The core of the University Council membership, as elected representatives of the Erasmian community, begins with visionary work, taking initiative and creative action to implement change
Bianca Jadoenath
On the council, my aim is to ensure that different points of view are explored. Triggering members to think and decide beyond the ‘obvious’. The core of the University Council membership, as elected representatives of the Erasmian community, begins with visionary work, taking initiative and creative action to implement change.
Within the council, I always try to share my thoughts on various topics, policies and offer my advice to several decision-making bodies. One of the topics is Diversity and Inclusion, as these are critical components of ‘being an Erasmian’. More specifically a report of communications approaches for Diversity and Inclusion at EUR: its strategic communications. It should mean that all individuals at EUR must not only understand the value promises of diversity and inclusion but also be equipped with the knowledge and tools necessary for communicating these values.
This plan outlines a three-strand approach to promote and embed inclusion fully in our communications efforts. One that seeks to:
I. Diversify the content of communications at EUR through greater understanding.
II. Make the communication of diversity, inclusion, and social equity more proactive.
III. Broaden the approach to communications at EUR to better address this key societal challenge.
Regarding risks, it is important to understand that it concerns the communication (and marketing) efforts of the university as a whole. There is a need to have a shared understanding of diversity dimensions and what inclusive education entails. This is what this document (Embedding Inclusive Communication at EUR) proposes to do. We have looked thoroughly into these documents and information provided to the UC, gathered our information and provided our unsolicited advice.
We have also worked on the Annual Report 2019 Confidential counsellors for staff and students. We were given access to the report that allowed us to reflect on the work that this network is doing. In this report, we take a brief look at the tasks, working method and activities of the confidential counsellors and present the reporting statistics in 2019. The reports of the confidential counsellors express the number of cases reported to the confidential counsellors.
The UC was positive about the Confidential Counsellors network and provided some unsolicited advice, points of actions and consideration to the Executive Board (EB). For now, we are awaiting the formal evaluation of the Confidential Counsellors and hope to be able to see the 2020 Confidential Counsellors annual report soon.
The participation of employees and students is vital in improving the quality of decision-making and ensures that policies are supported by staff members and students of the university. It ensures that the entire community's interests are at the heart of decision-making and improving the university environment.
The main challenge facing the university council is how to achieve central decision making for the entire Erasmian community without the direct input of the entire EUR community. Through UC participation you can communicate central topics of discussion too, for example, a relevant faculty. You can then gather the knowledge of the stakeholders involved, be a critical friend, but also a co-creator in cooperation with the Executive Board thereby promoting representative decision-making.
I hope that with this blog I have informed you more about our work in the University Council and that we can start creating an environment where all Erasmians can connect.
Bianca Jadoenath, policy advisor at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) and member of the University Council (UC) since 2017.