Radboud University will set up a single central hotline for students and employees who are dealing (or have dealt) with transgressive behaviour. This is stated in the plan of action for social safety, which was presented today. The Executive Board had promised this autumn to come up with a plan, after a series of revelations surrounding transgressive behaviour.

‘Radboud University will tread a new path with this course of action’, as can be read in Prevent – Care – Cure, the newly announced plan of action for social safety at Radboud University.

The document, which the Executive Board presented today, is twenty pages long and details how the university wants to tackle transgressive behaviour in the next two years. The plan was announced after rector Han van Krieken resigned early due to a complaint about inappropriate behaviour.

Hotline

The most noteworthy measure is the arrangement of a single central hotline for students and employees. That is intended to lower the threshold for reporting undesirable behaviour, better protect the people involved, and to make sure that every report is followed up correctly. Currently, the faculties and departments are charting their own courses too much.

There will also be a university advisory committee, whose main job is to provide independent advice on the procedures of individual cases. This committee will be made up of ‘professional advisors’ who will be occupied with social safety and integrity.

Both measures were advised by the Governance & Integrity bureau, who were commissioned by the Executive Board to do external research on the complaint- and report regulation of the university.

The Executive Board will be directly responsible for both the hotline and the advisory committee. However, it is not yet known who will fill those positions. ‘They could be people who are already working there, but it is also possible that new people will be brought in’, according to a spokesperson.

The plan has to be expanded further anyway, which will start immediately in the new year; confidential advisors, HR, and the participational bodies will be involved. On top of that, dialogue sessions will be organised. The Executive Board wants to allocate money to execute the plan, but is still unsure on how much will be needed.

Code of conduct

There will also be a lot of attention for prevention in the plan of action, aside from the attention for reporting transgressive behaviour. New employees have to “confirm” the code of conduct, which has been in use since 2022, upon entering the workforce. However, what that means exactly is still unclear. A mandatory signing is a possibility, according to the spokesperson, though that will be dependent on the execution of the plan.

Students will notice that social safety will be brought more to light in their first year, specifically for the rules of conduct and what to do with transgressive behaviour. The Executive Board will discuss a separate student code of conduct with student participational bodies.

Four-eyes principle

There will be extra trainings on social safety for management, teachers, and student advisors, for example in adequately providing feedback, among others. These trainings will also be offered to all employees. On top of that, social safety will become a recurring theme in annual meetings.

Another noteworthy measure is the implementation of ‘double supervision’ for thesis and PhD supervision. The ‘four-eyes principle’ will become standard for assessments. Finally, the university wants to introduce exit interviews for departing employees; social safety is one of the topics to be discussed.

The plan of action can be read here.

Translated by Milou Aluy-van der Meij