The staircases in the Maria Montessori Building have kept us busy over the past few weeks. First, the bannisters were changed and now it’s the steps’ turn. These changes are being made in order to ensure safety. Several people have (almost) fallen down the stairs since the opening of the building. The integrated bannisters and the ridges on the steps looked great, but they did not make it any easier to go down the stairs. This is especially noticeable for those with a shoe size of 36, as the ridges on the steps would snag your feet. I got to experience this myself multiple times. Though the necessity of these changes is clear, I was tempted to put a halt to them when the first bannisters were installed. The new staircases did not match my expectations in terms of aesthetics. My initial instinct told me to pause the renovation and to see if there was not a more aesthetically pleasing way in which to ensure the staircases’ safety.
However, colleagues told me about the responses of the people going up and down the stairs. Before I took further action, I walked to one of the staircases and listened to the people there. They looked at me a little weirdly every now and then, but all I could focus on was the enthusiasm of the people in regards to the new bannisters. They told each other: “It’s much easier to walk the stairs now. It feels safer and more natural, as well.” No one complained about the aesthetics. After a good ten minutes, I walked back to my workstation and let the renovation continue.
Sometimes things don’t go the way we expected them to. This is also applicable to the presentation of the Coalition Agreement and the Budget Memorandum during 'Prinsjesdag'. These plans maintain the expected budget cut of 1 billion euro for scientific education and research. This affects us as a university and as a faculty.
What these measures mean for our faculty is yet unclear. We do know, however, that we need to take action: the prognosis for 2024 shows a deficit of 3 million euro. Before summer, we already called for people to be cautious in taking on any new commitments, but we have seen that this call did not have a big enough effect. This showed us that we really have to work together as one from now on, in order to make this work. That is why we are installing some temporary measures, as announced in the mail to our staff members on Wednesday 25 September. We will furthermore put a lot of work into developing a programme plan in which we structure any budget cuts while keeping our strategy and identity in mind. During a corporate retreat on the 9th of September, directors, heads of departments, and the participational bodies identified divers possible solutions that will be explored further. We will give you more information about this shortly.
The Coalition Agreement is – just like the staircases – different from what I expected and hoped for. It means that the current way of working in our faculty does not match the resources that will be available to us in the future. Though we don’t know what the future will look like, we all feel a certain urgency to do something about it. We need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and make choices that match our strategy. It is important to start planning and looking towards our future in order to make the correct choices. It is just as important to take some time to simply listen. We need to listen to the concerns of the people within our faculty and those outside of it. I do not know what changes we will face as a faculty in the upcoming years. The one thing I can promise is that we will keep listening to you, no matter how ugly or unexpected the situation ahead of us may seem at first.
Suzanne
Do you have questions, suggestions, or would you simply like to drink a cup of tea or coffee? Feel free to visit my consultation hour on Tuesday mornings between 8.00AM and 9.00AM in MM 2.070.