Roel Schutgens retires early as dean of the Faculty of Law from 1 March. That is three months before his term was due to end. The Executive Board has appointed Michiel Kompier as interim dean.

From 1 March, Roel Schutgens steps down as dean. He plans to refocus on teaching and research, according to a university post on its site. Schutgens headed the faculty in the Grotius building for three years. Before that, he had also been vice dean for a year and a half.

The university post cites the budget cuts facing the faculty as the reason for Schutgens’ early departure. “This presents administrative challenges beyond the time that his deanship would last.”

Schutgens himself says: ‘Because I would only be dean until 1 June, the time is too short to be able to take the steps that are needed. I feel it is better to make way now for someone who can continue working on the complex tasks currently facing the faculty.’

Crisis of confidence

The Executive Board has appointed Michiel Kompier as interim dean from 1 March for the period until October. Kompier is professor of Work and Organizational Psychology and was dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences from 2017 to 2022.

From 1 March 2023, Kompier was then interim dean of the Nijmegen School of Management for just under a year. That was a very turbulent time for the faculty in which a a multi-million deficit deficit came to light, faculty employees complained of harassment and discrimination at work and there was a crisis of confidence between the Faculty Board and participational bodies.

In addition to his usual duties as dean, Kompier’s assignment at the Faculty of Law is to bring into focus “a number of complex challenges and difficulties in the current working and governance situation,” the university writes. Kompier must prepare the recruitment of a new dean based on his findings.