- Campus , Employee , Student
- 21/08/2023
Intro 2023 | Who’s who at TU/e?
As a secondary school student, you have probably become familiar with the terms director, team leader or vice principal, mentor and coach, confidential counsellor, dean, student care coordinator and student council. But do these positions mean the same thing here at TU/e? It is always useful to know who you can turn to for help or information. That is why Cursor has prepared a "who-is-who" list below featuring some of the key figures at TU/e. You can meet them in their offices, but you may also run into them at a drinks reception or waiting in line at the coffee machine.
Deans
TU/e has nine departments, each of which has its own dean. And no, they’re not going to help you plan your secondary school curriculum or make study choices. At TU/e, a dean is in charge of an entire department, in the same way that a vice principal or team leader is in charge of a department at your secondary school. This is quite a task; fortunately, the deans don’t have to do it all by themselves. They’re assisted by one or two vice deans and a managing director. Here you can check who holds these positions for your program. We can’t guarantee that every name comes with a picture, or that there haven’t been any job changes over the summer break, but it’s a start.
Similarly, deans are appointed at supra-departmental programs as well. One of them is Dean of the Bachelor College : Ines Lopez Arteaga.
University Council
Whereas your school had a student council, at TU/e, your interests are represented by the student factions in the University Council. Every year in December you can vote for a candidate of the following three parties: Groep-één, DAS (De Ambitieuze Student [The Ambitious Student]) and ONS. How exactly these parties differ from each other you’ll find out in November. By then, you will probably see posters hanging in the walkways featuring the eligible students. Those who get the most votes will then be allowed to meet with TU/e’s top administrators once a month during the University Council meetings (see photo)
Sympathetic ear
Your Intro dad and/or mom is the person you can pour your heart out to during the first week. But if you’re ever in need of a confidential counsellor as the year progresses, there are many options at TU/e. Unfortunately, there’s not just one single photo we can show you. Cursor recently wrote a background piece on student social safety and the people who are professionally involved in it. One such person tasked with fighting for your well-being is Lara Hofstra, the student well-being officer, of whom we do have a cheerful photo to show you.
Academic advisors
Everyone starts their program fresh and full of confidence. But if you experience study delay or other problems arise that make studying difficult for you, you can turn to one of the academic advisors at your department. This is where you can find them. One of them, who works at Industrial Design, is a familiar face at Cursor: Yolanda Hübner. She used to write columns for us and in this one she talked about the motivation that academic advisors feel to help students. Because they genuinely want to.
By the way; Cursor is basically TU/e's school newspaper.
Faithful friend
Sometimes you can’t find the person you’re looking for. Maybe it’s Friday afternoon and they’ve already gone home. But someone who always has time to spare for you is Egbert. He (or she?) spends his time swimming around the large square pond in front of Atlas. Chances are he'll come up to you if you just stand there quietly.
Hubble
During the evenings at Hubble Community Café, you can confide in The Harry. There are currently 42 Harrys and more to come. They’re named after former board secretary Harry Roumen, a man who opened many doors for students. You can recognize Hubble’s staff members by the color of the duck logo on their black shirts. Pink is for board members, white is for paid staff (they are there during the day) and yellow is for The Harrys, who you can turn to for all your questions and concerns. Or as Harry Jan Ebbers (see photo) says: “We’re all emergency response team members with social hygiene certificates. We help you when there’s glass in your hand or an unwanted hand on your bottom.” And what’s nice to know is that all Harrys are always clear-headed and sober at least until closing time.
Cultural program
Over the next few years, you will be expected to work on your academic development. This means cultivating a critical attitude that reflects curiosity (so they say), which may seem a bit difficult, but Studium Generale helps you do this in a very accessible manner. Because every year, Studium Generale creates a cultural program that you can visit for free and even earn credits for. One of the program makers is David Ernst. He has a knack for selecting good bands, special artists and great performances (as do the other SG staff members).
Last but not least
By now you should have a general picture of all the important figures at the university. Last but not least, we would like to introduce to you the Executive Board. The Executive Board has the overall leadership of the university. This Executive Board consists of four people who are appointed by the Supervisory Board for four-year terms. Our Rector Magnificus is Silvia Lenaerts. The President of the Executive Board is Robert-Jan Smits. To put it in simple terms, the former is responsible for all our research, the latter for the organization of this university. Don’t forget to say hello when you run into them on campus.
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