Education

Every day thousands of Ghent University members of staff give their very best to ensure that students receive the high-quality academic education they are entitled to. Our education is excellent and we can be proud of that. The institutional review that awaits us in 2022 will demonstrate this - of that we have no doubt. In the past years we have adapted our autonomous quality control and assurance system so that it is much more based on trust - coupled with responsibility - in our teachers, in our supporting staff, in our study programmes. We must ensure that this remains the case in the future.

We want the focus in the coming years to be on teaching methods of tomorrow and on an increased attention to student progress.

The corona crisis has shown that we must remain alert and be able to respond quickly to changing circumstances. It has thoroughly shaken up education at Ghent University. We have had to rapidly redesign our educational practice to the extent that we have actually reinvented it. This required a great deal of creativity and flexibility from the entire university community. We all hope that we will be able to work in (more) normal circumstances again next academic year. At the same time, we can also use this momentum to reflect on education in the post-corona era. The pandemic has forced us to make rapid and profound changes. It is now up to us to decide together which of these we should develop further and give a permanent place in our education.

We are convinced that the way forward is a smart mix of on campus and online education that will help future proof our education, making it fit for purpose in the face of new challenges. For example, the online approach offers additional opportunities in terms of international cooperation and exchange.

In the coming years, these opportunities will be fully explored within ENLIGHT, the European University Network of which Ghent University is the lead partner. ENLIGHT focuses on research-oriented, challenge-based education: education based on the results of scientific research, in which students not only acquire knowledge but also contribute to the creation of new knowledge along the way, responding to local and international social needs, in all conceivable sectors and domains. Our eyes will be on our immediate environment and Europe, but also on the world beyond.

Consequently, it is important for Ghent University to create the conditions to embed high-quality digital education in our academic practice. Our aim is not to radically shift to online education, but to be able to use online education where and when it offers added value. We have said it before: we are going for a smart mix of on campus and online education.

In doing so, we want to keep what is good in our practices. But we also want to recognize and address existing problems. Decisions can and will only be taken in consultation with students, lecturers and academic staff, with colleagues responsible for education within the faculties and with the central departments involved. It goes without saying that the study programme committees will have an important role to play in this.

Will all lectures on campus also be livestreamed, or only the lectures of a limited number of courses? Will we be livestreaming lectures post corona at all or should we record all lectures and make the recordings available to the students? Will we do that for a limited number of courses only? Or not at all? Together we will have to find the most appropriate answers to these and, no doubt, many other questions.

We must be aware of certain pitfalls and avoid them. For example, we know from scientific research that the learning effect of distance learning can be more limited compared to on-campus education. Moreover, providing recordings of lectures can lead to procrastination. This does not mean that we have to banish distance learning from the university menu as soon as on-campus teaching becomes fully possible again. Nor does it imply a defined position on the provision of lecture recordings. But it is clear that we should not be blind to the pitfalls, particularly with respect to our first-year students. We must dare to name the advantages and disadvantages of educational innovations and, together with all stakeholders, ensure that what we introduce offers real added value.

Promoting educational innovation for the sake of innovation, is not what we stand for. In the past years we have proven that we approach educational innovation in a thoughtful way and that is something we shall continue to do in the coming years.

Obviously the notion of thoughtfulness in the field of education applies as much to teachers and supporting staff as it does to students. In the past years, important steps have been taken to reduce administrative overload, especially in the framework of “UGent Verlicht”. It is clear, however, that there is still room for improvement. We must dare to ask ourselves with respect to all Ghent University procedures, and therefore also all educational procedures, to what extent they contribute to the realisation of our core business. Educational procedures - university-wide or faculty-wide - that offer little or no added value must be adjusted or abolished.

We must dare to think about whether lecturers and those responsible for our study programmes should not be given more autonomy in choices with respect to the content of study programmes. For a number of years now, ‘the Quetelet lectures’, the university-wide honours/excellence programme, has brought together lecturers (UGhentians and guest speakers) and students to reflect, discuss, agree and disagree about current or less current themes. Imagine that in our regular programmes - for example in master’s programmes that choose to do so – we could offer a selection of courses whose content has not been determined long in advance, but which in essence bring together lecturers and interested students to explore a theme of their choice in a scientifically sound manner. Themes could been chosen by the lecturers and their students, not because they are in the course specifications or were imposed, but simply because the lecturers and their students wish to talk about these themes.

