Photo Guy Ackermans The budget cuts on science and education have startled universities into confronting the face of financial scarcity. However, creativity and innovative ideas readily available from the majority userbase seems not to be taken into account when dealing with the ‘financial crisis’.
Under the precept of energy savings, the executive board of WUR have seemingly unilaterally decided on adjusting opening hours in the entire institution. From March 1 Radix is open from 07:00 – 20:00 daily, and only 10:00 – 14:00 during weekends. Furthermore, students will only have access until 17:00 during weekdays.
The executive board of WUR have seemingly unilaterally decided on adjusting opening/access hours in the entire institution
Naturally, there is the option to request access outside of these schedules. The intricate requesting process has been proposed to: begin with asking for permission to your supervisor, then inquire at the reception desk for a form, wait to further settle the request with the security staff who arrange the access with the applicant, and then sign-in day-of with reception. In addition, the app ‘X-Guard’, which works exclusively on android smartphones, is required to be used so security staff can check the inactivity of the applicant in the building. Despite the detailed contact chain, applicants are also responsible for calling security to close.
These new guidelines have not been thoroughly discussed nor consulted among the chairs, bypassing important details in decision making that will seriously alter, for better or worse, the various aspects of science and education at WUR.
If science has inexorably saved us from multiple crisis worldwide, then why is WUR stubbornly relying on bureaucracy?
Willy Contreras-Avilés (34) is a second-year PhD candidate in Horticulture and Biochemistry of medicinal cannabis, from Panama. He likes to dance (perrear), cook Italian food, and swim.
