4.2 Choices made in advance

Spending plan for teaching

The spending plan for teaching outlines the themes and actions on which Tilburg University will spend the available NPO funds. The following principles, which have been coordinated with the representative bodies, are to be used for this purpose: 

General principles: 

  • The measures fit within the frameworks of the NPO Administrative Agreement on Education.

  • The measures are ambitious, allow customization, and are feasible. 

  • They are being elaborated in the most specific and most targeted manner possible. 

  • The measures correspond to the regular processes in the institution, and they are embedded within the regular annual rhythm of education. 

  • The measures are targeted toward the identified problems with the themes of the Administrative Agreement. 

Principles specific to Tilburg University:

  1. The measures to be chosen correspond to existing initiatives within the University.

  2. To the extent possible, the selected measures will have a sustainable and developmental impact that extends beyond the horizon of the Administrative Agreement.

  3. They support the lecturers and/or support staff in the tasks that they perform within the framework of education, and they are either directly or indirectly tangible to students.

  4. They can be implemented quickly, given the horizon of the Administrative Agreement.

  5. The choice has been made for a limited number of measures (or clusters of measures), thereby ensuring focus and efficiency. 

The conclusion of the Administrative Agreement on Education has given Tilburg University the opportunity to solve the problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as possible. To this end, the University receives earmarked funds for the following themes:

  • Theme 1. Intake and progression

  • Theme 2. Student well-being and bond with the degree program

  • Theme 3. Teacher training programs

  • Additional theme: Additional help in the classroom.

These efforts are aimed largely at the following points:

  1. Providing support for students to catch up on delays (e.g., working on individual study plans, providing additional internship opportunities, and devoting attention to personal development and socialization)

  2. Preventing delays in the near future by working on flexibilization and digitalization

  3. Reinforcing the bonds that students have with the University and the city

  4. Providing support to students who are struggling with mental health problems and ensuring proper commitment to prevention and early identification

  5. Relieving the burden on our lecturers by strengthening the support structure so that the aforementioned measures will not increase their workload.

Spending plan for research

The spending plan for research explains how Tilburg University tries to solve problems relating to research delays. To arrive at a good assessment of how delays can be avoided or minimized, it is very important for researchers to maintain close contact with their managers, supervisors, or co-supervisors to discuss the situation and possibilities together. The preferred solution is to consider flexibility within the project and within the duration of the employment contract. Temporary extensions to employment contracts will be considered only if no solution can be found in this manner. In terms of flexibility within the project, examples could include adjusting the planning of the research project and evaluating the content of the research project.

If there are no possibilities for adjusting the research within the stipulated duration of the employment contract or the performance indicators (criteria), the possibility of extending the researcher’s temporary employment contract will be examined. For this purpose, it is important (1) for the temporary extension of the employment contract to be legally possible, (2) for it to be clear how long the employment contract will be extended, and (3) for it to be clear how the extension will be funded. In the first instance, funding will sought within the researcher’s project that have not yet materialized (e.g., travel and living expenses) and other additional resources that the external grantor may make available to complete the research. If funding for the extension of temporary employment cannot be covered from these funds, it can be covered for PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and tenure-track staff by using NWO and NPO funds. These are explicitly made available to researchers in the final phase of temporary research.

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