All the statistical data and analyses show how important the first year - and even the first semester - at university is. Unfortunately, many young people leave the university after just one academic year, or disappointing results in the first bachelor year lead to excessive length of studies. Ghent University puts a lot of effort into helping students make their choice. We place great emphasis on study support. But perhaps there is room for improvement. Our experience with SIMON proves that this is a very important orientation tool, although it can be further refined. We will strive to further develop SIMON and to stimulate an even wider use, so that we can offer as many prospective students as possible opportunities for advice and orientation.

We advocate that participation in SIMON should be a prerequisite for entering an initial bachelor’s programme at the university. In addition, we believe that mandatory but non-binding calibration tests that are linked to the study domain can content-wise be complementary to SIMON. We support the intention of the Flemish government to further expand non-binding calibration tests in the near future, provided they have been scientifically validated. After all, they act as an important mirror for prospective students: they offer a concrete picture of the expected starting competences and they facilitate designing tailor-made remedial trajectories. This positive development will not only allow student counsellors and learning track counsellors in the faculties to play their full role, but also aid teachers and study programme committees. Non-binding calibration tests and associated guidance trajectories are also an instrument that can boost the socially emancipatory nature of university education. We must also dare to strengthen our role, as a university, to be an engine for social mobility.

Research Funding

Over the past four years, we have set a number of important benchmarks in order to change our research climate: the over-emphasis on mere quantification as a measure of quality, embedded in a system of highly quantified personalized objectives for our professors, was clearly stifling and demotivating, and this also impacted other researchers.

Moreover, faculties as a whole were in a race driven by a competitive model for the allocation of staff and other financial resources. Not because they really wanted it, but because they had to. When the allocation model was set up many years ago, it rightly responded to the (incentivizing) needs at the time, but after a while it created undesirable side effects.

We have now replaced that competitive allocation model for the distribution of the “first money flow” (“the P points”) across faculties with a system that no longer turns faculties against each other. This new approach came about after consultation with many colleagues, including deans and faculty management teams, who brought their own experience to the table and thus made a very important contribution to the end result. A result we are proud of. At the same time, we are well aware of the fact that this new approach, too, is likely to cause unwanted side effects over time. In the next few years, we therefore want to keep our finger on the pulse and adjust where necessary.

Our new professorial career model is radically based on trust in the capabilities of our researchers. It provides a very solid foundation for a more holistic approach to the assessment of research quality. Researchers now have more intellectual breathing room for creative, innovative, and groundbreaking research. But nothing can be achieved without money, and most channels for research funding, whether internal (BOF - Special Research Fund) or external, are still organized competitively. In itself, a competitive system for allocating research funding has some obvious advantages, which we do not want to put into question. There has to be a certain amount of competition in the research landscape - let us state that clearly.

But here too the balance can be off and as such become counterproductive. Excessive competition, together with certain traditional research funding instruments, all too often stands in the way of collaboration between researchers. The combination of labour-intensive application procedures and low success rates for funding applications frequently causes frustration and demotivation. This too needs to be stated clearly.

When it comes to research funding, why can’t we put more trust in our researchers? If we believe in the potential of our researchers, because they were selected carefully in a thorough recruitment process, we should also be able to trust the fact that they will conduct sound research. That is why, a few years ago, we switched to automatically awarded starting grants for newly recruited professors, so that they do not have to compete with each other from day one. Should we not dare to give the same kind of trust to our professors later on in their careers and hence also to their research groups and their staff?

In consultation with the Research Council and by extension with the entire Ghent University research community, we would like to develop a system in which research resources outside the competitive funding channels are made available to professors at specified moments in their later careers, through a deliberate pre-allocation of BOF resources. This will create a better balance between competitively acquired research funding, on the one hand, and automatically awarded research funding at specified times in one’s academic career, on the other.

This will give researchers the comfort of not having to compete incessantly for research funding, and will in the end be motivating and stimulating. Such basic funding can also give welcome oxygen to more fundamentally oriented, and to more risky research. Or to research with a distant horizon or even no horizon at all as far as the concrete application of the research results is concerned - research for which there are relatively few external funding possibilities but which is nevertheless very important for a university like ours.

In addition, we want to focus on the further expansion of previously launched initiatives which support researchers in managing their research budgets. Here we are thinking, of course, of the so-called front officers who have a crucial role to play. Today, too much money in research accounts remains underutilized. As a result, allocated funds sometimes return to the research funder after a project has ended. Further support in the management of research funds can prevent this. Researchers who want this support will ultimately gain additional financial scope and will be able to devote more attention to their core tasks.

