Management from AAU's youth on today's AAU: There is no doubt that finances play a bigger role today

By Lea Laursen Pasgaard, AAU Communication and Public Affairs
Photos: Lasse Møller Badstue. Graphics: Søren Emil Søe Degn

When Sven Caspersen was rector of Aalborg University, the tradition was that he walked around the campus in Aalborg in December wishing staff and students a Merry Christmas. For him, the tour was a good way to get a sense of what was going on in the departments. At the same time, it was an opportunity for the staff and him to see each other face to face.

Today's AAU has 3,700 employees and is located in three different cities. A personal Christmas greeting would therefore be a tremendously time-consuming task at the university that celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. AAU has grown explosively since 1974, and on the occasion of the anniversary, AAU Update invited Sven Caspersen and Peter Plenge to talk about AAU's development – and their wishes for the future. As the former rector and former university director, respectively, they are among the leading figures who helped set the direction for the university through most of its 50-year lifespan.

A part of the history

Sven Caspersen and Peter Plenge attend the ceremonial annual celebrations and activities in the university's senior club, but it has been a long time since they spent their days at the university.

"We are part of the history now. When I left the university and retired, I realized that it was like removing your finger from a glass of water. After the initial ripple, it’s as if the finger were never there." says Peter Plenge, who stepped down as university director in 2014 after 16 years in the position.

He was hired as one of AAU's first employees in 1971 where his job was to assist with the establishment of the university which opened three years later in 1974. Apart from a break in the 1990s, when he was director at the University of Copenhagen, Peter Plenge has spent his entire working life at AAU.

PBL finds its form

Sven Caspersen and Peter Plenge were both part of AUC when the university centre opened its doors to its first students on a September day in 1974. Sven Caspersen became rector in 1976, and the central task in the first years was to get the new learning model – PBL – to establish itself and find its form.

"It was quite a task. Some of the teaching staff knew about our plans to teach according to the PBL method, but the absolute majority came from existing educational institutions that approached teaching differently. It took some getting used to," Sven Caspersen remembers.

In the engineering programmes, the model quickly took hold as several of the teachers had experience with similar ways of teaching from previous jobs.

"The relationship between research and teaching was also different back then. Many academic staff members really prioritized teaching, and that was probably one of the reasons why it was so successful," says Sven Caspersen.

Importance for the city's development

The two agree that AAU as an institution has developed a lot over the past 50 years. The university has had a huge impact on Northern Jutland and on Aalborg which has evolved from an industrial city to a university city.

"Aalborg's image externally is clearly coloured by the fact that today it has some large educational institutions. When you walk down the street, you meet a lot of young people, and it's a completely different city than it was when the university opened. Back then Aalborg Shipyard was the city's largest company. I believe that AAU has played a crucial role in this cultural and identity shift," says Peter Plenge.

With Sven Caspersen at the helm, the university left several visible imprints on the city's development. NOVI Science and Business Park and Musikkens Hus were created at the suggestion of Sven Caspersen. He was also a central player in the creation of the Student House and the Utzon Center. Similarly, his successor, Finn Kjærsdam, in conjunction with the Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, was involved in the establishment of the Utzon Center.

A full member of the university family

When the two former leaders look at AAU today, they see a university that is an accepted and respected part of the Danish university family. However, it differs less from the other universities than it did in the past.

"I see the university today as being more traditional. The learning model is no longer so unconventional compared to what’s going on at the other universities, and it’s my impression that the very strong connection to the region is less pronounced than it once was," says Sven Caspersen, referring to the establishment of campuses in Esbjerg and Copenhagen.

Sven Caspersen and Peter Plenge do not quite agree on whether the establishment of the AAU campus in Copenhagen was a good idea. But they both believe that it has been one of the major milestones in the university's history that has had a decisive impact on where the university is today. The Copenhagen campus gives AAU the opportunity to train students that the university would probably never succeed in attracting to Northern Jutland.

The name change from Aalborg University Centre to Aalborg University is another milestone in AAU's history. Although primarily symbolic, the name change marked the university's transformation into a 'classical university'.

The establishment of the medical programme is a third and important milestone for AAU. The programme was a desire since the university was established, but resistance was so great for so many years that it was not possible until 2010.

"It has been a long struggle to get the medical programme for Aalborg. When we were given the terms of reference for AUC in 1973, it came as a shock that it said that we were not allowed to have a medical programme," says Sven Caspersen.

Fortunately, over time, Denmark began to look differently at AAU's desire to train doctors in Northern Jutland.

"There were two reasons why the medical programme was important to us. One was that Northern Jutland simply lacked doctors, so that was an argument for us in relation to the politicians. Another thing was that we had an interest in getting the medical field to Aalborg. The doctors draw a lot of research funding, and the collaboration with a large hospital really generates income," says Peter Plenge.

Not a Jutland DTU

With the establishment of the Faculty of Medicine and the medical programme, AAU became a 'multi-faculty university' representing a wide range of scientific disciplines. This was – and is – important for ensuring a strong, broad AAU, they believe.

"Some people had started talking about how we risked ending up as 'a Jutland DTU'. I think we completely agreed that we had no ambition for that to happen," says Peter Plenge addressing Sven Caspersen.

"We totally agreed on that. There was constant concern that the humanities and social sciences would be wiped out," Sven Caspersen replies.

Today, the former rector and the former university director are very concerned about the general development of the humanities and social sciences. They call it 'very sad' that AAU has had to close several of its language subjects.

"If you want to maintain a broad university, you have to at least offer the major European language subjects. In the long run, I think that language subjects creating engineers with a different profile than that of DTU graduates is a missed opportunity," says Peter Plenge.

He adds:

"But it also speaks to the fact that the way the university is managed has changed. Today, the economy plays a much bigger role. When Casper (Sven Caspersen, ed.) was at the helm, he always made sure to "tax" the areas that brought in a lot of money, so that the money was transferred to the areas that did not earn as much," he adds.

They both point out that the autonomy of universities has been curtailed. In the past, they had far more freedom in deciding over their own finances. Today, the Ministry of Higher Education and Science sets a very clear framework for how universities manage their money.

Future wishes for the anniversary celebrant

The increased state control is a topic that seems to be on both their minds. When asked directly what the two of them want for AAU’s future, Peter Plenge answers promptly:

"Less government control, more autonomy and higher taximeter."

They smile, and Sven Caspersen adds that that sounds beautiful.

"And then there is the desire for the university to continue to advance and establish itself as a university at the absolute top. Both in Denmark and worldwide," says Sven Caspersen, adding that he has always looked with scepticism at the rankings that compare universities.

They both point out that they hope AAU will remain a 'whole' university in the future, one that is also strong in the humanities and social sciences.

"It undoubtedly requires an ability to adapt to the framework conditions that the universities are subject to. The university must live up to its own slogan of 'breaking new ground'. Due to the war in Ukraine, for example, there have been some completely new framework conditions for research on defence and defence technology. This is a real priority, and AAU can play a role," adds Peter Plenge.

Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication and Public Affairs.