Episode 16: Knowing Me, Knowing You

Swedish and UK Registrars learning from each other over four decades

This episode of the podcast sees a second discussion with Lee Sanders, Registrar and Secretary and Chief Operating Officer at the University of Birmingham. This time we are talking about a  long standing collaboration between Swedish and UK Registrars, generations of whom have been meeting at a biennial seminar which has been running since 1984. Lee and I both joined the group in 2011 having been tapped on the shoulder for the Cardiff conference and since then have experienced a series of successful events where Registrars from both countries have shared information on similar challenges faced. We note the impressive standard of English of Swedish colleagues and the commonalities and differences of the two national systems as well as the political contexts. 

Topics for consideration at seminars over the years have ranged from Brexit and Covid impacts to international research security and student involvement in governance. We also discuss some of the big differences in Sweden which have been explored including the way in which HE capital  funding differs and the national student record system in Sweden (Ladok, which also inspired an essay by Paul Greatrix published by HEPI in 2023). In addition to tours and excursions there is a social element to the seminar which also involves a singing competition of dubious quality.

It's a brief run through of the many virtues of a really distinctive collaborative arrangement which has been operating successfully for over 40 years now.

Note that the early history of the collaboration is covered in a report, referred to in the podcast, entitled The Meeting of Minds, An Account of the Joint Seminars of UK and Swedish University Registrars and Secretaries during Three Decades, published in 2015 by Lars Ekholm (sadly not currently available online).