Dear colleagues at the Faculty of Arts, 

We’re experiencing many changes at Arts. We’ve been working on the master plan for the educational landscape for a long time, and recently, you received the news about the final decision. Just before that, however, we shared another update on the faculty leadership team’s vision for the development of Arts in the University City and the launch of the first user groups. These are two major processes that will have a significant impact on the future of the faculty, and we need both your input and that of the students. I’d like to make a few remarks on that. 

The Master’s reform 

First, I would like to express my gratitude for the constructive contributions you’ve made to the development of the master plan for the educational landscape. I understand that some of you have mentioned in the feedback that it’s been a frustrating process. The many uncertainties have definitely not made it any easier. But from my perspective, it’s impressive that so many of you have been able to maintain such a high level of commitment throughout all the phases.

The Master’s reform and the accompanying reduction in student intake were the reasons why we had to review the entire degree programme portfolio. On top of the many previous reforms, the Master’s reform ultimately undermined the sustainability of our existing educational landscape.

With this in mind, I had no doubt that we needed to ensure extensive involvement if the future educational landscape was to be academically sound. And just as I had hoped, your many inputs have given rise to several adjustments to the faculty leadership team’s first proposal. The many insightful comments have together led to a significantly improved final decision regarding the future educational landscape. 

Now we need to finalise the discussions on the degree programme structure. I know that the working group is putting in a lot of effort. It’s possible that it will take a little longer than planned, as many great comments have also been received here that need to be addressed. But the working group is moving as quickly as possible. 

I feel very privileged to be the dean of a faculty where we can discuss difficult challenges constructively – and with such a respectful tone – so that we actually arrive at the best possible decisions. Thank you once again! If you don’t know how the decision turned out, you can see the result here: Master’s reform at Arts. 

Towards campus 3.0 

Now, the next process is the move into the southern part of the University City towards 2028-2030 (see newsletter). It’s an amazing opportunity to bring together a large part of our academic expertise, and I’m really looking forward to continuing to work on it. It’s also important to me to ensure involvement here, but the process will be significantly different from the one we experienced in tackling the Master’s reform. 

This is mainly because construction processes follow relatively fixed structures, and therefore, it will be more top-down. To begin the process, the faculty leadership team has outlined an overall vision that broadly describes what the future buildings should be able to do for us. It will now be unfolded and interpreted through a number of user groups, organised around different themes. The school leadership teams have nominated the members of the user groups. Thanks to all of you who have agreed to contribute to this effort. 

Later in the spring, based on the vision and input from the user groups, the architects will develop scenarios for the overall placement of functions in the buildings (offices, classrooms, study environments, administration, departments, etc.). Based on this, the faculty leadership team will decide on an overall master plan for the area before summer. Once we’ve made that decision, it will also be clear who will move when.

After this, user groups will be involved again when specific building sections need to be programmed, as it’s called in architectural terminology. This involvement will also take place within a specific framework, shaped both by the faculty leadership team’s vision and by budget considerations and the specific building conditions. 

In this context, a key condition for the vision is that we must reduce the number of square meters significantly. This is because we want to use our resources as wisely as possible – and would rather spend them on people than on bricks.

We aim for a 25 % reduction in square metre usage, and based on the densification efforts we already have underway at DPU and CAS, I consider it realistic. Some of the space can be freed up as educational activities are reduced due to the reforms. Another part will be gained by making better use of the square meters, especially in areas where we need to build new structures. But we must anticipate that, in a physical sense, we will also need to “move a little closer together on the bus” and use the building stock more efficiently than we do today. 

To keep you updated on the progress, we have created a website where we will regularly post relevant information about the construction process. You’re also always welcome to ask the faculty leadership team any questions if there is anything you would like clarified or explained.

I’m convinced that it will be both exciting and beneficial for Arts to bring a significant part of the faculty together in the University City. It will also be a good process, but as I mentioned, it will be organised differently from the one carried out by the faculty leadership team in relation to the transformation of the educational landscape. However, I sincerely hope that the constructive tone will remain the same. When we discussed it in the faculty liaison committee, we agreed that it’s important for us all to show consideration for one another throughout the process – both individually and across different teams. 

Once again, thank you for your good and inspiring way of contributing to our development processes. I’m looking forward to the next steps!