rent it to a student.
UNT has written about the student housing situation, and last spring we wrote an article, together with the Vice-Chancellor of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the Chair of the Uppsala City Executive Board, to spark a debate about the housing situation as a key to the growth of Uppsala.
During the week we have been able to see that the University is back in full swing. Weekly routines with the Vice-Chancellor’s Management Council and the Vice-Chancellor’s Executive Meeting are starting to fill the calendar. We have had an intensive and inspiring retreat with the Vice-Chancellor’s Management Council. To start with, the Management Council had the opportunity to meet the new Chair of the University Board, Carola Lemne, who told them, among other things, how she views the role of the University, especially stressing collaboration: within the University, between universities, with business and the wider community, nationally and internationally. Collaboration and cross-disciplinary cooperation became something of a theme, setting the table for much of the ensuing discussion. We received a report about ongoing work with goals and strategies from the working group’s chair, Göran Magnusson, and deputy chair, Coco Norén. We discussed the workflow within the University and how we can work together more efficiently. Our discussions also addressed what challenges the University is facing and how we should tackle them. The management retreat provided both inspiration and guidance for the coming year.