Towards an (even) better ATP organisation

At a university, it is usually the academics and the students who fall under the spotlight. The work of the administrative and technical staff (ATP) is not always as visible to the outside world, but is no less crucial. This is also true of Ghent University: our (more than 2,500) ATP members demonstrate their commitment to Ghent University every day. They are proud of their work, and rightly so, because their efforts have an impact well beyond the university. .

Many ATP staff are also very involved in our university’s policies. Several ATP members have told us: “we have a number of ideas that can contribute to working even more efficiently or achieving even higher levels of quality”.

We want to make those ideas a topic of discussion. In consultation with the ATP staff themselves, their supervisors and the management in the faculties and the central departments, we want to achieve a better organisation of the many tasks performed by our administrative and technical staff. We want to start from a few core concepts: trust, cooperation, pooling expertise, talent development, giving and taking advantage of opportunities.

We also want to introduce nuance. You sometimes hear: “We need to streamline more and organise things as much as possible centrally!” But with equal firmness the opposite is asserted: “We need to take more account of the uniqueness of groups and services, and to decentralise as much as possible!” We say: things need to be done where it’s best for them to be done. For some tasks this might mean a decentralised approach, while other tasks might be better centralised. However, we do not claim to be all-seeing on the matter, far from it. And we do not believe that we can simply purchase such insight from consultants, or that we can simply copy inspiring examples. That’s why we say: let’s do the thinking together - let’s identify current shortcomings and think of improvements together.

Some concrete needs have already been brought to our attention. We want to get started with the following:

• Some ATP members feel trapped in the structure to which they belong: working within one department or office sometimes prevents them from taking on tasks that are better suited to their talents. Or during a quiet period it prevents them from helping out in another department or office, although they would like to.
• ATP members sometimes have the feeling that they carry too much responsibility. This can lead to a feeling of helplessness, a feeling that whatever they do, it will never be enough. This is often accompanied by a lack of real opportunities to learn new skills - there just isn’t enough time. Organising activities at a slightly higher aggregation level, with a broader group of ATP members who are jointly responsible for all their tasks as a whole, can provide more opportunities for talent development and further professionalisation.
• Many ATP members are confronted with similar questions and problems during the execution of their tasks, and then often search for answers and solutions independently. There is a need for more exchange of good practices. Sometimes constraints limit members to ad hoc solutions, while a more systematic approach could be more useful.

We need to look more frequently for solutions to problems together, beyond the boundaries of our university structures. Boundaries between faculty departments, faculties, central departments, offices, or between the body of central departments and the body of faculties, too often mean that solutions start from the current structures and from the idea that the boundaries that divide our structures are impermeable. We can do better.

The functions and job content of ATP members change over time. There are few, if any, places at our university where people still work in the same way today as they did, say, five years ago, let alone ten. Tasks and expectations that are established when ATP members are hired need to be framed within a broader job description that can respond to future changes. Examining where and when it makes sense to make adjustments, whether they are feasible (and the relevant staff want them to happen), will help create more diverse and interesting job descriptions, and therefore more attractive ATP careers.

One possible avenue is the establishment of faculty administrative and technical support services, within which a group of ATP members fulfil their tasks together, serving the whole faculty or a number of departments. Interfaculty collaboration can also be useful, for example when research infrastructure is shared across faculty boundaries.

Forming a team across boundaries, by the way, does not imply that the ATP staff involved must be physically brought together in one workspace. It may make more sense for them to keep their current workspace in order to preserve their connection to the actual questions and needs of researchers or lecturers, and to remain engaged in the overall activities of the faculty departments, etc.

This form of organisation offers more opportunities for both professionalisation and specialisation, as well as for the creation of broader and more diverse responsibilities. And it therefore pays dividends in terms of staff talent development. It goes without saying that frameworks of understanding will have to be drawn up for this, according to the principles of UGent Verlicht: whatever is useful and necessary must be included - no more and no less.

Leading a team is a competence that not everyone possesses but at the same time it is not a competence that everyone needs to have. Let us recognise this but also consider it normal. We should not expect everyone to have that competence. The role of supervisor can often be an extra responsibility that needs to be taken up on top of another main task, sometimes without the staff having been properly prepared for it. In the past years initiatives have been taken to help supervisors with this issue. We believe that these initiatives are genuinely of value and should be enhanced.

We want to continue focusing on the support of learning networks and on the organisation of informal get-togethers and more formal meetings, across boundaries. Exchanging ideas, learning from each other, maintaining social contact: all of this is crucial in order to further improve the functioning of our university system.

Raising the level of organisation for our ATP should not (obviously) increase the workload of the ATP staff themselves nor of other Ghent University members of staff. Equally, broader responsibilities should not lead to a lack of clarity about what is expected from Ghent University staff . Tasks must be divided in an open and correct manner, and all those involved must be given a sufficient say in the arrangement.

