Supervisory Board halts recruitment of rector magnificus and designs new plan

It is a complicated puzzle, adapting the model, recruiting Executive Board members, turning them into a team, and meeting the deadlines set earlier. This can be gleaned from the ‘new Board update’ that was published on the intranet on 25 February.

The update says that the recruitment process for a new Vice-Rector/Vice Chair has been halted. The process was started after the then Vice-Rector/Vice Chair Rob Mudde announced that he would step down last autumn. In July, the Supervisory Board, that is responsible for the selection of Executive Board members, wrote a profile of the preferred candidate. Shortly afterwards it hired Perett Laver, an ‘executive search bureau’, to find candidates.

Board model

The profile and vacancy texts said that the current board model may change. This could mean that a newly recruited Vice-Rector/Vice Chair may grow into the role of Rector Magnificus. The current board model has a Rector Magnificus/Chair, a Vice-Rector/Vice Chair and a President of Operations. In January 2025, it was announced (see box below) that a new model would be introduced in January 2026, with a Rector Magnificus, a Chair and a President of Operations. In September, Delta had asked if it were not illogical recruiting at a time like this. It was already known that the current board model was being evaluated. A spokesperson saw no problems with this. ‘The recruitment campaign is separate from the board model and the fulfilment of the role of chairman. The evaluation of the board model is being carried out in parallel with the recruitment.’

‘Not desirable to appoint someone for a position that will be dismantled in eight months’ time’

Now the Supervisory Board has deemed that the parallel procedure is ‘not feasible’ and ‘may raise questions about procedure’, writes Tijo Collot d’Escury, the Supervisory Board Chair, in answer to Delta’s questions. Have potential candidates now not applied who may have done so for a Rector Magnificus vacancy? Collot d’Escury says that it is currently ‘not desirable to appoint someone for a position that will be dismantled in eight months’ time’.

Diligence above speed

And so the Supervisory Board, after consulting the council of professors, the deans and the representation bodies, has decided ‘to redesign the process for appointing a new Rector Magnificus’. “We have been overtaken by the reality,” says the Supervisory Board Chair. “It unfortunately means that the process will take longer. But the Supervisory Board is choosing diligence above speed.”

There is indeed no question of speed. Rob Mudde announced his departure at the end of April 2024. The idea was that his successor would get ‘a warm handover’, meaning that Mudde would familiarise the person to the position himself. But Mudde left on 1 October 2024 without a definite successor. Professor Hans Hellendoorn has taken over some of his tasks temporarily without becoming an Executive Board member. The Supervisory Board announced in September that it would introduce a successor in the first quarter of 2025.

‘Optimum matchmaking’

So the recruitment process continued. Because of confidentiality, Collot d’Escury cannot say anything other than it ‘went really well and attracted an incredibly strong, wide range of more than 20 candidates’.

Despite all this, everything has now changed. The Supervisory Board has designed a recruitment process that should help the new Executive Board members ‘collaborate well with each other in a team and complement each other in terms of substance and personal qualities’, as stated in the intranet message. In his email to Delta, Collot d’Escury refers to ‘optimum matchmaking’.

‘A university must always have a management’

The recruitment procedure for a new Rector Magnificus will start first. The appointee will be announced this summer. The person will already be part of the appointment advisory committee for a new Executive Board Chair. Both will then take office in January 2026. They will then immediately have a seat on the appointment advisory committee for the third member of the Executive Board.

Vulnerable

That third member is currently Marien van der Meer. She holds the portfolio of operations and University Services management. It was announced in January that her contract would not be extended. It comes to an end this summer. This means that an interim member must be ready to ensure ‘continuity in management’.

In the meantime, Hans Hellendoorn, already an interim member, will join the Executive Board. According to the Supervisory Board, an undesirable situation would emerge if Van der Meer leaves and the other Executive Board position is also vacant. Up to January 2026, Rector Magnificus/Executive Board Chair Tim van der Hagen would be the only person with the authority to take decisions. The Supervisory Board deems this ‘undesirable should anything unexpected happen to Tim van der Hagen, which of course we hope does not happen’. “A university must always have a management. It is our duty to take potential risks and the knock-on effects of risks seriously,” explains Collot d’Escury.

Economising

Management is urgent now that the challenges are big. All the faculties and services have to cut their expenditures by 10%. There are also two inspectorates that may intervene if the social safety and the workloads are not improved. The internal trade have previously expressed concerns about how these matters must be handles with an incomplete Executive Board that will soon disband. How desirable is it to have to wait until well into 2026 before a new Executive Board is complete?

The current situation, according to Collot d’Escury, is precisely what makes the supervisory board want to and will do ‘all due diligence’. “We are in a transition period this year that we have set in motion and which will develop as carefully as possible. We realise that this will take more time than we actually would like. But the benefit is that we are now working on a strong foundation for a board that will meet the needs of the TU Delft community, that is a good match for the current and future challenges facing TU Delft and knows how to handle them.”