Having already acted in the capacity of Director of Finance and Administration of the University of Bremen over the past year, Dr. Martin Mehrtens will now officially hold the post for the next eight years. Today the Academic Senate gave its approval and confirmed the proposal put forward by the University Rector, Prof. Bernd Scholz-Reiter, to appoint Martin Mehrtens. In a secret ballot, 17 members of the Academic Senate voted in favor: There were four abstentions and no dissenting votes. As prescribed by the Bremen law governing university education, the Rector now has to officially appoint the new director to the post before the end of the week. He succeeds Gerd-Rüdiger Kück, who in December 2012, after 21 years in office, accepted a government post as state councilor for education and research.
Mehrtens is no newcomer to the University of Bremen. He has led the Department for Organization, HR Development, IT and Central Services since 1989. His name is connected with the development and implementation of contract management and the organizational development of the University, as well as the targeted expansion of IT structures and strategic HR development. Martin Mehrtens was also instrumental in implementing policies of gender mainstreaming, combining career with family life, and proactive environmental management.
Mehrtens expects the structural budget deficit to be the greatest challenge he will have to deal with in future. Current financial resources are insufficient to cover the HR and material costs foreseen in the University Development Plan V (HEP V), so the most urgent task he faces is budget consolidation. He hopes to find a socially acceptable way to achieve the requisite staff reductions. In so doing, he says he will not lose sight of specific requirements in the areas of teaching and research. There will be no involuntary redundancies. Mehrtens says the precondition for ensuring sound financial planning and transparency of budget management is for the State of Bremen to enter into commitments for medium-term funding, and he calls for the politicians to take appropriate action.
The new Director of Finance and Administration will place a special focus on carrying out repairs to some of the buildings on campus and improving the infrastructure for teaching and research. Dr. Mehrtens will also pay special attention to improving conditions for teaching and learning, as well as to streamlining administrative processes. In view of the growing number of management tasks, he believes the University’s leadership culture will play an increasing role in future. Martin Mehrtens intends to expand policies designed to improve the compatibility of family life, studies and career at the University of Bremen.
