The ‘Social safety project team’ has set four dates on which TU Delft employees, students and alumni can share ideas about ‘a safer working and studying environment’. The Supervisory Board will attend one of the sessions and the Executive Board another.
The Auditorium of the Aula during the Dies 2024. (Photo: Thijs van Reeuwijk)
The Executive Board already announced on 20 March that the meetings would be organised, while it also made public that it was abandoning its intention to take the Education Inspectorate to court. The Executive Board still does not agree with the methodology that the Inspectorate used to assess the degree of social safety at TU Delft, but, after much protest, sees that it would be better to put its energy into drafting the plan for improvement required by the Inspectorate and meet the deadline of 19 May. The meetings will generate input for the plan.
The attendees can share their ideas in the Mentimeter online tool during the meetings, which will be facilitated by the consultancy firm Berenschot. After that, there will be the opportunity to discuss the ideas in small groups.
Dates and times
- Wednesday 10 April, from 10:00 to 12:00, in English.
- Monday 15 April, from 12:30 to 14:30, in Dutch.
- Monday 15 April, from 16:00 to 18:00, attended by the Supervisory Board. The main language will be English, and the plenary will be interpreted in Dutch. The language used in the small groups will depend on the group composition.
- Tuesday 16 April, from 12:30 to 14:30, attended by the Executive Board. The main language will be Dutch, and the plenary will be interpreted in English. The language used in the small groups will depend on the group composition.
The sessions will be held in the auditorium of the Aula. TU Delft asks people to register ‘to keep track of the number of participants’. A digital suggestion box has also been open for anyone unable to attend.
Findings
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.
- Delta is looking for current and former TU Delft employees who are willing to share their experiences. This can be done anonymously if preferred. Email tudelta@protonmail.com.
Editor in chief
Saskia Bonger
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