Reforms always generate a certain level of resistance. We must have the courage to acknowledge this. That is why we explicitly opt for a cautious approach, based on consultation and with respect for “the human factor”. We will not propose new structures or define responsibilities on the basis of some algorithm or cold calculation - we will talk, and talk a lot, in the firm belief that this will lead us to better ideas and therefore ultimately to an even better university than the one we already have.

Taking these guidelines into account, we want to achieve a thorough and well-considered reorganisation of the administrative and technical support at our university. At the same time, this entails a thorough change in the structures of our university as a whole, with implications for the roles of colleagues at all levels. This is an endeavour that we must all engage in together.

Is it an ambitious endeavour? Yes it is. But we at Ghent University, we can do this.

Recruiting at Ghent University

How can Ghent University recruit effectively, efficiently and fairly in a competitive national and international labour market? And what can it offer prospective staff members in terms of attractive career prospects.

In recent years, Ghent University has made a major shift by developing career paths that focus radically on appreciation, trust and talent development. We said ‘no’ to performance and evaluation procedures that offer no added value. The new professorial career model that we introduced in 2018 was a first important step, and one that was noticed internationally - `The Ghent Model´ was for example mentioned in Times Higher Education.

Our Board of Directors recently approved new regulations for doctoral fellows, which focus on trust, support and appreciation. In addition, new feedback and evaluation regulations for administrative and technical staff have been approved, regulations that are also, as you might already have guessed, based on trust. In the coming period, we want to extend this new feedback and evaluation culture to assistant academic staff, and let the administrative progress reports evolve into meaningful, broad and supportive moments of reflection for these colleagues.

But even then the job will not be complete. In the coming years, high-quality and talent-oriented recruitment deserves our attention, even more so than is already the case today. By committing to this focus, we want to strengthen the reputation, the appeal and the image of Ghent University as an excellent academic employer. The work will help us to realise our common ambitions in the areas of research, education and services to society: those of Ghent University as an institution, those of its constituent bodies (faculties, departments, research groups, central departments and offices) and above all those of all UGhentians individually.

We want to ensure that new Ghent University staff members quickly feel at home at our university, can be integrated in our working environment and are given more opportunities to build a successful career with us. We want to invest in talent development and lifelong learning, not only with respect to our students and alumni, but also and importantly with respect to all Ghent University members of staff.

In this regard, we want to put forward a number of core principles that apply to all staff categories (although it goes without saying that some are more relevant to certain categories than others):

• Recruitment is always carried out in an open, transparent and inclusive way. It is based on relevant and scientifically sound performance criteria linked to merit and/or potential, and avoids disadvantaging or favouring candidates a priori.
• Ghent University recruits its staff on the basis of a long-term vision and, as a rule, strives for a meaningful integration in and contribution to existing teams.
• Ghent University does not wait for the right candidate to spontaneously present themselves but proactively scouts for talent.
• The profile and selection criteria are in line with the Ghent University career models. This means among other things that the emphasis in the recruitment of professors is not on quantitative parameters but on quality and impact, on educational talent, leadership and functioning within a larger partnership.
• When recruiting academic staff, research and education are in principle equally important recruitment criteria and are both weighed and assessed equally, of course taking into account specific job content linked to the mandate to be filled.
• Leadership and management skills are important competences for many Ghent University staff members and, where appropriate, are carefully considered in their recruitment.
• Ghent University has an open vision. Therefore, when recruiting the aim is to have broad and well-balanced selection committees, with an outside view present when meaningful and feasible.
• Ghent University profiles itself as an internationally attractive employer, yet with strong local roots that help define its identity. The recruitment process is grafted onto what is internationally accepted in an academic context. Openness, transparency and effectiveness must strengthen the position of the recruiting faculty or central department on the labour market.
• Ghent University also profiles itself as an attractive employer by communicating in an efficient and high-quality manner, tailored to (potential) candidates. Timely and qualitative feedback regarding candidates is an essential part of thoughtful recruitment.
• Ghent University highly values diversity and consequently strives for a diverse workforce.
• Ghent University itself takes responsibility for ensuring that new members of staff (and in case of international recruitment also their families) feel welcome at Ghent University and are quickly integrated into the new working and living environments.
• “UGent Verlicht”, in recruitment also: recruitment at Ghent University is efficient, candidate-friendly and effective, without unnecessary administrative obstacles.

