The University Forum was founded in January 2018. The employees and students of the UvA, who have been invited at random to join the University Forum, are shaping the intellectual discussion about the UvA. The discussions within the forum are intended to provide the Executive Board (CvB) and the faculty deans with input on the development of strategies and long-term plans, which will in turn be discussed by the standing advisory committees and representative advisory bodies. In other words, the University Forum does not serve as a replacement for the representative advisory bodies.
Open and transparent
All members of the University Forum are equal, and open and honest discussion are of prime importance. The members have been invited at random in order to grant both the employees and the students a voice that might otherwise remain in the background. The meetings are open to the public, and anyone may attend as an observer.
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Origin
At the end of 2016, one of the recommendations from the Democratisation & Decentralisation Committee was to start a ‘broad-based deliberative forum’. After making an inventory of the possibilities, a 'town hall’ style event was held on 31 March 2017. The results of this discussion were placed on the denkmee.uva.nl website to give everyone the ability to contribute input. After sending the proposal for a University Forum to the representative advisory bodies for consideration, the Executive Board made a final decision on establishing the Forum.
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Members
The University Forum consists of 54 employees and students (from the various faculties and service units within the UvA), Executive Board members (CvB) and faculty deans.
All sections of the UvA are represented. The delegation of each faculty includes a professor, a doctoral researcher, an academic staff member on permanent contract, an academic staff member on temporary contract, three students (two from ACTA) and a member of the support and management staff (OBP). In addition, six staff members from the service units were added.
Each seat was assigned by random selection to a person from the relevant rank and faculty (or service unit).
In addition to the aforementioned staff and student representatives, the Forum also includes ex officio members. These include the UvA’s diversity officer and the chair of the (University of Amsterdam) Ethics Committee (AIEC), as well as the Executive Board (CvB) and the faculty deans.
The University Forum is led by an independent chair, namely Eva Groen-Reijman, postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Humanities. Secretary is Roeland Voorbergen, former president of the Central Student Council and student of Philosophy and Political Science.
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Regulations
On 24 October 2017, the UvA's Executive Board decided to start with the experimental University Forum in 2018 and the accompanying regulations were adopted. The regulations provide the following, amongst other things: task and goals, the composition of the members and terms of office.
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Reports of the forum meetings
Recent reports of the forum meetings, in both English and Dutch, can be found on the Dutch web page about the University Forum
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Contact
The University Forum is led by an independent chair, namely Eva Groen-Reijman. The position of secretary to the University Forum is filled by Roeland Voorbergen.
Email: universiteitsforum-bb@uva.nl