In May of this year you could read in the newsletter that we were exploring options on the best way to locate the activities of the Scholarship Office & International Relations and Partnerships (SOIR) following the departure of Erik van Oenen, the head of department, last Fall. Rita de Wilde- Brink has acted as interim head in the past nine months while we were also talking with the International Cluster in S&P about better cooperation.
In light of the financial challenges the MT has decided to dissolve SOIR as a department and to locate the employees with their tasks at other units in CES and the university. The work of SOIR is connected to many other actors in the university and we are glad that we have been able to use those connections in this organisational change. In practice this means that the agreement coordinators will join the International Cluster in S&P, while the other colleagues will join either SACC (scholarship office, agreement registration), IM (key user Mobility online), SAS (outgoing exchange) or CC (international student communication and events). This way we will not reappoint a new Head of Department and we can continue with the important tasks that are currently the responsibility of SOIR. The change will be effective as of September 1, 2024.
Both service council and the employees have been involved in this process and the University Council has agreed to the proposal. Although it is sad to dissolve such a nice team, it is also good to see the warm welcomes that our colleagues are given in their new teams. It will obviously take some months to realign all procedures, update websites and get used to a new way of working.
We would like to thank Rita for her hard work, dedication and support in the past months. It was a pleasure working with you and we look forward to continue working with you in your original role at TNW!
