Jan Sleutels, a senior university lecturer at the Institute for Philosophy, joined in the meeting for members of co-participation bodies. "It was great to meet the board. The only time I’d seen our new president before that was in a video on the website. I was worried at first that people would use it to vent and would only focus on problems and what’s gone wrong. But that wasn’t the case at all. The meeting was all about challenges, opportunities (educational innovation, for example) and a sense of resilience: we’ve succeeded rather well in rapidly adapting our teaching and research. That gave the meeting a good vibe. Definitely worth repeating!"

Annetje Ottow: "The new board has been working for two months now. These online coffee meetings are giving us the opportunity to get to know many of our colleagues, despite all the remote working. After the first three meetings I can safely say that it isn’t just fun but is also worthwhile. In the first meetings we have already heard all about what our colleagues are up to, which themes are important and where people can see opportunities for our university. This is valuable input for the new strategic plan that we’re working on. I’m really looking forward to the next few meetings."