During the University Council meeting of Monday, October 25, the Social Safety Plan (only viewable via intranet, ed.), which was officially presented on September 20 by rector Frank Baaijens, was discussed. The written exchange of questions and answers between the council members and the Executive Board shows that both parties are largely on the same page. Still, the University Council wants ‘a more concrete and clearer goal to which the campaign should lead’.

The council would like to see more concrete examples of how the plan would become more visible within the entire academic community. The University Council describes it as follows: 'How does the Executive Board think that the planned activities will lead to the desired culture change? Handing out mugs and launching a website is not what the council had in mind in terms of scope and visibility. The campaign needs to be bigger, more visible, and more appealing to a bigger audience.'

Strong commitment   

Anne Jenster, member of the student faction and association Groep-één, said that the University Council didn't want to respond critically to the plan directly with these remarks. However, the council did want to make their strong commitment to the topic clear. "We hope for a constructive collaboration between the University Council committee working on this and the Social Safety Expertise Team."

Vice president Nicole Ummelen said that she greatly appreciated the council’s commitment and concern. “It is an extensive plan, for which we have talked with many stakeholders. Now, indeed, it needs to be made known in wider circles. It needs to reach all our staff members in the workplace. The Executive Board will speak with the deans about this soon. You need to look at the plan in its entirety and not solely judge it on single actions. It’s about the whole package.”

Ummelen said that she would like to talk with the council about the best way to make the plan visible within the entire community. To achieve this, she also said that she had already spoken to someone who has a lot of knowledge about this. Though on Monday, she didn’t want to mention the name of this person yet. Ummelen: “It starts with a vision; that’s important, and we will monitor what catches on and what doesn't after that. Outside suggestions are always welcome in this regard." She also promised to involve the University Council further in the Mindlab theatre piece. This theatre piece is a production by TheaterMakers Radio Kootwijk, which will be performed within the university in 2022. It is intended to draw the attention of the TU/e-community to the subject of social safety and to start conversations about it. This piece has also been shown at the University of Twente and the University of Utrecht.

Active Bystander Training

Ellen Konijnenberg, member of the staff faction PUR, asked the Executive Board whether the Active Bystander Training couldn't be made mandatory. Now, it is offered a few times a year voluntarily by the women's network WISE. Ummelen said that no decision would be made on that at this stage. “We want to look at this in a broader context, and maybe it could become part of a more comprehensive course that we're going to offer to everyone new here. However, that requires a lot of arranging and planning, and we're not at that point yet.

According to Konijnenberg, it would also be very beneficial for the visibility of the Social Safety Plan if ambassadors for it were appointed at group level. For now, these would only be there for the entire department or service and they would start in 2022.. "For anyone experiencing a problem, there really should be a point of contact within arm’s reach," says Konijnenberg. According to Ummelen, this proposal is also being considered. Still, there are also disadvantages to such an ambassadorship at a group level. "Again, the concrete implementation of what that ambassadorship should look like is not entirely clear yet," said Ummelen.

In any case, there will be a Dutch version of the Social Safety Plan. For now, the plan is only available in English. The University Council had also insisted on this because, according to PUR member Jan Hasker, there are also people at TU/e who only have a very basic command of English. Hasker: "Everyone should be able to read and understand it, partly because the plan may have indirect legal implications." Ummelen promises that the Dutch version will arrive soon. All other expressions that are still going to be used during the campaign, such as on flyers or posters, will remain in English, by the way, said the vice president.