{"id":95061,"date":"2019-02-19T12:44:32","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T11:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=95061"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:23:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:23:13","slug":"eur-swimming-in-cash-like-uncle-scrooge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2019\/02\/19\/eur-swimming-in-cash-like-uncle-scrooge\/","title":{"rendered":"EUR: swimming in cash like Uncle Scrooge"},"content":{"rendered":"

The cancellation of the base grant scheme in 2015 freed up funds for the improvement and intensification of the university\u2019s education activities. Among other things, this extra money could be used to appoint more lecturers. However, this new scope in the budget \u2013 to the amount of some 15 million euro per year \u2013 is almost entirely matched by underspending, discovered Philosophy student and University Council member Florian Wijker. The university is keeping a tight hand on its purse: every year, it fails to spend some 3 to 4 percent of its set budget: to the cool sum of 15 million euro.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tElmer Smaling<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Why is the university holding on to so much money while academics are literally taking to the streets to protest budget cuts in higher education?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something I can\u2019t square with our constituents either. Students have lost their base grant, housing is becoming more expensive every year and tuition fees are going up. Students are far worse off financially than they used to be. And meanwhile, the university is consistently holding out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aren\u2019t the faculties responsible for spending this extra education funding \u2013 based on the so-called quality agreements?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s true that so far they\u2019ve failed to spend a share of the allocated funds. Although I do believe that they\u2019re working hard to make amends. They\u2019re catching up. But the big problem isn\u2019t the quality agreements; it\u2019s the structural underspending of the first flow of funds. And when you ask the Executive Board for an explanation, they say it\u2019s merely a \u2018corrective margin\u2019 on the total budget: a margin of 3 to 4 percent per year. I can understand their point to an extent. But what they\u2019re actually implying is that in the first place, the total budget of the millions freed up by the cancellation of the base grant scheme amounts to no more than a \u2018corrective margin\u2019 \u2013 which obviously won\u2019t go down well with the students. And secondly, this underspending is structural. If the margin was actually used for corrections, we wouldn\u2019t be looking at years of surpluses in a row.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\tThe previous rector used to say: we\u2019re sitting on a pile of money, but there aren\u2019t enough ideas coming in. This completely misrepresents the issues.\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Why isn\u2019t the university spending this money?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the university would like to, it fails to do so every time round. Year after year. For a large part this has to do with cautious budgeting. These underruns may frustrate financial controllers no end, but our administrators \u2013 both at the faculty and central levels \u2013 prefer to err on the side of caution. They don\u2019t want to spend any cash that isn\u2019t in their pockets yet. And in some cases, it\u2019s difficult to estimate beforehand. As a result, by March they already know that they will have money to spare for the rest of the year. And they haven\u2019t got anything lined up for this surplus.\u201d<\/p>\n

What could the university do about this?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe previous rector [Huib Pols, eds.] used to say: we\u2019re sitting on a pile of money, but there aren\u2019t enough ideas coming in. This completely misrepresents the issues. It\u2019s not a lack of ideas; it\u2019s a case of students and staff not knowing whom to turn to. It\u2019s crucial that the university does a better job at facilitating people in this area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe university should also pay more attention to flexible budgeting. It needs to have a plan ready for excess funds. And it should be easier to break open the budget where required. And I think that as a representative body we could also take a long, hard look at the budget. I\u2019m not saying we should check the calculations \u2013 I don\u2019t expect there to be any errors at that end. What I mean is that we should critically evaluate the underlying substantive choices. As a University Council we have a bird\u2019s eye view that isn\u2019t necessarily enjoyed by the faculties. That\u2019s why we\u2019d like to invite their council representatives to sit in on the meetings of our Finance committee, for example.\u201d<\/p>\n\t

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Read more about extra investments in education<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t