This teach-meet brings together teachers from several UM faculties who have experienced clashes in the classroom related to general UM-PBL-group etiquettes, the content of the curriculum, the design of the course, skewed group dynamics or the impact of global affairs.
Meet all current members of the University Council here.
Students
Bram van den Berkmortel
- Vice-Chair of the University Council
- Member of the Strategy committee
- Member of the MUMC+ committee
- Member of the Presidium
Daan van den Biggelaar
Member of the Operations committee
Wouter Bogers
- Member of the Strategy committee
- Member of the Operations committee
Shari Celma Crespi
Member of the Research & Education committee
Milo Cheng
- Member of the Strategy committee
- Member of the MUMC+ committee
Matthieu Marienbach
- Chair of the Strategy committee
- Member of the Operations committee
- Member of the Presidium
Merel Mulder
- Member of the Research & Education committee
- Member of the MUMC+ committee
- Member of the Confidential Committee
Mika Wielaard
- Member of the Research & Education committee
- Member of the MUMC+ committee
- Member of the Confidential Committee
Sophie Wucherer
Member of the Operations committee
Roos Goorman
Member of the Research & Education committee
Support staff
Netty Bekkers-Vos
Chair of the Operations Committee
Member of the Presidium
An Stevens
- Member of the Operations committee
- Member of the MUMC+ committee
Werner Teeling
- Member of the Operations committee
- Member of the MUMC+ committee
Maarten van Wesel
- Member of the Strategy committee
- Member of the Research & Education committee
- Member of the Confidential Committee
Scientific Staff
Mark Govers
Member of the Operations Committee
Member of the MUMC+ Committee
Katlijn Haesebrouck
- Chair of the Confidential Committee
- Member of the Operations committee
Raymond Luja
- Chair of the MUMC+ committee
- Member of the Research & Education committee
- Member of the Presidium
Janosch Prinz
- Member of the Strategy committee
- Member of the MUMC+ committee
Linda Rieswijk
- Chair of the Research & Education committee
- Member of the Presidium
Donna Yates
- Member of the Strategy committee
- Member of the Research & Education committee
Technical chair
Teun Dekker
Chair of the University Council
Chair of the Presidium
The University Council is the democratically elected body, representing the university community to the Executive Board. Consisting of students, academic staff, and support staff, it discusses new policies and current developments relating to strategy, research & education, and operations. The Council serves as a sounding board for the Executive Board, is involved in assessment and monitoring of new policies and initiatives, and can make its own proposals.
Listen to our podcast: CouncilCast
Why is participation and representation so important within in the university? Listen to the CouncilCast to find out!
What does the University Council do?
The University Council works closely with the Executive Board on all university affairs. Consisting of students, academic staff, and support staff, we regularly discuss new policies and current developments relating to strategy, research & education, and operations.
To give our community an impression of what it is that we do, we have briefly summarised our previous main efforts on a poster for you. These past academic years, the University Council has worked on several issues regarding:
- Sustainability
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Education
- Research
- Student Facilities
- Work Pressure and Recognition & Rewards
- Social and Sexual Safety
- Strategic Cooperation
- University Council Way of Working
- Future of UM
- UM and the world
This year, the University Council will continue to discuss and advise on the possible integration between UM and azM/MUMC+ and keep an eye on the internationalisation debate. The University Council will also play an important role in the development of the Human Rights Due Diligence tool.
Also read our About the Council section and the University Council chair’s blog below to find out more about what we do.
Annual Reports
You can read about all accomplishments by the University Council in our annual reports.
About the University Council
Who is in the Council? How does it work? How are members elected?
Read all about the inner workings of the University Council.
Get involved!
Attend meetings, have your voice heard in the Speakers' Quarter or become a member yourself.
Learn about all the ways you can be a part of the University Council.
Blogs
Search for new president, strategic program, evaluation of Human Rights Advisory Committee, and change of student members
- University Council
Dear members of the UM community,
The past few months have been busy at the University Council, so I wanted to update the community on some of the things that we have been doing.
