Organisation - May 10, 2012

WUR Council wants representative on Supervisory Board

Wageningen UR's overall consultative body, the WUR council, wants to propose a candidate for the organization's Supervisory Board.

 A legal change in 2010 makes this possible. The council hopes the move will help it to get its views heard more effectively. Having a board member 'of its own' should help to improve the communication between the WUR Council and the Supervisory Board, explains chair Cees van Dijk. 'What we see at the moment is that the Supervisory Board mainly just consults the Executive Board. Officially it is supposed to consult the WUR Council twice a year but we are not very satisfied with these consultations.'
The role of the Supervisory Board, made up of experienced directors and experts from outside Wageningen UR, is precisely to keep an eye on the management. Three Supervisory Board members are due to step down next September. One of them is Laurent van Depoele, lecturer in European Studies at the Catholic University of Leuven. He was 'member with the particular confidence of the participation council'. Thanks to the change in the law regarding higher education, the WUR council is now allowed to propose his successor to the minister of EL&I.
Intake interviews have already begun, says Van Dijk. He declines to name names but says the candidates have to be approachable, to be familiar with the university world, and to have an eye for the WUR Council's position.