Dear colleagues,
When we woke up Monday morning, one of the first things we saw was a news report about layoffs at several Dutch universities (article in Dutch). We know that the budget cuts imposed by the Dutch government are huge and drastic. And yet, it is shocking to read that colleagues elsewhere in the country are losing their jobs. We want to prevent that at UU, and we are working hard to do so.
We are facing a tough task: this year we must cut 35 million euros, and in the following years it will be even more. We understand that this raises questions about the future and causes uncertainty for some of you. The situation calls for clear choices and adjustments. By bringing more focus to the things we do - and therefore also by no longer doing certain things - we want to remain a strong, healthy university that makes an impact through our teaching and research.
In all honesty: the choices we make to achieve that goal are sometimes painful. They require us to adjust our routines, for example because the opening hours of a building are adjusted. Or because we collaborate online more often instead of traveling abroad. Or because we don't automatically fill all vacancies. That's not always easy, but it is going to help us.
We are already seeing the first positive results of the measures we have implemented. We are also hearing good examples of colleagues actively considering how they can contribute to the financial task. For example, one colleague recently suggested cancelling her UU landline, as she no longer used it. We've also heard of others canceling subscriptions they don't actually use. While these actions might seem small, each one – large or small – adds up, and together, they make a significant difference.
We are confident in our collective strength. By working together, we can face these cuts. However, that does not change our commitment to oppose the government's irresponsible plans. We will continue to speak out and do everything we can – both publicly and behind the scenes - to persuade ministers and policy makers to change their minds. We do this together with other universities around the country, within the UNL framework. We also see that many of you are making your voices heard with the same goal: to remove the proposed cuts from the table.
Please continue to engage with us. Your efforts, ideas and feedback are vital to the success of our university.
Best wishes,
Anton Pijpers, President
Margot van der Starre, Vice-President
Henk Kummeling, Rector Magnificus
Niels Vreeswijk, Student Assessor |
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