This is a tense period for some one hundred seventy TU/e employees. They will be working in Education & Student Affairs (ESA), which replaces the Education and Student Service Center, the auxiliary teams within the departments, and in the support services of General Affairs (DAZ) and Personnel and Organization (DPO).

Back in December these employees heard whether they could be reassigned to their present positions, and they could register their interest in certain other positions. Based on responses, an advisory committee is making a placement plan and a selection committee is assessing employees' suitability for management positions and positions for which there are several candidates.

The so-called key positions (for managers) must be filled in April; after that all other employees will take up their ‘new’ positions. In July everyone must be settled. Executive Board member Van Ham and Secretary of the University Nicole Ummelen of the steering group Future-oriented Educational Organization (TOO) emphasize that everyone will be helped into a suitable position.

The primary aim of the whole exercise is to provide lecturers and students with better support and to bring processes more into line with one another. Some processes have been standardized and the coordination between others has been improved. Van Ham illustrates: “All departments will structure a student dossier in the same way, but the information held in the dossier may differ from program to program.”

A close watch will be kept on the implementation in the coming months. “This involves more than just transitioning to new positions, it is a complete culture change,” says Ummelen.