I have been working at Utrecht University for over twenty years now. From its foundation, I have been involved in the economics program. I am a university lecturer there, and have fulfilled many educational coordination tasks.
What goes well, what can be improved?
I have seen that UU is a great place to work, full of enthusiastic, committed people, where very good research is done and education is provided.
On the other hand, many people experience great work pressure, are hindered by temporary contracts, quite a few employees lack good career prospects.
Not always students do not get the education they deserve, internationalization turns out to be not only beautiful but sometimes problematic. And we all regularly experience that funding streams sometimes seem incomprehensible, and that cooperation between different departments does not always run smoothly.
Interaction between administration and work floor
In the University Council, I would like to focus on this interaction: the plans and ideas at the university level on the one hand and the practice of the work floor on the other.
Do employees experience the safe and stimulating work environment that the university would like to offer? Do funds from stimulus funds end up in the best places? Can we deal with the challenges of internationalization? Are we getting the IT systems that help us in our work?
To this end, I would like to stay in close contact with you, the colleagues within the faculty(s), and regularly coordinate whether the plans that the university has are also relevant and useful to many of you, and whether your wishes are also known and heard within the Executive Board.