Open Letter to the Dean of the Aalto's School of Arts, Design and Architecture

Dear Anna, Congratulations for yet another job. Now, on top of being full time Dean of the School of Arts, Design and Architecture you are now also Vice President of Art and creative practices.

As stated on Aalto’s website, “the dean of the School of Arts, Design and Architecture is responsible for directing the school’s activities in accordance with Aalto University’s strategy and taking part in the long-term development of the university as a member of its Management Team. The dean is responsible for the overall development and international competitiveness of the school, for allocating its resources within the framework of the university’s overall operating plan and budget, and for recruiting faculty in accordance with Aalto University’s tenure track policies. “ [1]

That is indeed a great deal of work. What I do not understand is how you can hold a full time job with so much responsibility and salary to match, be a board member of other institutions such as the Aarhus School of Architecture and still take a part time job with equally high responsibility, as the vice president of Art and creative practices. [2] Please explain to us, the staff, students and citizens, how is it possible to hold both full and part-time jobs and still be fit to perform equally well on both tasks. Please explain to us why one does not employ an extra person for the Vice President position.

In a time where massive cuts are being undertaken on Finnish Educational Institutions, it is of utmost relevance to address the issue of high ranked staff members who misuse their privileges. Most importantly is to rethink an inefficient system that allows such. As an example, a great deal of full-time Professors are seen making external projects aside of their academic duties and are rarely seen at the Campuses. With this further nomination of yours, it seems that once more the example of illusory multi-tasking is being advocated as a righteous one.

Thank you for your clarification

Kind Regards,

P. Aibéo

aibeo.com [1] http://design.aalto.fi/en/current/news/2015-10-16/

[2] https://into.aalto.fi/display/enaalto/Anna+Valtonen+appointed+Dean+of+the+School+of+Arts,+Design+and+Architecture