Universities’ finances are not doing well, according to the annual Education Barometer, conducted by EY Consultants. This reports ScienceGuide today. In the Education Barometer, the consultancy firm examines various aspects of the finances and operations of the 14 public universities in the Netherlands, including performance, solvency, liquidity, human resources management and accommodation costs. The EY researchers used the 2023 financial statements. In addition, multi-year projections were studied. A major cause of this financial pressure is the rise in staff costs, which increased by about 11 per cent in 2023 compared to the previous year.
The EY study shows that in 2023, Dutch universities collectively achieved a negative return of 1.1 per cent on average for the first time in years. That amounts to a loss of over €100 million. It seems to be the start of several financially challenging years. Incidentally, UvA finance director Erik Boels said in a podcast this week that the UvA is in good financial shape, even though all faculties are writing red figures for next year. (DW)
Anyone who still wants to publish an article available to all (open access) in the final months of 2024 will get the bill themselves. This is because the limit of redeemed open access articles that universities set with publishers for 2024 has been reached. This is not for the first time, last years that limit was also reached in October.
For publishers Springer and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, the limit is expected to be reached by early October. For publishers Taylor & Francis and Oxford University Press, it probably applies from the end of November.
Open access publishing is still possible, although the researcher will then receive the bill. Another option is to publish the article in the traditional way, after which it is behind a pay wall. A third option is to wait a while. From the 1st of January 2025, Dutch authors will again be able to use open access publishing free of charge with the aforementioned publishers. (SvdB)
Pro-Palestinian protesters blocked the entrance to the Utrecht University (UU) administration building on Heidelberglaan this morning. Palestinian flags were on display and people shouted ‘Free Palestine’. Utrecht Student Encampment, a group of students from Utrecht working for the interests of Palestinians, co-signed the blockade. According to a UU spokesperson, it can be inferred that the protesters are students of the university. The UU advised employees to work from home today because of the blockade. The activists, the spokesperson said, demanded that UU work ‘against the Israeli occupation and for Palestinian freedom’. Around 1pm, the blockade was lifted. The protesters then left with a group of about 40 people. Tomorrow there will be a demonstration (again), then also at the UvA. Under the name National walk-out for Palestine, there will be a walk-out at 11am followed by a ‘noise demonstration’ at the REC and Science Park. (DW)
As every year, UvA employees can again get vaccinated against seasonal flu. You can still do so until 14 October at the Roeterseilandcampus (REC) and Science Park. Via this link (intranet UvA) you can check on what data vaccination will take place and where and make an appointment. (IS)
Last week, the UvA returned a large quantity of music recordings to the province of East Nusa Tenggara in Indonesia. The collection was recorded in the 1930s by government musicologist Jaap Kunst, who was appointed in the then Dutch East Indies. During his travels around the country, he recorded local music and indigenous musical instruments. Those recordings were sold by his widow to the university in 1960.
UvA musicologist Barbara Titus speaks of a historic moment after the digital transfer. “These musical expressions that were virtually inaccessible for a century are now available again to source communities in Indonesia.” The university transferred the sound and film recordings as part of an international project aimed at opening up colonial sound collections from Southeast Asia. (TM)
At Cursor, TU Eindhoven’s university magazine, the university council has approved the new editorial statute. This once again guarantees the independence of the medium, Cursor writes on its website. “An important change compared to the old statute is that sensitive articles no longer need to be submitted to the editorial board before publication. The chief editor is responsible for everything Cursor publishes and is accountable to the editorial board for its journalistic performance (in retrospect).”
In October last year, the site went black in protest after editors felt press freedom was restricted and after the chief editor was removed from his post. An investigation committee concluded in June that the TU/e Executive Board (CvB) appeared to have violated internal rules regarding Cursor’s press freedom. (IS)
The Public Demonstrations Act already gives this possibility, he said in a parliamentary debate on Wednesday, according to the Volkskrant. This law ‘allows mayors to place restrictions on demonstrations if disorderliness is imminent. With this, a lot can already be done, such as banning face-covering clothing to prevent masked troublemakers from mingling among demonstrators, the minister said. He says he will enter into talks with mayors and demonstrators on this in the near future. (IS)
The deployment of police dogs during the pro-Palestine demonstrations at the UvA last May, including the evacuation of the Binnengasthuisterrein, was entirely lawful. So state Mayor Femke Halsema and Alderman Dirk de Jager (Animal Welfare) in answers to questions about the use of dogs, AT5 reports. Councillor Anke Bakker (Partij voor de Dieren) questioned whether the dogs’ aggressive behaviour with loud barking might be due to fear or pain in the animals. Her party is against using animals “as living truncheons”.
However, according to Halsema and De Jager, the leashed dogs are well supervised and regularly inspected. “At signs of stress or discomfort, intervention is made.” Also, the dogs can de-escalate or move groups, they argue. However, the dogs do have a high degree of “commitment drive”, with the animals biting if necessary. However, the mayor argues that the police dogs hardly bite and would not have bitten protesters either. A single dog did bite an officer’s arm, although this is “not common” and happened “in the frenzy”. (TM)
The Landelijke Studentenvakbond (LSVb) is calling on students to demonstrate against the announced long-study penalty in higher education. That is the fine the government wants to impose on students who do not graduate on time. The demonstration will take place on Friday 18 October at 12:00 on the Koekamp in The Hague.
President of the LSVb, Abdelkader Karbache, is unhappy about the proposed plans. The fine would lead to doubts about study choices, completion of studies and financial insecurity among students. “You're shooting yourself in the foot as a government, because concretely it means: fewer hands in healthcare, in engineering and in front of the classroom,” Karbache told Trouw.
The reintroduction of the long-study fine is part of OCW minister Bruins’ cuts to higher education. Under this system, students who take too long to study will have to pay a fine in the form of higher tuition fees. This amounts to a €3,000 increase in tuition fees per year per long-time student. In addition, the temporary purchasing power compensation for students is coming to an end. Due to inflation and high energy prices, students received extra money on top of the basic grant last year. Nibud figures show that students living away from home have about 113 euros less to spend each month this year. (JK)