Radboud Dean resigns over consultants’ influence on the university

“The direction in which the university is heading is no longer determined by our own academics but by consultants,” writes Paula Fikkert, Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Radboud University Nijmegen, in an internal email to all faculty staff. The university is said to be primarily focused ‘on the effective deployment of staff and finances, and the efficient training of students’. She has announced her resignation as dean, reports the university magazine Vox.

Fikkert, who had been a professor for 25 years before becoming dean, is reported to have cited two reasons for her departure. She has secured an ERC research grant and can no longer combine her work as a researcher with her role as dean. However, she also states that she no longer agrees with the direction taken by the university board.

Her farewell email has sparked a great deal of reaction. A group of Radboud staff have drafted an open letter, reports Vox, in which they echo her criticism.

Institution

Criticism has also been voiced at other universities that universities of applied sciences and universities are being run too much like businesses. A professor at Leiden University says she recognises the problem within her own institution. “This report touches on a broader concern I have had for some time regarding the direction in which universities are heading,” she writes.

(HOP, NB)