Testimonials former Council members

Frank van den Berg is a Senior Educational Consultant at the Centre of Expertise in Learning & Teaching. He was a member of the University Council from 2010 - 2016.

University Council, why would you join?

Well, there are several good reasons.

First of all, it is a lot of fun. You work together with colleagues and students from all over the UT, get to know people you would normally never meet, have interesting discussions  and learn a lot of new things.

Second, you can contribute in another way to the greater good of the UT. When discussing different topics that directly or indirectly affect students and/or employees,  you can share your opinion and information and thus directly influence the choices of the board and where the UT policy is going.

Third, you hear many interesting things about the UT, in a very early stage and about the UT as a whole. In this way, you will learn and understand much better the wider context of your job at the UT.

And yes, participating in the University Council is time consuming. But it is worth it. Just try it.

Barend Köbben is a lecturer at Department of Geo-information Processing and Researcher at the Department of Geo-information Processing, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation and UT-I-ITC-STAMP. He was a council member for the University Council from 2010 - 2012.

'I had been a member of the Faculty Council of ITC in 2010, the year it became part of the University of Twente. The integration process at the time piqued my interest in the UT , and I figured "what better way to learn about that than being part of its central participation body"? And it proved worth the effort, despite the intensive schedule of meetings. I got an unprecedented insight into the inner workings of the university management, and discussed regularly with the Executive Board on how to achieve best result for staff and students alike.

This made me feel involved in the University and its broad population in a way that I don't think I could have experienced in any other way...'

Ivo works as a teamleader of the Facility Services at the University of Twente. He was a University Council member from 2018 - 2020.

"Is there any reason why you would want to join the University Council?

Most likely, this is not for you. It is a lot of work, especially when you are already struggling to hold on. Since you are expressing an interest in de University Council, you are probably struggling.

It is a higher level of politics, so normal arguments do not have the same value/impact. This could be a reason why so many people lost their faith in higher management.

The simple truth is: It is no fun, too much work and almost no appreciation outside the University Councel itself. You will be groomed and sometimes harassed for your honest opinion. And as soon as you start to form an opinion of your own, the faculty or Service Department, the initial support of your boss will vanish. So, the wise choice would be to walk away.

 BUT

 The University needs you! The students and employees need you!

Please be stubborn, even cocky. Please be like Dick Meijer and Herbert Wormeester, who have since years defended our interests in face of the most subtill or less subtill ways of persuasion. We need YOU! So please help to form the University of the future and keep things in balance at the top …"