Finally, we are aware of the fact that with regard to the recruitment of professors who develop their careers at Ghent University after an external selection (e.g. ERC Grantees or Odysseus fellows), an area of tension can arise between recruitment that is primarily focused on excellent research on the one hand and real educational needs on the other. The degree to which this tension is present varies from faculty to faculty and within a faculty may even depend heavily on the specific field of expertise of the professors.

We want to continue focusing on attracting ERC Grantees or Odysseus fellows, and on the acquisition of ERC or other mandates by UGhentians. Where it is desirable and feasible, we want to do this even more strongly than is already the case. At the same time, faculty management must be able to maintain the balance between different types of mandate. More generally, they must have the freedom to deploy the available resources for personnel, operations, equipment and infrastructure in line with the guidelines of their overall education, research and service policies.

Well-being

Well-being is never unequivocally acquired - in the past year this has unquestionably become very clear. For an organisation such as Ghent University, caring for and investing in well-being must therefore be part of its DNA. That is why we must always ask ourselves whether all the welfare systems we have at our university are adequate and whether there are any gaps in the safety net that need to be closed preventively. This, of course, applies for both our students and our staff. The well-being of all UGhentians is important.

Our students

It is probably the well-being of our students - and especially our youngest students - that is put most severely to the test by the pandemic. For young people, the long period with restrictions on their freedom is proportionally a bigger bite out of their lives than for less young people. Without a doubt, they have been severely affected by this pandemic and its associated measures. Fortunately, we have been able to observe that the vast majority of our students show resilience and, moreover, are very supportive of each other and of older generations. They deserve a lot of respect for that.

Even before the pandemic, we had already ourselves committed to a continuous dialogue with students, in line with the strong tradition of student participation in various bodies and committees that characterise Ghent University. The importance of regular consultation was emphasised during the pandemic. This allows us to keep our finger on the pulse of what lives in the student community. Although we have had to deliver difficult messages or unpleasant news more often than we would like, our bond and that of the faculties and central departments in this crisis period has proven to be an absolute added value. In a future term of office, we want to continue to focus on those direct communication lines .

During this pandemic, we found it very important to avoid extending the length of study as much as possible and to guarantee that we continued to offer high-quality education so that students could achieve the competencies of their programme even in this difficult period. It must be added that, at Ghent University, we succeeded in doing so. The results of the evaluations were on average even better during the past year. Note that it says “on average” - some examination results were better than before, but others were less good. We should not be blind to the latter - and especially to the underlying causes of this.

At the same time, partly due to a clear cry for help from students because of greatly reduced psychological well-being and concentration capacity, we proposed the corona check and, after approval by the Board of Governors, also introduced it. The tool has now been adapted to a reflection tool about evaluations and it is one we definitely want to keep.

In addition to academic development, there is of course personal development. All kinds of student services have quickly and smoothly adapted to the changed circumstances, maximally at the service of our students. Both social services and the team of student psychologists have been strengthened. A working group on psychological well-being was established within the Education Council. All faculties made efforts to provide a warm welcome at the start of the academic year and paid special attention to first-year students. Where necessary, investments were made in tools to provide psychological support to students. Both on the Student in Warm UGent Ufora site and on the Feeling good at Ghent University site on the student portal, a lot of tips are offered to students in a well-organised way. In addition, Ghent University actively participates in Warme Stad Gent. These are also practices we want to perpetuate and embed structurally.

But there is obviously room for improvement – that also needs to be said. We have to conclude that, when it comes to students and young people with serious psychosocial problems, there are insufficient resources to take care of them quickly and structurally. Moreover, the prevention and reception services available outside our university are too limited, resulting in long waiting periods for psychotherapeutic or (youth) psychiatric help. It is one of our ambitions to invest in this in the near future. In order to be able to alleviate this real need in the short term, we have already started conversations with Ghent University Hospital.

Our staff

The university-wide survey on well-being in 2018 showed that Ghent University staff are in general satisfied and even proud of their jobs. Moreover, their intrinsic motivation is high, but stress remains an area of concern. Important levers for well-being are the social atmosphere in the central or faculty department, the quality of the organisation of work, as well as participation in, clarity about and trust in Ghent University policy making. Ghent University staff are also positive about factors such as job content variation, opportunities for development, decision authority, the social support of colleagues, and identification with the values of Ghent University. All these factors are strongly linked to well-being at work within Ghent University.

At the same time, the survey on well-being has shown that there are concerns around workload, emotional strain and transgressive behaviour. Some employees also wonder about their future prospects and need more targeted feedback about their job performance. Together with the faculties, faculty departments, central departments and offices, action plans have been drawn up following the results of the Ghent University-wide survey and a major campaign was launched on well-being at work. In the meantime, well-being has become a fixed item in the faculty policy plans. We want to continue these initiatives in the next term of office.

