University council concerned about reform of support services

The University Council is entering a challenging academic year. Declining student numbers and financial uncertainty are forcing the university to make difficult choices. The support services are to be reformed, while the council has gained a new, pro-Palestinian staff faction.

Last year, the University Council welcomed the Progressive Student Alliance for the first time. Representing Panka Toma, the faction consistently voiced criticism of Tilburg University’s cooperation with Israeli universities and institutions. Her successor is Rayan Fransawi.

This year, the staff side has gained a counterpart: the Progressive Staff Alliance. Antonio Pinilla, speaking on behalf of the new faction, immediately makes his position clear during the first university council after the summer recess: “It has been almost two years since the Advisory Committee on Partnerships recommended suspending cooperation with Israeli universities. Since then, the university has said that changes have taken place, but nothing has been done.”

Pinilla says he will continue to put pressure on the council to end all cooperation with Israeli universities.

Reform Programme for Support Services

The reform of the support services is one of the most important items on the agenda. Declining student numbers will force the university to make difficult decisions in the coming years. Fewer students means less income, which in turn means cuts will be necessary.

Over the coming years, the support services will have to reduce their number of full-time equivalent positions and undergo reforms to improve their functioning. A policy document outlining the vision for this process is currently on the table, but it has come under criticism from the Independent Staff Faction.

“Too much management speak,” Huub den Ouden concludes. “There is a lot of talk about KPIs and business cases. We understand that, but it can get in the way of a lot of things. And we are missing concrete ideas about how the changes can also be an opportunity to modernise.”

Den Ouden also finds it strange that the university makes so little use of its own expertise. “Why hire external consultants to write documents when we already have experts in-house?”

According to Den Ouden, the vision also creates an unnecessary distinction between support staff and academic staff. “There is often a perception that the faculties make the requests and the support services deliver. But it’s not that simple. There is close collaboration, and everyone is working towards the same goal. I wonder whether it even makes sense to separate support and academic staff in the first place. A vision should bring people together.”

University Council Wants a Say

Wilma de Koning, Vice President of the Executive Board, says she will take the criticism on board. “Everyone who works here contributes to the university. I want that to be very clear.”

She also wants to look at the tone of voice of the policy document. According to De Koning, however, there is a reason for using KPIs. “If we want to know whether the process is proceeding properly and effectively, we need to monitor it. KPIs help us do that.”

De Koning stresses that the reform programme for the support services was not launched as a cost-cutting exercise. “We are trying to change the organisation in order to improve quality.” Because much remains uncertain — from government policy in The Hague to the precise decline in the number of (international) students — it remains difficult to make decisions, according to De Koning.

Quita Muis of the Independent Staff Faction emphasises that the University Council wants to be properly involved in the developments and have a say in them. “As a University Council, we have a right to that.”

The coming months will show how much room the University Council will actually be given to influence and adjust the changes to the support services.

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