Governance & Legal

The Management Support department organizes administrative and decision-making processes, including those of the Board of the University and the Committee of Deans. In addition, the department provides support for the university’s participatory bodies, including the University Council and the Local Consultative Committee. The department also facilitates the IT services provided by University Services. Finally, the department provides management and office support to the members of the Board of the University and the University Services management. The department consists of the following sub-departments:

Support Board and Management

The Support Board and Management (OBD) department focuses on providing secretarial, administrative and organizational support to:

• The Supervisory Board.
• The Board of the University.
• The Board of Deans.
• The Operational Management Committee.
• The management of University Services.
• The Management Team of University Services.
• The University of Groningen’s administrative meetings.

OBD also organises ad hoc meetings on behalf of the Board of the University and the management of University Services.

The Head of the Administrative Support Department is not only the Executive Secretary to the Board of the University but also the Head of the OBD department, which comprises one further Executive Secretary and six staff members.

Staff Participation

The Staff Participation Department supports various staff participation bodies at the University of Groningen, including the University Council, the Local Consultative Committee, the Employee Councils and a number of Faculty Councils. A participation coordinator is responsible for improving staff participation at the University of Groningen.

Demand Management University Services

Demand Management is responsible for understanding, anticipating and influencing customer demand for IT services, as well as the associated software and hardware. Dries Gankema is the demand manager for University Services.

Contact details for Administrative Support

• General email addresses:
  • OBD: obd@rug.nl.
  • Employee Participation: participation.coordinator@rug.nl (decentralised employee participation), griffier.ur@rug.nl (centralised employee participation).
  • Demand Management: demandmanagementict@rug.nl or a.j.gankema@rug.nl (Dries Gankema, Demand Manager for University Services).
• Visiting address:
  • Muurstraat 14, 9712 EN Groningen. Postal address: PO Box 72, 9700 AB Groningen.
• Postal address:
  • PO Box 72, 9700 AB Groningen.
• Head of Department: Lolke Heida.

The Operations department ensures that projects and finances at University Services run smoothly. The following sub-departments fall under Operations:

Management Control University Services

Management Control supports and advises the University Services Management Board on matters such as organizational structure and strategy. The department employs two management controllers.

Green Office

The Green Office coordinates and initiates activities aimed at the sustainable development of the university and drafts the University of Groningen’s sustainability policy. The Green Office plays an advisory, catalytic and policy-making role with regard to the University of Groningen’s sustainability agenda. Legislation in the field of sustainability guides the Green Office’s working methods. The Green Office also serves as a network hub, both within and outside the organization.

The Green Office team initiates and coordinates a wide range of sustainability projects, often in collaboration with various stakeholders within and outside the organization. To ensure that the University of Groningen maintains and promotes its sustainable image, the Green Office is responsible for participating annually in (international) rankings, organizing events and disseminating information.

Integral Safety

Integral Safety ensures a safe working and study environment for students, staff and visitors within the University of Groningen. This enables us to continue carrying out our core activities, namely teaching and research, effectively. We believe that safety is a shared responsibility for everyone. That is why we ensure safety from various perspectives.

Part of our remit is crisis management. A crisis is an emergency situation in which the functioning of the university is seriously disrupted for a short or longer period. Crisis management involves systematically preventing, limiting or managing crisis situations with the aid of organizational, procedural or material resources.

Contact details for Operations

• General email addresses:
  • Management Control: m.j.a.m.aalders@rug.nl and j.s.van.ekeren@rug.nl.
  • Green Office: greenoffice@rug.nl.
  • Integral Safety: veiligheid@rug.nl.
• Postal address:
  • Management Control: PO Box 72, 9700 AB Groningen.
  • Green Office: PO Box 72, 9700 AB Groningen.
  • Integral Safety: PO Box 72, 9700 AB Groningen.
• Visiting address:
  • Management Control and Integral Safety: Muurstraat 14, 9712 EN Groningen.
  • Green Office: Visserstraat 49, 9712 CT Groningen.
• Head of Department: Rutger Klein Nagelvoort.

The General & Legal Affairs Department (AJZ) deals with general and legal matters and has the following core responsibilities:

• Providing policy advice on legal, administrative and governance matters. Actively responding to and supporting the implementation of education legislation, such as the Higher Education and Scientific Research Act (WHW), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other legislation and regulations relevant to the University of Groningen.
• Providing support in drafting regulations and rules, such as the administrative and management regulations, faculty regulations and examination regulations.
• Handling legal issues, queries and procedures, appeals and objections.

AJZ consists of the following sub-departments:

• Private Law Section: deals with laws and disputes between citizens or between citizens and the university.
• Privacy & Security Section: deals with all matters relating to privacy and security at the University of Groningen, including digital security.
• Education & Administrative Law Section: deals, amongst other things, with the drafting of regulations, for example for examinations.
• General & Legal Affairs Support.

Open AccessAct (Woo)

The aim of the Open Access Act (Woo) is to make (semi-)government authorities, including universities, more transparent. Requests can be submitted to AJZ via abjz@rug.nl or by post:

University of Groningen
AJZ Department
PO Box 72
9700 AB Groningen

Contact details for General & Legal Affairs

• General email address: abjz@rug.nl.
• Postal address: PO Box 72, 9700 AB Groningen.
• Visiting address: Muurstraat 14, 9712 EN Groningen.
• Head of Department: Vincia Storm de Grave.