Dutch universities draw up statement on social safety

Social safety at our universities: ensuring a safe, open and respectful sector

Together with all other Dutch universities, Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ has drawn up a statement on social safety. With it, the Association of Universities in the Netherlands () speaks out against undesirable behaviour. Besides, it also creates a mutual starting point for a shared responsibility for a socially safe university.


WHAT DOES UTRECHT UNIVERSITY DO IN TERMS OF SOCIAL SAFETY?

We want to be an organisation where everyone feels welcome. Cooperation and trust are central themes, employees and students approach each other with respect. We do not tolerate any undesirable behaviour: aggression, sexual harassment, other forms of intimidation, violence, discrimination and bullying are considered unacceptable. These points are also included in the statement mentioned above.

Code of Conduct

We have a Code of Conduct Undesirable Behaviour with which we want to prevent and combat undesirable behaviour. More information on the definition of undesirable behaviour can be found there. There is also a special complaint procedure regarding intimidation, aggression, violence and discrimination.

We are currently working on an adjustment of the Code of Conduct and the complaint procedure regarding undesirable forms of interactions. These new versions will better describe how we define undesirable behaviour. The Complaints Committee Undesirable Behaviour will also be examined: the methods, staffing and role of this commission have been updated. Information on this will be published on our websites this spring.

Read more about Codes of Conduct

Confidential Advisors

We employ various Confidential Advisors who can support our employees in the fields of staff matters, undesirable behaviour and scientific integrity.

Read more about confidential Advisors

Diversity and inclusion

We encourage diversity and inclusion within education, research and the organisation. This contributes to the students, employees and guests feeling at home, as well as to their happiness in working and studying, but also to matters such as the quality of teams and scientific discussions. Our starting points in this are:

  • Students, employees and guests from a wide range of backgrounds feel welcome at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ.
  • Students and employees have the space to develop themselves.
  • A diversely composed staff offers the diverse student body recognisable role models.
  • Students, employees and guests approach each other without prejudice and exclusion.

We also founded the Diversity Task Force for this purpose. This task force is to boost the discussion on diversity, stimulate the diversity policy and support initiatives.

Recently, the task force supported various initiatives that contribute to social safety. Some examples are:

Read more about diversity