For Ghent University and for all UGhentians

Elected officials who run for re-election often justify this by saying, “The work is not finished yet.” That is a cliché, of course, because in large organisations the work is never finished. We are candidates for a new mandate of rector and vice-rector because we want to continue bringing our efforts and experience to the service of the Ghent University community. And because we want to put some new ideas on the table. For us, a second term as a rectoral team isn’t just ‘business as usual’.

Our basic principles remain firmly in place: trust, freedom linked to responsibility, participation and consultation, and a solid choice for a university that is socially committed. This continues to be the common thread in everything we do. We will build on the policy choices that were made during our past term of office, but we also want to formulate new proposals to respond to concerns and challenges that arise, today and in the future.

The well-being of staff and students is high on our agenda. In recent years it has become clear - and not only as a result of the pandemic - that the university must pay more attention to the personal well-being of UGhentians. Well-being at work is largely linked to the organisation at work, participation, job content, work pressure, stress, autonomy and solidarity. In consultation with faculties and central departments, action plans were drawn up for this - we want to strengthen these in a next term of office.

For the well-being of students, teaching activities and study progress are obviously very important. For the benefit of our youngest students, we want to develop initiatives that contribute to a well-considered study choice and we will focus more on activation, guidance and remediation. After all, the first year at university, and even the first semester, is crucial for the further progression in the study programme.

We also have to think about the teaching methods of tomorrow, across all study programmes and years of study. The Covid-19 crisis has forced us to thoroughly redesign our educational practice at Ghent University. We all hope that next academic year we will again be working in more normal conditions, but we can retain elements of distance learning that offer real added value, and opt for a smart mix of on campus and online education. We want to develop this smart mix together with everyone involved in our educational activities.

Together with the Ghent University research community, we want to explore the possibilities to allocate research resources to professors not only at the start (as accomplished earlier) but again in a later stage of their careers in a non-competitive way (and within the margins of what is feasible). Most channels for research funding today are very competitive. Competition in itself is not a bad thing, but there are also drawbacks. We want to look for a better balance between competitively and non-competitively awarded research funding.

Administrative processes that make sense should be retained. What is useful but could be done more efficiently should challenge us to change our processes and make them (even) better. If there are processes that do not have any added value, we should dare to abolish them. We very much need everyone’s commitment and talents, but not necessarily all existing processes. The Covid-19 crisis has had a negative effect on UGent Verlicht and has caused some delay. Nevertheless, we have taken important first steps. Let us continue on this path together.

During the past term of office, six university-wide policy choices were launched which we, as Ghent University, would take to heart during a four-year policy cycle. The establishment of university-wide policy choices ensures joint action points and ambitions, beyond the boundaries of faculties and central departments. We want to continue this approach, partly because the feedback we have recently received from faculties and central departments was particularly positive. For the next policy cycle, we propose to maintain the current six themes and put forward two additional ones: internationalisation and psychosocial well-being.

We opened the 2020-2021 academic year in a special location: not in our Aula Academica as usual, but on the campus of Ghent University Hospital. We wanted to send a clear signal: caring matters at Ghent University, in all its facets. It goes without saying that Ghent University Hospital is a very important entity within our university. By opening the academic year in this special place, we wanted to show our gratitude and appreciation for all care providers and for our colleagues at Ghent University Hospital in particular. The further development of Ghent University Hospital will receive our attention in the coming years. The execution of the Ghent University Hospital Master Plan and the related new building project, among others, can count on our full support.

The credo of our university is ‘Dare to Think’. A few years ago, Ghent University Hospital added the slogan ‘Think Care’. Both perfectly describe who and what we want to be.

Rik & Mieke

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