Opening doors to society: that is the aim of the Social Advisory Council, which has recently been established by the Faculty of Humanities. The dean and two members of this Council tell us about what they hope to achieve.

Mark Rutgers has been reappointed as Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. After a first term where the focus was mainly internal, it’s time to look outwards.

Mirjam de Baar has been Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and portfolio holder for education of master’s and research master’s programmes since 2016. As a result of her reappointment, she will continue to fulfil this role for an additional four years. ‘Being asked by the Vice-Rector and the Dean…

Each programme has a Board of Examiners. This is a legal requirement. The board determines whether students meets the conditions of the Course and Examination Regulations (OER) and whether they possess the knowledge, understanding and skills required to pass the final examination for that programme.

Each programme has a Board of Examiners. This is a legal requirement. The board determines whether students meets the conditions of the Course and Examination Regulations (OER) and whether they possess the knowledge, understanding and skills required to pass the final examination for that programme.

We asked a lot of everyone last year. The Personnel Monitor showed that the workload was high in 2022 and Covid took its toll. I therefore think everyone deserves some downtime. Time away from the daily grind.

Didactics

Organisation

The JUL board consists of 4 volunteers. In addition, the board is represented within the various university units by an ambassador.

The Faculty Club is a meeting place for the University community, where you can enjoy a drink or an (in)formal lunch or dinner. It is also a great location for meetings, receptions, buffets and dinners.

During an evacuation, employees and students of the Faculty Governance and Global Affairs gather at the assembly points around Anna van Buerenplein, Wijnhaven Building and the Schouwburgstraat.

The faculties Humanities and Science have made a page with extra information on OER.

This week we can vote in the University elections. The University Council and faculty councils are incredibly important. During the fantastic seminar on 50 years of participation that the University Council recently held, our former Rector Carel Stolker aptly said: ‘Without participation, there would…

Research

Leiden University has a new Executive Board. Since 8 February 2021, Annetje Ottow has been the new President and Hester Bijl the new Rector Magnificus of the Board, while Martijn Ridderbos has continued in his role as Vice-Chairman.

The governance structure of Campus The Hague (CDH) will be altered. This has been decided in consultation with the University Council, which issued a positive recommendation about this.Ton Liefaard and Jan Crijns will become the joint holders of the CDH Education portfolio, and Rolf Oosterloo will become…

This is a difficult time. Above all, for all those directly involved in this horrible case – unacceptable behaviour by a professor and his removal from the University – the case we went public about on 18 October and that has been reported in the media. This is painful and tough for the complainants…

The Faculty of Humanities wants to take a stand in the middle of society with its research and education. That’s why last year, in the middle of a pandemic, the Societal Advisory Board was founded. What are the members’ plans?

Several Dutch universities have said they do not want foreign student numbers to grow any more in some of their degree programmes. They are reaching maximum capacity. We are also alert to this in Leiden, but I see many positive aspects to the intake of international students.

The faculties Humanities and Science have made a page with extra information on OER.

I was disgusted by the recent Ongehoord Nederland broadcast on 15 September. The racist and hateful comments made by alumna Raisa Blommesteijn were, as far as I am concerned, way over the line and in my opinion also violate Article 1 of the Constitution of the Netherlands.

The rising energy prices cannot have escaped anyone’s notice. They have dominated the news in recent months. As a university, we too face a big challenge as the prices continue to rise. We will all have to do our bit in the coming months, also in view of the climate crisis that we want to help resol…

Now the introduction weeks can go ahead as usual, the new students’ enthusiasm is overwhelming. It’s back to normal for the student associations too, having had a hard time of it during the pandemic.

It’s become somewhat of a tradition at Leiden University: the strategic conference at the end of June each year. About a hundred staff including the faculty boards, academic directors, directors of the expertise centres and Administration and Central Services, the representative councils and student…

I recently went to the anniversary celebration of The Meeting Point, and the stories the refugee students told made a huge impression on me. The Meeting Point helps students from different backgrounds feel part of our university community.

Ever since its foundation, Leiden University has turned its gaze outwards to other cultures, languages and forms of academic practice. It is only natural, therefore, that we as a university have four institutes abroad: the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV-KNAW)…

In March, the Faculty Strategic Plan (FSP) Steering Committee invited several forums, groups, students and members of staff to give their feedback on the draft of the Strategic Agenda. This feedback has been collected in several different ways, during meetings, via online feedback forms, or in direct…

Organisation

Research

Good lecturers are extremely important to our university. I therefore think it is crucial that we provide them with enough professional development opportunities. The Lecturer Development Taskforce has issued concrete recommendations on how to improve this. As the Board we welcome this advice.

Academics increasingly face threats, intimidation and abuse. The WetenschapVeilig platform has been launched to address this. Academics who are being threatened or intimidated can seek help from the platform 24 hours a day. It’s good that we now have this platform. But at the same time, it’s awful that…

We want to be an engaged community where we feel heard and enjoy working together. But how do we have an open conversation about difficult topics?

The results of the Personnel Monitor 2022 are out. Now the ball is in all of our courts. What does the Monitor tell us and how can we act on it? I hope that as an organisation we can get a good dialogue going as the first step towards improvement.

A knowledge-sharing session was held on Thursday 25 March for members of boards of examiners. Good reason to give one of them a call. We spoke to Jan Jansen, Chair of the Board of Examiners for Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences) and an external…

This month the University and several partners signed the rental contract for the brand-new Spui building. What will this location mean for the future of Campus The Hague, Leiden University and the population of The Hague? Martijn Ridderbos explains in his column.

Research

Tuesday 7 June saw the finalisation of the new Faculty Strategic Plan 2022 – 2027 by the Faculty Board. A PDF of the Faculty Strategic Plan (FSP) will be available in Dutch and English for the faculty community in July. A number of members of the FSP Steering Committee look back on a far-reaching and…

On 3 June, Annetje Ottow (chair) and Hester Bijl (rector magnificus) met the Humanities faculty. Although a physical introduction was preferred, this visit also had to be done digitally.

The development of the Faculty Strategic Plan (FSP) did not come to a standstill over the summer. We now have a draft version of the Plan that incorporates the feedback on the strategic objectives that we obtained from various meetings and bodies before the summer. The Research Directors and a number…

People in leadership roles are unlikely to discuss leadership skills with their colleagues. But that is precisely what we as a university would like them to do. Because trust in one another’s abilities will make us an agile university that innovates and makes room for talent.