Transition plan update, number 1 (December 2024) |
Dear colleague,
Yesterday saw an important meeting of Faculty Board and departmental boards. At that meeting, we made a series of agreements together on the BA portfolio and small degree programmes. You can read more about that later in this mail to all. With these agreements, to which all faculty boards have jointly committed themselves, we have taken a big step in the process in which we will jointly give substance to the global frameworks from the Transition Plan. We are very happy that we are doing this together, although we realise that we are facing painful measures, given the difficult weather the faculty finds itself in.
We had to create the Transition Plan for the Executive Board in a very short time over the summer. Now comes the time for us to take you as a faculty community with us as we work out the details, because while the framework of the plan is clear, the details are not yet. For this, we desperately need everyone. The process of fleshing out the plan starts now. As Faculty Board, we have been given time for this by the Executive Board until 2027.
During the transition period, we want to keep you updated on developments and where we are now. In this first update, you will read more about:
1) Status of development of the Transition Plan:
- The short-term research funding measure: education compensation
- Long-term agreements (undergraduate portfolio)
- Workload
2) Where and how to ask questions:
- Q&A on intranet and meetings on finance
- Faculty Board office hours open to all
- Faculty Board to be invited to existing consultations
Kind regards,
The Faculty Board |
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Status of development of Transition Plan
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New research funding guidelines: education compensation
In recent years, we have invested heavily in research time and, in order to maintain this and avoid having to reduce the fixed research time of researchers, it was decided to limit the possibilities for teaching compensation with a view to making our faculty financially sound. This means that projects funded from "second flow funding" and "contract funding" are carried out within their own research time. Here, exceptions have been formulated to continue to encourage team science, research leadership, and the development of young researchers. Not only will these guidelines help make the faculty financially sound, they are also an important step forward in light of the faculty research policy. Impact-oriented research will thus be treated as equal to all other research in line with the faculty impact agenda.
After extensive discussions with the Directors of Research and input from departmental boards and support, we have arrived at new faculty guidelines that will apply from 1 January 2025. Applications and ongoing projects will remain unchanged; therefore, past agreements will not be reversed. The guidelines (including exceptions) can be found on the intranet and are explained in more detail there.
Undergraduate portfolio arrangements
In recent weeks, we have held intensive discussions with the Heads of Department and later with the full departmental boards. The discussions were about the design of the process to arrive at a new Bachelor's portfolio (BA portfolio) and within which frameworks it will be done.
The content assignment (see below) is carried out by the BA portfolio project group. This project group consists of Vice Dean BA and Directors of Education BA. The project group is advised by a broadly constituted sounding board group.
In addition, a second project group Finance and Staff, composed of the Heads of Department and Managing Directors, will start. This second project group follows the BA portfolio project group at each stage and advises on each scenario proposed by the BA portfolio project group. It also advises with regard to the impact the proposals have on the workload of employees. Decision-making on the scenarios takes place in the Faculty Board with due regard for the rights of the participation.
The substantive assignment for the BA portfolio project group falls into three phases:
- Essay faculty scenario(s) for structure renewed BA.
- Fill in chosen scenario in outline.
- Prepare curriculum programming for academic year 2027-28.
In phase 1, the project group is explicitly asked to also look at three options:
- Formulate one (or more) English & Celtic scenario(s) under the existing CROHO English label.
- Formulate one (or more) scenario(s) for a BA programme in which (at least) the current Islam and Arabic and Religious Studies degree programmes work together.
- Formulate three scenarios for a new BA degree programme in which (at least) the languages French, German, Italian work together.
All scenarios must meet the established criteria, including the criterion of a minimum intake of 25 students per degree programme. Ultimately, we must arrive at the situation where our education is not more expensive than what we get from the government funding of the university, something that is not the case now.
The Transition Plan formulated that all Bachelor's programmes should have 60 EC of cross-disciplinary shared education. We see this not so much as strictly required, but as guiding: Bachelor's programmes will have to include broader, cross-disciplinary humanities expertise in their teaching offerings (for example but not exclusively in relation to the degree programmes to be closed) and develop joint course offerings wherever possible, so that important humanities expertise is better anchored in Bachelor's education (in line with the faculty's sustainability agenda) and economies of scale in education are achieved (to meet the austerity goal). The austerity goal is to increase the efficiency of the education on offer.
Workload
We understand that there are many questions about workload and what the short-term measures and the establishment of a new BA portfolio will entail in terms of additional work for all UP. We are aware that the short-term measures will increase workload.
To start with, we have had extensive discussions with the departmental boards yesterdag. To mitigate the measures in the Transition Plan that could lead to workload increases, we have jointly identified a number of measures. We will test these legally and see which ones can be introduced by September 2025. Among other things, we are looking at teaching weeks and teaching load, with the goal of not further increasing the workload without adjusting the existing Instructor Contact Hours (DCU) model. The measures will be introduced faculty-wide.
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Where and how to ask questions
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Publishing Q&A
From the beginning of November, you will find a list of frequently asked questions on the intranet. We regularly add to this Q&A. Is your question not among them? Then e-mail transitie.gw@uu.nl. We have also published a questionnaire for students on the faculty page of the student website. During the meetings, there were many questions about finances. Why are we closing degree programmes, and how does this relate to the austerity task? What other scenarios have been worked through?
We are happy to answer questions like these, but they are too complex to include in the list of frequently asked questions. Therefore, we are organising two information meetings on faculty finances. These are on Tuesday 7 January (15.30-17.00 hrs) and Thursday 23 January (9.30-11.00 hrs). You can register for one of the meetings via this link.
Faculty Board office hours for all
Would you like to submit something of substance to the Faculty Board or ask about the Transition Plan? Then sign up, on an individual basis, for the weekly office hours. You can make an appointment every Tuesday between 15.00 and 17.00 hrs. Members of the board will be happy to talk to you. An appointment takes 15 minutes. Register for the office hours at bestuurssecretariaat.gw@uu.nl.
If you have any questions about your personal situation, please contact your Human Resources Adviser.
Faculty Board present at meeting of your team or section
Wondering what the Transition Plan means for your team or section? Do you have ideas, would you like an explanation, do you have questions? For this, you can invite (members of) the Faculty Board to join existing consultations. All humanities colleagues can invite us to their meeting or meeting at bestuurssecretariaat.gw@uu.nl.
Next email update from Faculty Board
In the next updategate, we will elaborate on the process around the new bachelor's portfolio.
Agenda
- As Faculty Board, we support the Walk out on 11 December and we hope that as many students and staff as possible will participate in it so that we can make a fist together.
- 13 December Faculty Council meeting, agenda includes addendum to budget 2025.
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