FASoS Strategic Plan: What have we done and what do we plan to do? Some highlights

In the field of HR, we:

• Started with the introduction of “Recognition and Rewards” within FASoS;
• Adopted a new Strategic Personnel Plan and updated the Career Policy in which we further phased in the career principle;
• Took action with regards to creating more flexibility for teaching staff with caring responsibilities.

In the field of Education, we:

• Introduced the position of “D4” coordinator to support the work of our teaching fellows;
• Reduced workload, e.g. by streamlining the Education Plan process, hiring additional teaching capacity, offering extra support for graders, raising the rate for hours per student in the BAs, hiring an additional Educational Coordinator, and the structural transformation of one D4 position into an UD position (as of September 2022);
• Set up the taskforce Technology-Enhanced Learning (including both academic and support staff) to support the use of digital technologies in education.

In the field of Research, we:

• Produced an extended report about the range of activities conducted by the FASoS Research Institute (consisting of four research programmes and five research centres);
• Increased awareness and action about our obligations and commitments to open research, including research data management, open access publishing and the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation);
• Added online writing & coffee sessions to the usual Graduate School training programme, to help combat the isolation of PhD candidates. PhD candidates themselves organised a successful (on-campus) biannual conference of the Graduate School in September 2021.

We have also:

• Made investments into FASoS’s digital infrastructure with the introduction of the new Prowise SmartScreens;
• Installed LED lighting in all FASoS buildings;
• Attracted a legal GDPR specialist for a day a week (in collaboration with the other inner city faculties).

During 2022, we would like to further implement our plans for the faculty.

In the field of HR, we will:

• Get a head start when it comes to implementing Recognition and Rewards at FASoS;
• Work on (further) creating a sustainable work environment by looking into how we can make the academic year ‘smarter’/shorter;
• (Further) enable staff to conduct their care duties in line with the UM Cares project.

In the field of Education, we will:

• Finalise and fine-tune the introduction and embedding of “preparation weeks”;
• Prepare the core strategic document ‘FASoS: Educational Vision and Portfolio’ which guides education at FASoS;
• Develop interdisciplinary electives offered across educational programmes.

In the field of Research, we will:

• Work on the development of a Digital Studies Lab to support research and teaching across FASoS. The Lab is envisioned as a space for creative experiment in the production and representation of knowledge;
• Begin preparations for the evaluation of our Research Institute, planned for 2023;
• Continue to promote the visibility of our research and related activities for academic and other audiences, for example, via the Valorisation Prize, new communication activities supported by our KNAW award for Science Communication, and continued attention to our website.

We will also:

• Start the “garden project”;
• Upgrade our coffee room in GG 90-92;
• Start thinking about how to implement “Future of working @UM” in relation to FASoS housing;
• Start designing a Strategic Personnel Plan for support staff.