Representation bodies looking for candidates

In newsletters, on the intranet and through an inflatable archway in front of the entrance to the Aula restaurant, staff members are being asked to sign up as candidates for the representation elections. For those who are interested but are doubting whether to do so or not, meetings have been arranged, such as an online session for the Personnel Committee (ODC) of the University Services (UD) on 31 August.

At the moment there is no confirmed information on the number of people interested in the ODCs as registrations are still trickling in, says Menno Blaauw, the Works Council Chair. Past experience shows that there is often a shortfall in people, even to the extent that the ODC elections did not go ahead. Elections are held every three years and three years ago that was the case for eight of the 10 ODCs.

The Works Council is also looking for new people, even though Chair Menno Blaauw says that there are more than 30 candidates for 25 seats and he is expecting more. This is partly because a new party that targets PhD candidates and post-docs has registered: Young Researchers Impact. There are no PhD’s in the current Works Council and the new party wants to change this so that young researchers are better represented. The other parties are Academisch Belang (academia’s interest), Democratisch Beleid (democratic policy) and the Federation of Dutch Trade Unions (FNV).

‘The elections will really mean something!’ writes Blaauw in an email to Delta. That too has been different in the past. Six years ago there were no Works Council elections because of a lack of candidates. Three years ago it was uncertain if they would be held until the very last minute of the registration period.

• The closing date for signing up for the OR and the ODCs is 3 September.
• The elections are on 3 and 4 October.
• More information is available on the intranet.