'Just like in recent years, we will have to deal with challenges such as polarisation in the political domain in the coming year. We want to take away the unrest that this causes. Even though budget cuts loom large, we want to continue to facilitate positions for professors. This requires decisive action. That also means that we have to explore and apply new ways of leadership.'
'The Dutch internationalisation law may scare off international students. At the same time, since we’re mainly known as a technical university, the country and the Twente region in particular are hardly aware that the UT also has a faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences. As this affects our enrolment numbers, we aim to focus more on our image in the region in the coming period. One of our intended concrete actions is to send our teachers and students 'out there' to their old secondary schools.'
'In the context of Life-Long Learning, however, the average student does not necessarily have to 'just come out of school'. We notice that more and more people of all ages want to pick up an education again. They are welcome at BMS. Our Professional Learning & Development (PLD) Centre offers support here.'
'Not everyone has to be a Nobel Prize winner'
'Another focus point for the coming year is the average time it takes PhD candidates to complete their PhD. This can be done faster, but a cultural change is needed: on the one hand, we need more flexibility and more intensive support from supervisors in addition to allocating more resources. On the other hand, we must put more emphasis on PhD candidates’ personal responsibility. Sometimes we also must accept that good is good enough. Not everyone has to be a Nobel Prize winner.'
'At the same time, we want to relieve the workload on our employees by making education more efficient. Besides many examination moments, we spend a relatively large amount of time on study groups consisting of only a handful of students. By examining less often and making the groups slightly larger, students still receive ample personal guidance, but teachers have more time on their hands. Which they then can then use to supervise PhD research.
'Just like the rest of the Netherlands, we are struggling staff shortages. The market is competitive and the pool of qualified candidates is thin. Fortunately, we have recently been able to upgrade quite a few temporary contracts to permanent positions. That gives us a little more peace and confidence.'
'A lot is changing in the world at the moment. The content and speed of these changes create uncertainty. We must take extra account of the social well-being of our people. Especially given the current financial situation, we are under a magnifying glass. We want to show our people that we value them, but that we cannot prevent uncertainties. Of course, there is a lot of talk about the financial challenges, but BMS is actually in good shape. While we seem to be most worried. Maybe that's inherent to the nature of our faculty.'
'University of Twente is the only technical university with a large faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences. That makes UT unique in the Netherlands. The UT faculties already work together a lot, but I think we can emphasise it much more. The combination of tech-focused faculties with human-centred research also provides interesting insights and practical solutions that really benefit society.'
'Given the financial challenges, we want to explore the possibilities of second and third line money streams. We don’t want to solely rely on the traditional support from the government and the university itself, but also actively seek cooperation with industrial partners, public organisations, NGOs and the private sectors that benefit from our research. As far as I'm concerned, that's where the opportunities lie.'
'I would like to see smiling people in our corridors'
"At BMS, we also want to encourage responsible ownership. Simply put: show our professionals that we trust and appreciate them. This boosts self-confidence, better communication, and dedication. As a result, we will also be more resilient and agile in the face of any challenges that may await us in the coming year. I would like to see smiling people in our corridors.'
