In an effort to proactively improve on the services provided to students and staff at TU Delft, the University Corporate Office (UCO) has launched a new initiative. The plan includes the formation of three University Services Outlook teams, or “squads”, to address specific areas of improvement.
The squads are part of the University Corporate Perspective programme initiated by Vice President for Education & Operations and Executive Board member Anka Mulder and the team of directors. During the last year a number of meetings were held to discuss the future of service provision at the university. Stakeholders were asked to come up with ideas aimed at meeting the needs of the changing academic and student population in the current environment. Out of this process, the UCO identified three areas to focus on: increasing internationalisation, the need for more flexible services, and the fact that funding is coming from new and different sources.
In a recent statement sent to stakeholders, Mulder said, “For each project, a product owner will be designated to develop the project further and assemble a team (the approach used was based on the Agile methodology). This will help us to get results more quickly for these issues and to contribute to strengthening mutual collaboration within the departments.” In January, the three newly formed squads will begin following up on the ideas brought up during the previous year. The first squad, the so-called ‘Kafka brigade’, will aim to improve the process of appointment and termination of employment. The second squad will try to optimize proceeds from Horizon 2020. And finally, the third squad will establish a university-wide support programme in the field of English language and intercultural communication.
“More support on English language and cultural awareness was in the top five ranking of ideas discussed during the working conferences as well as the discussion sessions with faculty members,” said Danielle ten Veldhuis, TU Delft Internal Communications Advisor and leader of the third squad. “So it is logical to start with this subject within the theme of internationalisation. With her squad, Ten Veldhuis started with an inventory round through the organisation to talk to people who are already involved in this subject. “In January the squads will officially be formed, but I expect to involve people from the HR and O&S departments, teachers from the TPM faculty and, of course, other people who have expertise in this area. The people I met thus far are all very enthusiastic to get involved. It is a pleasure to work on a topic with so many interested and motivated people.”
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