Wetenschap - 16 februari 1995
English Summary
English Summary
The Board wants to cut WAU's educational programmes by 4.7 million guilders. Courses that attract less than ten students are in danger - either they will be abolished, or they will have to merge with other courses. The reduction will be organised by newly appointed educational institutes, which will combine Dutch programmes and MSc courses in order to make them cheaper. In particular the engineering degree courses in Agricultural Systems Science, Crop Science and Horticulture will be unable to continue separately. The same is true for the MSc courses in Environmental Sciences, Animal Science, Agricultural Engineering and Biotechnology.
Moreover, the Board intends to limit departmental research to an amount of 4.2 million guilders. Another 1.8 million will be cut from the central budget for education and science. Half a million will be cut from secondary employment benefits (such as childcare facilities), another half a million from the library, and 4.8 million from managerial services. The budgets for housing and equipment will also be lowered to an amount of 8 million guilders. The Board says it wants the university to concentrate on core activities. After the reductions the financial means of the university will be lower, but quality will be higher." We'll keep you informed of the critics' reactions.