In recent years, we have worked hard to install career paths at Ghent University that are based on trust linked to responsibility. We are convinced that these have a major positive impact on the psychological well-being of many staff. In the coming period, we therefore want to perpetuate these trajectories, obviously after thorough evaluation and with adjustments where necessary. We hope this will bring peace to our university and offer our staff maximum freedom and autonomy.

Finally, the past year has also shown that the pandemic has affected Ghent University staff unequally. For some colleagues, especially those with care obligations at home pressure ran high. Other colleagues were able to concentrate fully on their core tasks. Hence, we have frequently appealed for solidarity. We also appealed for some mildness in judgement, to strive for what is maximally achievable rather than what is unachievable, while paying attention to the well-being of all staff and students.

Nevertheless, we must acknowledge that, despite this appeal, many UGhentians have worked even harder than before, for each other and for the students, to get through this difficult period together, day after day, without much relief, social contacts or concrete prospects. It puts a heavy strain on people and there is a limit to what they can bear. We will, as soon as we can, take a step back on certain points and restore the balance. In the near future we will therefore, among other things, invest in the development of a welfare test for policy decisions in order to make sure that nothing more is demanded of anyone than is reasonably good and healthy.

University-wide policy choices

active learning strategies, diversity - equity - inclusion, talent management, sustainability, alumni engagement, societal identity, internationalization, and psychosocial well-being

In the beginning of 2019, the Board of Governors gave the green light to our proposal for six University-wide Policy Choices (Universiteitsbrede BeleidsKeuzes, UBKs): active learning strategies, diversity, talent management, sustainability, alumni engagement, and societal identity. These six themes were brought to our attention by UGhentians themselves, especially during the period we were candidates for rector and vice-rector in 2017. At that time we promised to act on these themes. And we have done so, thanks to the inspiring support and coordination efforts of each of the UBK special commissioners, together with the many members of staff, alumni, policy makers inside and outside the university, and, of course, with our students.

The faculties were asked to formulate five operational objectives that correspond to at least three university-wide policy choices. In a subsequent phase, the departments and offices of the central administration were asked how they could support the faculty operational objectives and/or how they could contribute to the realisation of the university-wide policy choices through their own (possibly cross-departmental or cross-office) operational objectives.

A recent tour of the faculty management committees has shown that this approach has generally been well received. It is true that several faculties already had the chosen themes and objectives on their radar or even in their planning before 2017. But the UBK framework helps them to better structure and systematise these activities. It also encourages collaboration across faculty department and office boundaries.

Moreover, the faculties greatly appreciate the freedom offered to them within the UBK framework. They can choose for themselves which UBKs they want to work on and how they will do this in concrete terms by setting specific operational objectives. The UBK framework also provides added value for the central departments. It promotes the systematic follow-up of a number of operational objectives and also gives them greater visibility with respect to the faculties, other central departments and university management.

Therefore, we propose to start a new UBK cycle for the period 2022-2026. Taking into account the feedback we have received, we also propose maintaining the current UBKs, focusing on both consolidation and the deepening of ongoing activities. However, faculties and central departments can, if they wish, make other choices within these UBKs and propose new operational objectives. In addition, we propose including two additional UBKs in the next cycle, i.e. internationalisation and psycho-social well-being.

Active learning strategies

The ‘active learning strategies’ project has been very well received - a first interim evaluation was distinctly positive. Of course, the project has been affected by the Covid-19 crisis and the actions originally planned have had to be adapted. The experiences we have gained are very useful input for the further realisation of this UBK. In the coming years, the main challenge will be how active learning strategies can be embedded in the best possible way in a general educational vision on blended learning and in our joint search for the optimal mix between online and on campus education.

Diversity, equity and inclusion

In an inclusive learning and working environment, all UGhentians can feel at home and develop their talents. That must be the norm at our university. In recent years, we have made progress in this area. However, there is more work to be done on achieving a more inclusive culture, improving the inflow and study progress of students and bettering the inflow and career progress of staff from under-represented groups. We want to remain alert to current issues - such as decolonisation and the issues raised by the BLM movement - and take action together with the under-represented groups from a “nothing about us without us” vision.

