Being widely connected throughout the professional staff of the EUR and bringing a wide-ranging expertise, I believe I can be a positive factor in aiding the governing bodies of the EUR to prepare for an uncertain future and to stay grounded in reality.
Jaap Cornelese, Professional Services
Staff Member University Council
Why did you want to join the University Council?
Participatory bodies, like the University Council (UC) enable regular employees and students to perform checks and balances on the workings of the governing bodies at EUR, to ensure the actual perspectives of the staff and students at EUR are taken into account. Being widely connected throughout the professional staff of the EUR and bringing a wide-ranging expertise, I believe I can be a positive factor in aiding the governing bodies of the EUR to prepare for an uncertain future and to stay grounded in reality.
What issues will you focus on in particular?
My focus will be on the revisal of the EUR-strategic aims, the EUR budgetary plans and the implications of it all for academic staff and students. The giant budget cuts by the current government and big shifts in the national and international societal and political situation require the EUR to adapt to new realities. I aim to help the EUR to envision and implement the necessary changes, so that in future the EUR will remain a vibrant community for research and education.
What is the importance of participation in your opinion?
Institutions have a tendency to become ‘self-fulfilling prophecies’. A budget itself becomes an item instead that it is recognized for what is: a means to an end. Problem-orientated education becomes a holy grail, instead of just being a method for education. Participatory bodies, not being composed governors can help in asking out-of-the-box questions: ‘do we still need this?’, ‘can we do it differently?’.