Affirmative action returns to council
Renewed debate on the University Council was triggered by the news that the national Committee on Equal Treatment had ruled that the University of Groningen has made a forbidden distinction between male and female candidacies for vacant full professorships. University President Poppema labeled that decision ‘ridiculous’ and stated he felt it was sad that the Committee thinks that the slow increase of the number of female full professors did not justify
this extraordinary measure to appoint twelve female full professors
. Yet a welcome result of the widely publicized ruling was that many people are now aware of the RUG’s policies on the issue. A majority of the staff members on the Councils have supported these policies as temporary measures to solve a specific problem. The case was filed with the Committee by the Groningen based student organization GSb earlier in 2011.
No reduction to three Graduate Schools
There are no plans at this university to reduce the number of Graduate Schools to three. University of Groningen Board assured the University Council that such rumors were baseless. Parts of education programs may possibly be merged in search for efficiency. The University is working on three-year PhD programs but only when combined with a two-year research master program and the Board stressed that four-year PhD programs will remain and participation in such a research master will not become a condition sine qua non for those who want to start a PhD.
BSA to be extended beyond year one
The University fo Groningen Board ponders to extend the already existing Binding Study Advice in year one to year two and possibly year three. President Poppema announced that his board thinks a wider implementation of the measure is necessary to improve the RUG student turnout. He admitted the board has yet to make a decision but at present prefers an annual minimum amount of fifty points to be achieved in the first two years of bachelor programs over a threshold of 45 points in the first three years. Several parties and council members have already announced they will take a critical view when such a plan would materialize.
Course evaluations to be made public?
Student faction Lijst Calimero submitted a proposal concerning public course evaluations to the University Council this month. In the proposal Lijst Calimero speaks in favour of a more transparent approach to dealing with the results of course evaluations. They would like to see the results of the evaluations posted on Nestor at each faculty. The staff members in the University Council did however not receive the idea in a positive manner. The Board of the University has announced that it will pass the proposal on to the University Committee for Education (UCO) and that it will examine a RUG-wide policy concerning quality assurance.
Career Services
The policy concerning the career services of the University of Groningen has received positive attention from the members of the University Council. The council did, however, identify several problem areas. The main points of the policy comprise a collective approach to study planning and labour market orientation, more coherence between existing activities and an active co-operation between the several involved parties. The staff members pointed out the current heterogeneity of the activities between the different faculties. The important role study associations can have within career services was also noted.
SOG propose unified excellence tracks
Last December, student party SOG presented their memo concerning excellence tracks, in which they plead for a more unified policy. The currently existing tracks for students als well as for young researchers, do not match enough. The board of the university reacted positively on the plan and will implement several aspects of the plan. The memo concerns excellence tracks in the bachelor, such as the Honours College and the new broad bachelors on healthy aging, energy and PPE. It concerns excellence tracks in the master, such as the honours masters, the research masters and the sequel to the broad bachelors and it concerns excellence tracks for staff such as the Talent Development Program and the Tenure Track.
Student psychologists under pressure
The University of Groningen student psychologists are under pressure. Currently, international students are unable to obtain Dutch health insurance, which is a precondition for a psychological or psychiatric treatment. Their numbers have increased to thirty percent of all who show up for an intake. An unusual high proportion of them are diagnosed with serious issues, yet the UoG psychologists cannot refer them to a regular psychologist practice or the hospital for further treatment. All international students are now being treated by the university psychologists. The university is currently negotiating with insurance company Menzis to find an insurance solution for international students.
Correction Newsletter December
In Newsletter no.65 we reported that it would no longer be possible to access University of Groningen programs after having completed the first year of a program at a University of Applied Science as of next year. This is not correct. This intention is presently part of new legislation and its implementation is scheduled for academic year 2013-2014.
We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience.
