Bruce Mutsvairo to initiate AUC transition process
It took some time, but finally someone has been found to fill the position of interim director of Amsterdam University College. That person is Utrecht professor Bruce Mutsvairo.
It took a while, but Amsterdam University College, the English-language institute of excellence of the University of Amsterdam and VU University Amsterdam, now has a new boss. He is Utrecht professor of Media, Politics & the Global South Bruce Mutsvairo. As interim dean, he succeeds VU philosopher Martin van Hees, who had had enough at the beginning of this year. Mutsvairo was previously affiliated with the AUC as a lecturer and is now returning as an administrator.
Over the past fifteen years, various directors and interim directors have come and gone. Apparently, it is now time for another interim director. Marijk van der Wende was the first to head the AUC, an English-language liberal arts college offering bachelor’s degrees, as its founding dean in 2010. After her departure in 2015, Ramon Puras was recruited as temporary director until the arrival of Murray Pratt, who came over from England especially for the position. After one term, he decided to call it quits and returned to academia, after which philosopher Martin van Hees was recruited from VU University Amsterdam in 2021. He was appointed for five years, but decided to leave in February this year after four years.
Power struggle
The formal reason given for Van Hees not completing his term was that he wanted to devote more time to research, but underlying this was dissatisfaction among students and staff with his actions during pro-Palestinian demonstrations and the police response to them. According to one of the AUC lecturers, there was a power struggle at the AUC. When Van Hees announced his departure, it became clear that a new or different (administrative) course had to be taken.
The AUC went in search of an interim boss, who would be appointed for two years and would have to initiate a “transition process”, according to the recruitment advertisement. What exactly that transition process entails will become clear in the coming period. In any case, he must develop a “future-proof position” for the AUC, according to a press statement from the institute.
Challenges
Mutsvairo is now eagerly awaiting the start of his new position on 1 October. In response to his appointment, he said: “My return to the AUC is an expression of my deep personal and professional ambition to work with staff, students and partners, as well as colleagues from the University of Amsterdam and VU University Amsterdam, on a shared vision that will help us respond to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”
University Colleges are under pressure in various places in the Netherlands. For example, the University of Twente has already pulled the plug, and University College Roosevelt in Middelburg is cutting a quarter of its staff.