Talent Management

In recent years, Ghent University has made substantial progress regarding talent management for both staff and students. For Ghent University staff, we have strongly emphasized a career policy based on trust and responsibility. We want to continue this policy for all staff members. The objectives of this university-wide policy are to attract and discover talent (see also recruitment policy and ATP policy, as far as our staff are concerned) and to pursue an inclusive policy in which the talents of our staff and students are addressed and developed in all their facets. Special programmes for outstanding students guarantee that every student will continue to be engaged and stimulated. Active scouting at home and abroad at master and PhD level is also part of talent management.

Sustainability

In the current UBK cycle, we are mainly focusing on embedding sustainability in education and on aspects of sustainability related to energy. We would like to expand the scope of this UBK to include other aspects of sustainability such as mobility, waste, air emissions, a green university and biodiversity, water management, procurement and materials policy, and nutrition. Sustainability will also be a major focus of the Ghent University Imagines 2050 project.

Alumni engagement

Structurally supported alumni engagement is important: to our alumni it offers additional opportunities in the field of career and development (e.g. via networking and lifelong learning); for Ghent University itself it is an important instrument for our national and international reputation building. In recent years, we have focused on improving university-wide support for alumni activities, including the launch of the alumni platform Infinitum. However, the centre of gravity of alumni work is, of course, to be found in the faculties and that is how it should be. In addition, the first steps have been taken to establish academies for lifelong learning in all faculties; these will be further developed in the coming years.

Societal identity

In line with the mission statement of our university, we fully endorse the following: Ghent University is a socially engaged and pluralistic university that is open to all students and staff, regardless of their philosophical, political, cultural and social background. Ghent University is pre-eminently a university of and for the community. The societal impact of scientific research at universities has become particularly clear in this Covid-19 crisis. We must not only strive to maintain this impact, but also broaden it to other scientific domains that may be less visible today. In addition to supporting economic valorisation through, among other things, spin-off companies and cooperation with industrial partners, we must also continue to focus on the societal valorisation of our scientific research in the coming years.

Internationalisation

Ghent University is an open and socially engaged university. We cannot and do not want to remain indifferent to the world around us. We want to play a leading role in Europe and the world beyond (even more than is the case today). This will not happen by itself; therefore, we want to add internationalisation as a new UBK.

The globalised world is reflected in the composition of our student and staff populations, the competences we develop in our students, how we organize our education, the research we carry out, the social services we provide as an institution, and so on. It is clear that an explicit choice for internationalisation is an essential means to strengthen our core tasks of research, education and social services.

One of the challenges we face in this regard is the expansion of the ENLIGHT network. ENLIGHT stands for ‘European university Network to promote equitable quality of Life, sustainability and Global engagement through Higher education Transformation’ and is a partnership of 9 European universities, including Ghent University. It is one of the consortia selected by the European Commission in the ‘European Universities’ programme through which the Commission wants to set out new directions for European higher education and scientific research. Our leading role in this network, together with our presidency of the CESAER network, which comprises 53 universities, ensures that Ghent University is counted among the leading universities in Europe. This is a position we are proud of and which we intend to fully live up to in the coming years.

Last year, the programmes we offer at our Ghent University Global Campus (GUGC) in South Korea were very positively assessed by the NVAO, the Dutch-Flemish accreditation body that assesses the quality of higher education in the Netherlands and Flanders. Let this be an encouragement to strengthen our GUGC activities - which in addition to education also include excellent scientific research - based on an ambitious but realistic policy and a corresponding financial plan.

Psychosocial well-being

It goes without saying that we consider psychosocial well-being very important - witness the policies already developed in this area in recent years. Our Board of Governors has recently called for optimising and strengthening the accessibility of the psychological and mental care and support offered at and by Ghent University. The request was to do this in concrete ways within the framework of a global action plan or via the establishment of a university-wide policy choice regarding mental well-being. We want to follow-up on this decision with tangible action and therefore we propose including a UBK on psychosocial well-being in the next UBK cycle.

UGent Verlicht (Ghent University Enlightened)

Ghent University has three core tasks: education, research and service to society. Excelling in these core tasks obviously requires the necessary administrative support, especially when the university is active in just about every scientific domain, with thousands of staff members and tens of thousands of students. Just as in other large institutions and organisations, we have noticed that over the years some administrative processes have failed to provide sufficient added value or have even become redundant, but have nevertheless been preserved.

We wanted (and still want) to reverse this trend. That is why in 2018 we started UGent Verlicht (Ghent University Enlightened). Based on the idea that what is useful should be retained; what is useful but could be more efficient should challenge us to change our processes and make them (even) better; and if there are processes that do not contribute to the accomplishment of our core tasks we should dare to abolish them.

