Campus

Executive Board organises a biweekly walk-in meeting on social safety

From January 2025, the Executive Board will host a biweekly walk-in meeting on social safety. During these sessions, students, PhD candidates, and staff members can speak with University Rector Tim van der Hagen about questions, concerns, and ideas related to social safety.

The walk-in meetings will take place on Tuesday mornings from 8:15 to 9:15 a.m. in a private meeting room in Building 34a. No prior registration is required. The first session is scheduled for 7 January 2025.

The chosen location is intentionally discreet, according to the university’s FAQ on the website (in Dutch). “The room is somewhat secluded, so you don’t need to worry about being seen entering if that makes you uncomfortable.”

Conversations are confidential and will not be recorded.  “Anyone who feels the need to raise or share an issue should be able to do so, including with the Executive Board. And always in a way that feels safest for them.”

Dates for the biweekly walk-in consultation (Tuesdays):
  • 7 January, 08:15 – 09:15
  • 21 January, 08:15 – 09:15
  • 4 February, 08:15 – 09:15
  • 18 February, 08:15 – 09:15
  • 4 March, 08:15 – 09:15 (different Executive Board member due to Tim van der Hagen’s absence)
  • 18 March, 08:15 – 09:15
  • 1 April, 08:15 – 09:15
Follow-up Investigation

The walk-in consultation is one of the measures the university is taking to improve the work and study environment following a damning report from the Inspectorate of Education in March, which accused the university of mismanagement. In February 2025, the Inspectorate will conduct a follow-up investigation. By then, the care for TU Delft employees must show measurable improvement.

In addition to the walk-in consultation, students and staff can also seek support from confidential advisors, the student psychologist, the employee assistance program, or the ombudsperson.

An important complement to these initiatives is the social safety contact point. Originally scheduled for launch on 1 October, as outlined in the collective labour agreement (CAO), this contact point has been postponed to 2025.

So what were the Inspectorate’s findings again?

The Inspectorate of Education investigated transgressive behaviour at TU Delft from December 2022 to November 2023. In the resulting report, the investigators speak of intimidation, racism, sexism, bullying, exclusion, gossiping, social insecurity due to lack of leadership and a culture of fear, among other things. For instance, employees are said to be afraid to voice their opinions and hold each other accountable for behaviour.

The effects among TU Delft employees who have reported to the inspection are often long-lasting and hampering. The inspectorate speaks of psychological and physical health complaints, absence from work and a general feeling of insecurity. Stress, burnout, depression and PTSD, crying and tense home situations also occur, as do illness, vomiting at work, panic attacks and heart palpitations.

The inspectorate reports that TU Delft’s university administration has a lot of information regarding what is happening in terms of social safety, but that they ‘omit to add everything up so as to create a complete picture’. ‘The management’ also ‘does not adequately manage in terms of appropriate measures’. The Inspectorate believes that this is mismanagement.

Read the news and background articles on the Inspectorate’s report in our dossier.

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