Since the beginning of our budget cuts challenges, we have not only been busy shaping the 16 solutions that should lead to a future-proof faculty. In view of the current measures for budget cuts, we also keep a close eye on the latest situation in The Hague and adjust plans where possible. We would like to give an update on the latest developments and our views on the budget cuts measures.
Government policy and reference estimates
Partly thanks to the many protests, the education budget has been approved in amended form by the Lower House (Tweede Kamer) and will be debated in the Senate (Eerste Kamer) in January. Nevertheless, the budget cuts at universities are alarmingly high. We thank everyone for their efforts during the protests.
Besides the budget cuts due to government policy (about € 10-15 million for Radboud University in 2029), a large part of the announced cuts has to do with the student estimates; the student numbers will decline in the coming years. For each student, the university receives a contribution from the government. As the number of students decreases, this contribution decreases. Because of these estimates, the Radboud University is expected to receive € 21 million less in 2029.
Our vision for the faculty
In creating the measures for budget cuts, we are guided by the faculty strategy, which focuses on points we want to preserve as much as possible:
- People first: our staff is key. Therefore, we strive to keep a manageable workload and a good job satisfaction.
- Equal value for teaching and research: we maintain the 50/50 split between teaching and research for as long as possible.
- Teaching and research remain of high quality. For each measure, we weigh whether it affects the quality of our teaching and research and all the work activities involved. We would like to specifically mention that we want to keep the English programmes.
Short- and long-term solutions
Several short-term measures were also put in practice in September, which we announced on 25 September 2024. These measures will remain in place as long as the consequences of government policy remain unclear. This means we are extending the measures until 1 March 2025.
We understand that due to these short-term measures, it can be a challenge to keep the workload manageable and to continue with high-quality teaching and research.. This means that, due to the short-term measures, choices will have to be made that affect quality, e.g. the need for (temporary) teaching extensivations.
However, there is an exception; starting from 2025, new promotions will be possible again. With this, we hope to be able to offer prospects to young, talented staff.
For the longer term, various project groups are working on solutions to make the faculty future-proof. In 2025, major steps will be taken in this direction, which will be communicated extensively. In addition, the project groups will contact you whenever necessary.
Final government policy
We expect to get more clarity on the impact of the education budget for Radboud University and specifically for our faculty in January or February 2025. Once we have clarity on this, two processes will be implemented :
- We assess whether we can place the budget cuts as a budget goal on the programmes, research institutes and the faculty office, so that the units have more autonomy within their budgets and within the applicable faculty frameworks and guidelines.
- If it turns out that we fail to ensure quality teaching and research, then other scenarios will be considered in consultation with program- and research directors and the Executive Board.
For further questions on the current status of the budget cuts, you can always contact your director or the faculty board at bestuur.fsw [at] ru.nl (bestuur[dot]fsw[at]ru[dot]nl)