UGent Verlicht is not a plea to eliminate all administration. UGent Verlicht wants to put a stop to processes that offer no added value. UGent Verlicht is equally about creating opportunities for our academic, administrative and technical staff - to do what they are good at and contribute to the accomplishment of our core tasks. We desperately need the talents and commitment of all our staff, but we do not necessarily need all the existing processes.

We asked a team of 10 Ghent University staff members to reflect on this and to formulate concrete proposals. UGent Verlicht was born. We would very much like to continue to develop this project in the next few years.

The UGent Verlicht team proposed to set in motion a transition process and make all Ghent University staff aware of the fact that a number of administrative processes could perhaps be simpler or are no longer useful. Some processes are the result of tradition and habit. Other processes were created in the past due to a lack of trust. Still others are necessary but can be implemented in a more efficient way.

Two avenues have been pursued. Firstly, administrative inefficiencies can be mapped out via the UGent Verlicht contact point. Everyone who sends a report to the contact point is kept informed of the follow-up. We have since received hundreds of reports. About a third of these have led to actual improvements in our processes and another third will soon lead to improvements; for the remaining reports, the requested improvements are not feasible or they can only be carried out in the longer term.

In addition, consultations were held between the UGent Verlicht team, the central departments, the university administration and the faculties, in order to develop solutions for more structural problems. This transition process is in full development and is going well, thanks to the support of a great many staff members in the faculties and central departments.

It is clear that there is still a long way to go. The Covid-19 crisis has had a negative effect on UGent Verlicht and has caused some delay. Nevertheless, we have taken important structural steps. Let us continue together on this path in the coming years.

Moreover, UGent Verlicht is a good example of the way in which we want to attend to signals from the workfloor. By responding to the grievances of staff and by giving space and trust to people with a sense of initiative, we want to create a context in which changes for the better can be set in motion, based on the talents and commitment of all UGhentians.

UGent Verbeeldt 2050 (Ghent University Imagines 2050)

In 2019, a project called UGent Verbeeldt 2050 (Ghent University Imagines 2050) was launched. What started as an investigation into the intrinsic value of our university’s more than 170 buildings, located on more than 20 campuses, has since grown into an ambitious project in which various faculties, sections, central departments and external partners such as the City of Ghent are jointly drawing up a plan for Ghent University’s infrastructure of the future.

How can we organize our more than 870,000 square meters of buildings in such a way that Ghent University can continue to flourish as a knowledge institution where education and research fully reinforce each other? How can we organize our 2.5 square kilometer campuses so that everyone feels at home? And how do we help give shape to the city and region in which we are embedded? This presupposes an ambitious but balanced infrastructure plan that sets out the lines for the medium and long term.

The basic principles of UGent Verbeeldt 2050 have been stipulated in a charter, which aims to express “a bold ambition for what Ghent University can be, and wants to be, in terms of infrastructure in the mid-21st century” and seeks to “map out a transition path towards that point on the horizon, within the policy space available”.

UGent Verbeeldt 2050 presents a vision of the somewhat more distant future of the university’s infrastructure, in which education and research will be inextricably interwoven. UGent Verbeeldt 2050 also sets out lines for more intensive collaboration with the city and society, and for well thought-out investments in sustainability, mobility and a (partly) digital future.

Let us dare to think ahead in even more areas and dare to imagine our more distant future. Where do we want our university to be in, say, 2050? What will its buildings look like then? How will it position itself in the city and society? How will it carry out its mission? We believe that these are intriguing and important questions. Because a university should not only dare to think in terms of years or mandates, but also in terms of decades and longer.

The City of Ghent and the region around it form our historical habitat. But during the past decade, UGent has broken out, as it were. We are now housed in different locations, at home and abroad. This branching is an essential aspect of our identity. The Ghent University Global Campus in South Korea is a campus that is the envy of many universities and one with which we are highly regarded, as was shown during a recent NVAO evaluation. Our campuses in Kortrijk and Bruges, and certainly our science parks in Zwijnaarde and Ostend are of crucial importance to Ghent University. How do we envision this branching, nationally and internationally, in 2050? That is another question we will have to ask ourselves in the coming years.

The well-known circumstances of the past year have forced us to question or reinvent much of what we do, even much of what we had considered as ‘acquired for generations’. With the necessary inspiration and creativity, with a great deal of energy and vitality, and thanks to the positive interplay of many members of staff, we have succeeded quite well.

Let us use these same ingredients - inspiration and creativity, energy and vitality, mutual interaction - for that grand exercise: imagining Ghent University in 2050. Not because the context forces us to do so. But because we, as UGhentians, want to take on this exercise ourselves. Because as a university and as UGhentians, we want to determine our own future. Right?