“We already have tutors who don’t know everything and fall back on generic answers”

Since October 2024, the Faculty of Law has renewed very few fixed-term contracts and hired fewer Lecturer-4 staff to keep the budget in good shape. The Faculty Board now sees this as an opportunity to overhaul policies for this category of teaching staff. Currently, these typically young, early-career academics are assigned to a specific department and teach almost exclusively in their own field. But as busy teaching periods alternate with quieter ones, they sometimes struggle to make their hours. Career prospects also vary between departments, leaving this group uncertain and vulnerable, according to the Faculty Board.

The plan is to assign new lecturers – on fixed-term, four-year contracts – to the Maastricht Institute for Legal Education (MILE), which will provide them with training and support. They would then be deployed centrally and, above all, flexibly. The Faculty Board says it aims to create a “flexible layer” of around ten lecturers. “This will allow us to handle busy teaching periods more effectively, provide stability and better prepare lecturers for the future”, explained Dean Jan Smits at the most recent Faculty Council meeting.

Expertise

Student members in particular expressed concerns about the consequences of requiring lecturers to teach subjects outside their expertise. “We already have tutors who don’t always know everything and fall back on generic answers”, one remarked. “The best classes are taught by people working in their own field. With a good tutor, you take more risks and learn more. You feel safer speaking to someone who knows what they’re talking about; you feel more comfortable asking questions and going deeper into the material.”

Academic staff representative Nora Vissers agreed. “When I teach in my own field, I know when student discussions are heading in the right direction and when I need to intervene. That’s what you want in Problem-Based Learning.”

Speaking a few days after the meeting, Smits explains he does not share these concerns. “Busy and quieter departments already sometimes exchange lecturers – people with different areas of expertise.”

Employer

Council members also questioned whether the new situation will actually improve career prospects. Academic staff representative Anna de Jong wondered aloud if the faculty would still be an attractive employer. “If I’m specialised in a particular field, and I couldn’t be sure I’d be able to teach it here because I’d be part of a flexible pool, I wouldn’t want to work here.” Vissers asked how lecturers themselves feel about the plans. “Have there been any conversations with them? Have they been asked for input? Or has the decision already been made?”

“No”, Smits says when asked. “We’ll be putting together a group of lecturers who already work flexibly, along with a few lecturers from specific departments. We want to find out what matters to them when it comes to their position in the faculty. The findings will, of course, be shared with the Faculty Council.”