Dijkgraaf comes with millions for employee participation
With 11,5 million euros, education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf wants to catch up on better employee participation in higher education. The idea is to jointly decide where the money will be spent by employee representatives and their education administrators. The program committees, which include students and lecturers, should especially benefit from this.
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The reason for the bonus is a study into the practice of employee participation in higher education, where support and training turned out to be the bottlenecks. It is true that institutions are required by law to make sufficient resources available for their participation council and program committees, but in practice this is not always the case.
Program committees and employee representatives can contact AOb Employee participation is right for tailor-made advice, which is partly part of the mr service package
Go to AOb Participate
The millions are a kind of bribe to get rid of the problems, although the minister emphasizes that it concerns extra money for extra activities on top of the legal obligations. Based on the research, the ministry lists four components for spending:
- schooling: this is often better organized at a central level than per study programme, where a budget is not always appropriate for employee participation courses. The extra money can go to courses or hiring trainers, for example.
- support: program committees often have to figure it out themselves, while the central participation does have a professional secretary. For example, the extra funds can go to official support for several program committees, a coordinator or guidance and coaching.
- communication: the value of employee participation increases if colleagues and students know what is happening. The extra money can go towards support for systematic communication and campaigns when elections are coming up.
- compensation: staff are allocated hours for employee participation, students receive so-called attendance allowance when they come to meetings. Book vouchers, gift cards and study credits are also available. The extra funds can ensure that employee participation is also more financially valuable for students than a job in the hospitality industry and the like.
Consultation
The Executive Boards (Cvb) must now consult with their participation councils about how the money will be spent. Deviating from the expenditure targets specified by the minister is allowed if the employee representation and the Executive Board agree that another expenditure is also effective and efficient in achieving better employee participation.
The first quarter of the 11,5 million euros will already be available this year, followed by three more parts up to and including 2025. The division between the institutions is based on the number of registered students. Every year about 3,50 euros per student is made available. All institutions will be told in July how much money they can count on.
AOb Participate
Program committees and employee representatives can contact AOb Participation is right for tailored advice, which is partly part of the mr service package† In any case, make sure that the mr members know what legal obligations the university of applied sciences has to support employee participation, so that the extra funds do not leak into facilities that should be there anyway.
