Staff and students do not feel safe enough to report concerns, Executive Board shocked    

Staff and students have little confidence in the systems designed to support social safety at Erasmus University. That is the conclusion ombuds officer Wico Verbaan draws in his multi-year report. In a written response, the Executive Board says it is shocked.

People who report concerns are too afraid of possible reprisals to file an official complaint, ombuds officer Wico Verbaan has observed. Many of the reports he receives are confidential. In 2025, this was the case for 76 of the 140 reports received. Because these reports are confidential, it is not possible to approach those involved or raise the issues with them. According to Verbaan, people opt for confidential reports because they do not believe in the formal options. The first recommendation in his multi-year report is therefore to invest in building and restoring confidence in the reporting systems already in place at Erasmus University.

About the fear of the consequences of reporting that he has encountered, the ombuds officer says in the report: “The fact that colleagues and students do not trust our regulations and codes is a great source of concern to me and makes me pessimistic in my professional capacity.” Strong emotions often surfaced in conversations following confidential reports, Verbaan explains: despondency, sadness, powerlessness and fear of consequences for, for example, their careers. “Those reporting concerns said that ‘something really needed to be done’ about a situation they felt was impossible to resolve. They no longer felt able to talk to their colleague or lecturer, their managers or the confidential counsellor themselves.” Nor did they see any point in filing an official complaint.

Leadership

The same three issues keep recurring in the reports Verbaan has received during his three years as ombuds officer at Erasmus University: leadership, systems and behaviour. He asks: “Are all our colleagues, students and managers sufficiently intrinsically motivated to bring about real changes in leadership?”

When it comes to leadership problems, Verbaan writes, the same four responses keep recurring. First, people turn a blind eye to undesirable leadership, including more senior managers, and then justify or rationalise this behaviour. This leads to such behaviour and leadership being accepted, after which it is copied by other managers and staff.

“This creates (potentially) a toxic mix of fear, power and leadership that leads to an undesirable/unhealthy working environment and a freezing of collaboration”, Verbaan writes. “I see this development at every level of the EUR community.”  

He adds: “In 2025, 60 of the 65 confidential reports concerned perceived (social) unsafety caused by managers. That is a considerable number and a considerable proportion.” Most reports in 2023 and 2024 were also about leadership. These included intimidation, aggression and violence, an unsafe workplace culture, abuse of power and fear of reprisals. Verbaan wants to work with the Executive Board on solutions.

Systems and behaviour

According to Verbaan, after a report is made, too often the emphasis is placed on de-escalation rather than resolution. He cites the 2022 KNAW report Social safety in Dutch academia: “The current approach focuses on handling complaints rather than prevention, causing problems to escalate and trust to disappear.”

Professional conduct and behaviour often need work too, says Verbaan. “Within our university community, we sometimes find it difficult, or do not feel safe enough, to discuss behaviour that is perceived as undesirable. It is precisely here that opportunities for growth and development lie. For the university community as a whole, but certainly also for managers and staff.” Raising issues or problems – whether they concern yourself or someone else – can prevent matters from escalating, says the ombudsman.

Professional attitudes and behaviour can often be improved too, Verbaan argues. “Within our university community, we sometimes find it difficult, or do not feel safe enough, to talk to one another about behaviour perceived as undesirable. This is precisely where there are opportunities for growth and development. For the university community as a whole, but certainly also for managers and staff.” Raising incidents or problems, whether they concern you or someone else, can prevent escalation, the ombuds officer says.

Too few reports

The ombuds officer recommends commissioning research into the lack of reports of sexually transgressive behaviour: “Unfortunately, this behaviour has always existed and is particularly prevalent at the moment. Yet I have received (almost) no complaints or (confidential) reports about it. That might seem all well and good in itself, but I do not believe this issue is absent from our university community.” However difficult it may be, the ombuds officer encourages people to discuss these incidents with those around them or, failing that, with an organisation such as his own.

The university does a great deal on social safety, from policy documents to plays. But, Verbaan says: “If all these activities and the associated investments do not lead to a (sufficient) sense of protection when making a report, then we are doing something seriously wrong. It is not working.”

Shocked

In a written response to the multi-year report, the Executive Board says it is shocked. “These findings call for further analysis and action. At the same time, we realise that social safety at a university is a complex issue.”

According to the Executive Board, the issue is complex because the university is a large and diverse organisation, “with a culture in which academic freedom and professional autonomy are important values. This is precisely why lasting improvements are not always easy or quick to achieve. This is also evident from recent culture initiatives in faculties.” That does not alter the Executive Board’s sense of responsibility, its response states. It therefore wants to examine how the support and reporting system can be made more accessible and how confidence can be increased.