Sexual safety, the budget, and the final MUMC+ proposal
- University Council
Dear members of the UM Community,
As the year approaches its end, the University Council can look back on a busy period. Our new members are becoming more and more familiar with the work of the Council and are making excellent contributions. Over the past few months, we have focussed on a range of different issues.
New Council year, quality agreements, DEI, alumni, internationalisation & human rights
- University Council
Dear members of the UM Community,
The new academic year is in full swing, and so are UM’s representative councils. The newly elected University and Faculty Councils, as well as the Service Councils, are busy considering policy proposals and having discussions with the Executive Board, Deans, and Directors about all the issues that affect our university.
End-of-year policy updates, student support fund, hospital integration and a new Council
- University Council
Dear members of the UM Community,
With the end of the academic year in sight, the University Council is busy wrapping up all the formalities that need to be taken care of before summer, but is also already preparing for the new academic year.
Due Diligence Frameworks, national developments, quality agreements and student data
- University Council
Dear members of the UM Community,
With spring on the way, the University Council has been busy with a range of policies and issues that will shape the future of our university. At our most recent plenary, the Council formulated its advice on the Human Rights Due Diligence Framework and the Transition to a Fossil-Free Society Framework.
A picture essay
On a street separating (or linking) Dutch Kerkrade and German Herzogenrath, PhD candidate Eline Schmeets looks beyond European Symbolpolitik at the many fascinating facets of navigating and cooperating across borders.
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Symbolically unified
The heavily symbolic object that set off Schmeets’ research was a firehose coupling she encountered at an exhibition on the complex relationship between Germany and the Netherlands since the war. The story goes that Dutch firefighters wanted to help during a blaze in Herzogenrath but couldn’t since the countries had different standards for hose diameters. They ingeniously came up with the coupling, a perfect example of European integration and a relic underpinning the special status of Neustraße/Nieuwstraat. “During my research, I found that there are hundreds of different firehose couplings like this all along the border – which makes a lot of sense if you think about it…”
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Schmeets also stumbled across a firefighters’ dictionary facilitating cooperation in the face of the decline of the local dialect among the people of Kerkrade. If anything, one would think this an even better symbol, but the narrative here – the decline of Kerkrade’s dialect – isn’t as straightforward and uplifting. “I was wondering what other aspects of integration are overshadowed by the dominating narrative. That is also why I chose participatory observation as my primary research method. I was afraid interviews wouldn’t allow me to look beyond the generally accepted and internalised narrative.”
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Which is not to say that there aren’t instances of cultures fretting against one another. “During the pandemic, fireworks on new year’s eve were banned in the Netherlands to not put an additional strain on hospitals. The mayor of Herzogenrath asked its inhabitants to refrain from using fireworks as well, out of solidarity. They did. But the people of Kerkrade defied their government’s instructions and did use fireworks.”
Long history of bottom-up cooperation
Neustraße/Nieuwstraat seems to brandish symbols of both the European promise and the subsequent disillusion. “Half of the blue benches they installed in ‘95 are broken, some haven been painted over. There is moss growing on the EU-branded bus stops.” However, Schmeets also warns against taking the EU-centric idea of a unified Europe at face value. “It’s more of a continuation of a European cross-border cooperation that has existed before the wars and before the European Union.”
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That is, indeed, another important pitfall when trying to impose pro- or anti-EU narratives onto this street: both Kerkrade and Herzogenrath are peripheral former mining towns, which have seen their fortunes decline. “To put it bluntly, neither of the towns is very inviting or wealthy.” The border did, however, leave its material imprints on the street. “There was a chain metal fence against the houses on the Dutch side. As a result, these houses tend to have their doors awkwardly on the side.”
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While Schmeets is not in the business of taking a stand against any European narratives, she states that “during my research I’ve found some really interesting ways people navigate this situation, so many small and improvised solutions from which we can learn a lot.”
Photography: Philip Driessen, text: Florian Raith
Introduction to Qualitative Methodologies and Methods | Open Lecture for MSc Public Policy and Human Development
- Study information activity
You have the unique opportunity to join our next online Open Lecture with students currently in the programme. So don't hesitate, register today to and get to explore what your life as a student in this Master would look like.
