Kinga Siró, the new Head of the Dean’s Office at the Faculty of Medicine has returned to Semmelweis University for the second time after having acquired professional experience in higher education administration and in the private sector. Earlier she also used to work at the Rector’s Office at the university. In her new position, her primary aim is to support the Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Miklós Kellermayer, Dean, and the daily work of the Dean’s Office.
“I always looked at my career as a self-developing process, in which I had to fight with the unexpected elements, human destiny, professional challenges and above all, with myself. Of course, I have to admit that I did everything that I could to face challenges: I educated and developed myself, learned languages, took a qualification exam, attended a postgradual training, defended my PhD thesis, ran a marathon and raised children”, said Kinga Siró, the new Head of the Dean’s Office at the Faculty of Medicine.
She started her career at the administration of higher education, afterwards she worked at the Rector’s Office of Semmelweis University and in the private sector as well – she returned to the university this year.
As head of the Dean’s Office of the Faculty of Medicine, she considers providing the faculty’s central administration of utmost importance.
“This may sound easy, but it is indeed a complex task: all the practical issues related to the daily work of the office end up here at the Dean’s Office, starting from the organization of the faculty events, the Dean’s programs, administrative tasks and tasks related to accreditation to keeping daily contact with the university’s central organization units and the registrar’s office, and we have not yet even mentioned the ad hoc solution of daily tasks and their supervision from a higher education administrative point of view. Accordingly, there are so many official letters and documents arriving at the Dean’s Office every day that 3 or 4 mailing books are full by the end of the day, plus there are the e-mails as well”, said Kinga Siró.
Being a lawyer, she feels most attached to the tasks related to legal questions, especially the participation in the creation of internal rules. It is not her aim to change the basics in the operation of the office right after her arrival – she pointed out.
“I would be very careful in changing anything abruptly in a functioning system, this is always an extremely risky endeavour. The reform processes can be initiated only on the basis of thorough considerations and preparations, but I also think that it is not the task of the office head to turn the office work upside down. The Dean’s Office is essentially an organization unit providing service. Our task is to provide administration and the appropriate background support for the Dean, according to the needs and programs of the leadership”, she emphasized.
Based on her experiences acquired in the private sector, she has new ideas related to development, such as digitalisation or the facilitation of paper-based administration.
“Since Dean Kellermayer has needs pointing in this direction, I will support him in the realization of these plans maximally. … I am trying to provide help, let it be administration or the solution of problems. It would be nonsense to state that it will be successful in every case, but my aim is to do my work as efficiently as possible, and in the meantime to provide my colleagues in the office with a peaceful, humane working environment”, said Kinga Siró.
Ádám Szabó
Photo: Attila Kovács – Semmelweis University
Translation: Katalin Illés-Romhányi
