Council Training, Strategic Programme, & Committee Affairs
Dear members of the UM community,
After a long summer, the University Council has kicked off the new year. We started with our traditional council day, during which we introduced the new student members of the University and Faculty Councils, as well as the new members of the Service Councils, to the participatory system and its role in the management of the university. Councils also reflected on their ambitions and priorities for the new year. Groups of members of the Council will focus on sustainability, student wellbeing and the use of AI in education, proactively studying university policy and thinking along. The Council Day was followed by a dedicated training on university finance, which is important because the councils will start looking at next year’s budget in the next few weeks.
After forming new committees, the University Council discussed a range of issues in its first meetings, including the new framework for the recognition of student organisations, the second phase of Maastricht University’s strategy for becoming a leading university in the field of European policy research and education, the recommendations produced by the recent dialogues on Academic Freedom, and the results of the recent visit by the Dutch Labour Inspectorate, looking at social safety and work pressure. Remember, anyone can have a look at our agendas and read the accompanying documents by logging on to the iBabs system at www.ibabs.eu (site: Maastrichtuniversity, username: burger, password: burger). And, if you ever want to share something with the University Council, you are always welcome to address us in the Speakers’ Quarter. Contact us for more information at: registryuc@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
This year the Council will also play an important role in the development of our university’s strategic programme for the next five years, outlining what our priorities will be and where investments will be concentrated. The Council is actively involved in the search for the new president of the Executive Board. Another important task is the selection of a new member of the Supervisory Board to represent the Council. So, we look forward to a busy but important year.