The leaves are falling and the university council has started its work again. What do people expect from the Council? What do we ourselves want to achieve? Do EUR employees know in fact that we exist?
It is of course great for our visibility if we quarrel among ourselves and make things difficult for the Board. But we prefer to build, together if we can and critically if we have to.
Core issues
Last year, students and staff together formulated a number of core issues. Those core issues acted as a reference framework not only for the proposals of the Board, but also for the topics that we ourselves would want to work on. I’ll mention a few: diversity, sustainability, digitisation. This year too, we as staff and students want to designate core issues. Naturally, we hope that you also have suggestions for us.
Workload and diversity
I believe that diversity is among the contenders again this year, as well as the approach to the excessive workload of employees in order to maintain the workforce.I’ll take the core issue of diversity. It’s a great pity that we have not yet been able to increase gender diversity at the top of the organisation; recently, two new deans have been appointed, both men.
I have been told that the Faculty Advisory Board of ESSB said that the dean had to be someone who knew the Rotterdam situation well. Well, then you limit the choice drastically. If that’s true, then the faculty advisory board shot diversity in the foot with that. What didn’t help is that it is said that the women from the Rotterdam setting didn’t want or dare to apply. What the reason is, why no woman was available within the Erasmus MC to become dean, the tale doesn’t say.
Rector should be a woman
As a member of the University Council, I believe that the new rector should be a woman. And if that woman comes from outside the EUR ‘bell jar’, I think that’s fine. The University Council has also said that to the Supervisory Board and we’re going to do our best for that.
Doing more than your best
In the past I have been known to say to an applicant, “Doing your best isn’t good enough; the result is what matters.” I don’t know whether I can live up to that now myself as a member of the participation council, but as the University Council, we now have extra powers in the appointment of members of the Executive Board, and we will do our best to exert our influence on the decision of the Supervisory Board. We’re going for results.
