Governance

The governing structure of the Dutch research universities is laid down in the Higher Education and Scientific Research Act of 1992. The internal governance reform of 1997 brought about changes in governance at all levels of internal governance. One of the tendencies in university governance in the Netherlands is an increase in institutional autonomy. The Dutch research universities enjoy a large degree of institutional autonomy from the state. Within universities, departments (faculties) also possess a certain extent of independence from the central governing bodies.

Each research university is governed by an executive board (college van bestuur). The three members of the board are appointed by a board of trustees which in turn is appointed by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (in the case of Wageningen University, by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation). For historical reasons, the process of appointment of the executive board differs at Radboud University Nijmegen, Tilburg University and VU University Amsterdam.

The executive board

The executive board consists of a triumvirate of a president, a rector magnificus and a vice-president. The president of the university also chairs the executive board. The executive board is responsible for the university as a whole. In terms of portfolios, usually finance and personnel fall within the remit of the vice-president, and education and research fall within the remit of the rector.

The university council

The university council (universiteitsraad) is a consultative body. It can have up to 24 members who are drawn from the different departments. An equal number of seats are reserved for students and staff, both academic and administrative, with student members elected by students and staff members elected by staff. The university council has regular meetings with the executive board and has right of approval in a number of areas, including the strategic plan of the university and the system of quality assurance.

All universities consist of a number of departments. These are headed by deans and have their own executive boards and (faculty) councils.