Hans Mossin, the former Head of Administration at the Department of Clinical Medicine, assumed the position of Acting Faculty Director at MED on 1 August. This means that he is already well under way with getting to know the Faculty administration. The restructuring of the organisation of units that are directly subordinate to the Faculty has been particularly useful to ensure a good overview. The ARK project that is now in process at the Faculty is also well timed for the new Director.
Dean Ivar P. Gladhaug is extremely pleased that Hans Mossin has now been appointed Faculty Director. He stresses that Hans is particularly well qualified for the position as he is familiar with both the University at a central level and the Faculty of Medicine in particular following his lengthy tenure as the Head of Administration at the largest department in the University, ClinMed. “I have collaborated closely with Hans since 2012 and I am confident that he is an excellent choice for the Faculty, both now and in the coming years,” says Dean Gladhaug.
A chat with the newly appointed Faculty Director
“Congratulations on your new permanent position as the Director of the Faculty of Medicine. How have you found the transition from the department to the Faculty so far?”
“Thank you. I have found the transition to be pretty big, but not overwhelming. The Faculty is a different part of the organisation and has a much broader area of responsibility than the department I came from and here we work much more closely with the central bodies of the University than we do at department level. There are a lot of new people to meet, but also a lot of familiar faces for me, as I have worked at the University of Oslo for many years. Having experience from another part of the organisation has been useful, particularly from ClinMed perhaps, which is a major part of the Faculty. In that way, there has been a lot of familiarity, but there are also a number of responsibilities and challenges that are new to me and that I need to become accustomed to.”
“The ARK survey and the work associated with this will help me find my feet as the new Director. It really is an excellent way to start! The fact that we will have regular repetitions and a new survey in just three years is also great.”
“Is there anything in particular you are passionate about for the period ahead?”
“I am extremely keen on structure and order. I like to put systems into place. It is also important to me that we manage to get people to work together. Of course, in an organisation as large as the Faculty, with the central role it plays at the University, there are a number of tasks I am looking forward to working on. One of these is UiO IT, which I have already started working on and that poses significant challenges, but I am hopeful that we are close to identifying a solution now.”
“Another important matter for the Faculty is the ongoing negotiations with Sørlandet Hospital with an aim to facilitate decentralised teaching in the future. I hope we manage to secure an agreement that will benefit students, the hospital and the Faculty.”
“It is also important to me that there is good collaboration between the different levels in the Faculty. We need to ensure that the relationships between the Faculty and the departments are built on trust. We need to be open to identifying and addressing any areas where we can improve. A lack of trust and collaboration can be costly. It is also important to me to delegate so that the various managers experience balance between responsibility and authority.”
“What excites you the most now that you have taken over the role of Director?”
“When you observe the Faculty from the outside, at a department, you end up forming various ideas of what the organisation is like. But I have to say that, after joining and getting to know the new organisation better, I am both happy and impressed as there are many things that are working brilliantly. I have gained a lot of wonderful, talented new colleagues here at the Faculty of Medicine. It has certainly been a pleasant and positive experience. That said, I feel that I placed ClinMed in a somewhat difficult situation, as the appointment process has taken a long time.”
“Can you tell us a little bit about the organisational restructuring you started working on this autumn, when you were the acting director?”
“We created a team consisting of Eivind Engebretsen, Gaute Frøisland, Stina Mosling and myself. We have started to review and, where necessary, supplement the various formalities relating to the different centres. So far, we have managed to establish a new inter-faculty centre in collaboration with the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences: The Unit for Innovation, UiO Growth House. The organisational chart for SHE (Centre for Sustainable Healthcare Education) will be updated and will likely be adopted at the Faculty Board meeting on 8 March. We have also started working on the terms of reference, strategy and formalities for HSE (Centre for Health Science Education). We expect to present changes for discussion and adoption through IDF meetings and the Faculty Board this spring and summer for most of the centres. The aim is to make it clearer and easier to understand what the centres will contribute after the reviews have been completed.
“What is your least favourite aspect of your new job? Is there anything you dread getting stuck in with?
“Undoubtedly the imminent election of the new Dean.