Last week’s Tuesday was the day: I had my ‘meeloopdag’ with Ed Brinksma, our own rector magnificus! I got a unique look behind the scenes at the Executive Board (EB), during which we also had some tough discussions about the choices made by Ed and the EB. The agenda was full but also very balanced, with room for one-on-one talks between the meetings. So, a very interesting, fun, and valuable day, both for me and Ed.
Several weeks ago I came across the campaign of the Student Union in which you could sign-up of a ‘meeloopdag’ with an EB-member. I immediately wrote a motivation letter for joining an EB-member for a day. From the day that I started studying in Enschede in 2010 on, I’m wondering how it would be for the EB to manage such a complex organization like the University of Twente. Its special structure, with research institutes, faculties, study programmes, and coordinators of all kinds, results in a rather unwieldy organization sometimes. Throughout the years I have come in touch with the EB in several ways, e.g. during my board term at AEGEE-Enschede, but mostly indirectly as student. I was curious about the own vision of the EB-member, and his/her choices. It turned out that I could join Ed Brinksma for a day!
The ‘meeloopdag’ started at 10.00h in the office of Ed, by shortly going through the agenda of that day – all the paperwork is put together per day and per meeting – and by getting to know each other. The day consisted of many different meetings, all of them took place in the office of Ed. On the one hand it was a pity that we didn’t need to leave the office or the campus, but on the other hand I got a good and representative view on the internal tasks and responsibilities of the rector, as my presence did not influence the sessions. Representatives from Studium Generale, research institute MIRA, deans, and the internal UT-department Strategy & Policy came by. Some of them were even better prepared than others (both content-related and the strict time schedule at which people arrived and left), and everyone had his/her own goal: hearing the EB’s vision on a certain matter, agreeing on some final details of an event, or making resources available. The EB is consulted for all kinds of reasons.
Between the meetings Ed really took the time to talk about the ins and outs at the UT, my own career as active UT student – now that I am on the verge of starting my graduation assignment – and his last months as rector of the University of Twente. When doing so, I learned a lot about his vision, and Ed also learned more from my insights. Ed really made a progress with the UT through a new education model, a University College, a new structure for the organization of research, and many other new developments.
Prior to the ‘meeloopdag’ I hoped that I could get an honest and balanced impression of the tasks and working style of Ed, and I think we really achieved this, even though I was pretty well informed after 6 years of experiences as UT student. I would definitely recommend doing a ‘meeloopdag’ with the EB to anyone who has the possibility.
Thijs Veldhuizen, student Industrial Engineering and Management
