My initial reflection on my (soon) accomplished six years as Vice-Chancellor of Umeå University is 'pride' when I look back. Pride of having a university that we can all be happy about and proud of. A university that attracts students, co-workers and collaborative partners from far and near.
This has to me – and to my colleagues in the management, I dare say – led to our great opportunities in collaborating with so many people within and outside of the University in our aspiration to continue to develop our university. With its wide knowledge and experience, Umeå University spans across the entire width of arts and humanities, social sciences, medicine, natural sciences and technology. Our width is one of the things that makes work at Umeå University so incredibly stimulating. It also contributes to great opportunities to develop our university but also to be the party that makes a difference and to develop society at large.
This feeling of pride – and hence, a large portion of satisfaction – is not the same as not spotting challenges, both now and ahead. No, rather the opposite. Our challenges are both huge and many, which means that continuous work to meet these is required. The conviction we have worked on is to always put quality first. Without high quality in both education and research, we will disappear in the global competition. It's of course pleasing to see that the success we have experienced, both in education and research, has made us visible on a global scale.
I would also yet again like to emphasise the value of what we have jointly strived for in passed years, namely to close the ranks between education and research, to make these go hand in hand, and the relationship between the two should be one of strong mutual dependence.
Without everybody's high ambition, stamina, good will, knowledge and experience, we wouldn't be where we are today and we wouldn't be able to approach future with confidence. Without good collaborations, both within the University and with external collaborative partners, it would also be impossible to stage successful development. Openness, happiness and stimulation are also needed – and I would like to thank everyone dearly for my chance to experience all of this with you at Umeå University.
Likewise, I would like to thank everyone – colleagues and students, and all those I have worked with outside of Umeå University during my term as Vice-Chancellor – for your great work and magnificent collaboration.
A warm thank you and best of luck to you in your future endeavours! I will be following Umeå University with huge interest.
Happy summer!
Lena Gustafsson