A session to announce the strategy “99 Measures for the Future” of the Support Services of the UL was held at the Main Hall of the Rector’s Office of the University of Lisbon on 15 July. The event aimed to disclose and discuss the 99 measures to improve the structure of the Technical and Administrative Support Services for Education and Research of the University of Lisbon.

The session was full and featured speeches by the Rector, Professor António Sampaio da Nóvoa, the Vice-Rector, Professor Carlos Lobo, the Prorector, Professor Pedro Veiga, and by the Executive Director of the Centre for Common Resources and Shared Services of the University of Lisbon.

Three core infrastructure areas were chosen for this presentation, as they are deemed to be the pillars of this change at the University of Lisbon: Information Systems, Management and the Campus.

Professor Pedro Veiga presented the area of Information Systems, whose main objective is to standardize systems across the university. One of the key projects for this area is to create a support system which, resorting to a single validation, enables lecturers, administrative staff and students to access a platform where they are able to monitor and manage their entire academic lives. (If you wish to know more about all the measures with regard to Information Systems, view the video available at SPUL’s portal).

 
Professor Carlos Lobo presented the Financial Management of UL, the second pillar of the restructuring of the university’s support system. A cost accounting model will be implemented in order to “answer all the needs, identify all the units and activities carried out, establish criteria for allocating costs and income with a view to establishing disaggregated results”. The implementation of cost accounting in the University will enable us to know the cost of a degree, a subject, a student, etc., and ensure that decision-making of a pedagogical and scientific nature is carried out in a conscious and well-founded manner. Knowledge of these variables and of the indicators that they will allow us to build, will enable us to improve procedures and attained increased quality in teaching and research. (If you wish to know more about all the measures with regard to Information Systems, view the video available at SPUL’s portal).

The last area, presented by Dr. David Xavier, was the Campus of the University of Lisbon. This pillar “is an interdisciplinary area that results from a single management opportunity for the campus, integrating functional areas of the management of built spaces and infrastructures, energy, green areas, mobility and the environment”. To that effect, some measures will be implemented, such as the management and monitoring of contracts, the management of energy consumption, and the single management of areas and landscapes within the campus, among others. Such measures will promote the image of the university as a sustainable, dynamic and innovative academic institution, putting an end to the dispersion of services. (If you wish to know more about all the measures with regard to Information Systems, view the video available at SPUL’s portal).

Following the debate, the Rector closed the session. In his closing remarks, the Rector stressed the importance of the involvement of all, as it is a change that has long been discussed by the Management Bodies of the University of Lisbon. The success of these changes will make the UL more modern, more sustainable and an increasingly stronger national and international reference in both teaching and research, but it will depend on the commitment of the entire academic community. To this end, SPUL is already holding meetings with all the Units of the University of Lisbon to clarify queries and to define future working methodologies.

Tânia Ferreira
Serviços Partilhados da Universidade de Lisboa
t.ferreira@ul.pt