Niks meer missen?
Schrijf je in voor onze nieuwsbrief!
Foto: Daniël Rommens
international

‘The FMG is not suffering from a chronic illness. Rather, it's just a cold.’

Dirk Wolthekker,
14 februari 2018 - 16:14

 A turning point seems to have been reached at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. Student numbers are rising and the number of applicants is overwhelming. But it will take a while before the faculty can reap the benefits.

‘The students have a point: the financial situation of the Faculty is grave. We need to cut costs on research and education and in this sense I understand their concerns and encourage their involvement. But our plan of action is not set in stone. We will look at what is achievable and will discuss this with students and employees.’

 

Foto: Daniël Rommens
Hans Brug

This is according to Hans Brug, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FMG) in response to the students who have already been gathering regularly for a few weeks to draw attention to what they’re calling unjustified budget cuts.

 

The numbers from FMG’s previous years are not good. The current budget is running at a shortage of 4.55 million euros and it will take until 2021 to be balanced because of the governmental financing system. But it’s not only bad news says Brug. ‘We’ve made good investments, especially in developing new bilingual curricula that will encourage more students to apply.’ For now, faculty reserves will partly settle the debts.

 

Hans Brug emphasises that he wants to join the weekly gathering of social science students in the A building for further discussion. ‘I think we are on the right on track. The faculty is not suffering from a chronic illness. Rather, it's just a cold.’