At the meeting last Wednesday afternoon, 25 February, it emerged that the University Council is not convinced that the current course is the only – let alone the right – way to achieve closer cooperation between the hospital and UM. Over the past few weeks, it became clear that the wider university community also has doubts: the academic action group WoinActie took the floor to voice its concerns during the meeting on Wednesday, as did the Maastricht Young Academy; the institute directors of the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life sciences (FHML) sent in a letter stating their objections; the FHML Faculty Council raised numerous questions; and critical opinion pieces appeared.
Although the University Council has said no to the proposals currently on the table – a governance model, strategic themes and the role of representative bodies – it strongly supports strategic collaboration between the hospital and UM. In light of wider social developments, members agreed that something must be done.
The council did approve, though not unanimously, another proposal put to the vote on Wednesday: a recommendation to the Executive Board to institute a period of reflection in order to explore alternatives and determine the best way forward. Crucially, this should involve the entire university community, staff and students alike. Much criticism was voiced about the lack of community input over the past eighteen months. A long period of radio silence, during which everything was discussed behind closed doors, was followed by the last-minute publication of a big stack of documents on UMployee in January. “This is such an important issue, but staff were given almost no time to read and reflect on it”, one member said. The University Council would like to play an active role in considering how the partnership between the hospital and the university could be shaped differently.
Not all members supported this recommendation. Academic staff representative Raymond Luja would have preferred to work with the existing plans, though with “major changes. This strategic partnership needs to be more balanced; that’s in everyone’s interest.”
Support staff representative Netty Bekkers pointed out that this is not the right moment for such a fundamental change now that both boards are “unstable”. The university’s Executive Board is undergoing a transition of leadership following the departure of UM President Rianne Letschert. The hospital’s Executive Board recently lost its board member responsible for finance and must address cultural issues within its organisation after a damning report on social safety.
The University Council is the first of the representative bodies to have cast its vote; the hospital’s Staff Assembly, Works Council and Client Council and the FHML Faculty Council are yet to do so. If the representative bodies do not back the proposal, the board integration will not go ahead, University Council chair Teun Dekker said after the meeting.
Wendy Degens and Riki Janssen
Rector Pamela Habibović said she is “extremely disappointed”.