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UM Council Day, MUMC+ commission and the financial situation of UM

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Dear members of the UM Community,

With the new academic year in full swing, the University Council is also back in business, discussing all the major issues that affect our university in what will no doubt be a challenging time. For this year, the Council welcomed eight new students, who were elected last April, and two new staff members, who are taking over for members who resigned from the Council due to other commitments. 

With the new academic year in full swing, the University Council is also back in business, discussing all the major issues that affect our university in what will no doubt be a challenging time. For this year, the Council welcomed eight new students, who were elected last April, and two new staff members, who are taking over for members who resigned from the Council due to other commitments. 

We kicked off the year with the UM Council Day, during which members of the University Council, the Faculty Councils, and the Service Councils participated in a range of workshops and trainings, covering issues such as psychosocial and social safety, interpersonal power dynamics, and how to understand UM finances. Moreover, this day was also an opportunity for members to learn about the work of the other councils and compare notes.

One of the big issues for this year will be the proposed board integration between UM and the academic hospital. As this process goes from the exploratory phase to the design phase, the Council will have to consider the strategic rationale and the concrete proposals in more detail. The Council decided to create a special committee for this purpose so that these questions can be considered in an integrated way.

This year, the Council has decided to take a particular interest in social safety in student life by creating a Social Safety Dialogue Group, in which council members will discuss this topic with various UM offices and representatives from student organizations.

At the last plenary meeting, the Council discussed the implications of the new government’s higher education policy regarding both financial cutbacks and the number of international students, and what the consequences might be for UM. As these plans are still in development, many questions can still not be answered, but the impact on our university will be significant. At the same time, the Executive Board is doing everything it can to lobby the government to make sure the impact is minimized. The University Council is deeply concerned about the effect the policy, and the uncertainty about it, for our international staff members and students, and supports the Executive Board in fighting for the UM community. We will continue to monitor the situation as it develops and ensure that the voices of staff and students are taken into account as decisions are made about how to deal with this unfortunate development.  

Teun Dekker
Chair University Council

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T.J. Dekker

Teun J Dekker (1980) is Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences Education at University College Maastricht, where he teaches courses on the intersection of the Social Sciences and the Humanities, including History of Political Thought and Distributive Justice in Contemporary Political Philosophy.

As Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences Education, his main duties are: 

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