Update Executive Board: 'These are difficult times for us all'
The Schoof cabinet has presented its budget. As expected, higher education is facing severe cuts. In the coming period, the Executive Board will regularly look at the consequences of what it deems an irresponsible policy.
‘We had a constructive meeting yesterday with our faculty boards and directors about the drastic cuts that are in the pipeline. You will have read all about these in the media, on our website and through other channels’, say President Annetje Ottow and Rector Hester Bijl.
‘The meeting gave us all the opportunity to share what we know so far about the upcoming cuts. At present much is still uncertain and this is causing great concern. We received valuable questions from the room and are grateful for all the support. Let’s continue to face this together.
‘In the meantime the opposition parties are discussing the education budget with the government. In that respect our protest, the fantastic demonstrations and other campaigning would seem to have been successful. But the results are not yet clear. And it looks as though the Balanced Internationalisation Act (WIB) can count on wide support in parliament and will probably not be shelved. The WIB and more specifically the TAO (Toets Anderstalig Onderwijs; an evaluation of whether permission will be granted to teach a programme in a language other than Dutch) could mean we lose many international students and in the worst-case scenario will have to scrap entire programmes.
‘The House of Representatives may be voting on the education budget on Thursday 5 December. We are staying optimistic but are not expecting much in the way of Sinterklaas gifts!
‘Additional factors are at play: student numbers are falling in general, and students have been studying at a slower rate since the pandemic than they did before. That has led, for example, to the drastic cuts the Faculty of Humanities’ is planning to make (see blog below) to make up for an annual deficit of over 6 million euros.
‘We are preparing as best we can for what might happen and are looking as a university at such matters as:
- Costs: where can we cut our expenditure?
- Benefits: where can we increase our earning potential?
- Organisation: where can we increase efficiency in our organisation or processes?
‘The financial picture is as follows: the University Council is examining the budget for 2025 and we are preparing extra measures that will help us save for the years to come. We do not yet have the exact figures – these depend on an agreement about the education budget in the House of Representatives. These are difficult times for us all. We will get back to you as soon as we know more.’