Many UU buildings will open later and close earlier

Many of the more than 80 buildings owned by Utrecht University will reduce their opening hours. In some cases, the difference will only be half an hour, while one of the buildings will reduce its opening times by 2.5 hours. Buildings will open later, close earlier or both. Only six buildings will remain open in the evening.

Most premises will be closed for fifteen days during the Christmas holidays, as happened for the first time last Christmas. In the summer, some premises will be closed for four consecutive weeks, when no classes are ministered.

Saving costs
UU is taking these measures to be more sustainable, save costs and be more efficient. According to the university, this is more efficient because opening hours can change every academic year now, resulting in different schedules and schemes when it comes to reception staff. UU will save some 330,000 euros on staff and energy costs with these measures.

A schedule is being drawn up to indicate when each building will implement the new opening hours. The first changes will come into effect in April and the transition process is expected to be finished by the new academic year. The university promises to inform students and staff of the changes in good time. An evaluation of whether or not the university community is pleased with the new opening hours will take place in the autumn.

Which buildings will have their opening hours changed?
The buildings used by the faculties of Social Sciences, Geosciences, Humanities and Law will all have shorter opening hours. The library at Utrecht Science Park will close at midnight instead of 1:00 am every day except Saturdays. 

It is not yet known how these plans will affect the Faculty of Science. Further consultations will be held with this faculty because of the many laboratories in their buildings, informs the deputy director of the Campus & Facilities (C&F) directorate, Ceel Roozeboom.

Not much will change for Veterinary Medicine, UCU and the University Corporate Office. However, the reception of the Administration Building will be occupied for much less time. Although the building is open between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm, the receptionist will only be there between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm. Anyone who needs to be in the Administration Building outside those times will need a campus pass to access the premises or be let in by someone with such a pass.

"This will save us a whole receptionist shift. Currently, we need two people, so soon there will only be one," explains Roozeboom. Last year, C&F started investigating how best to adjust opening hours to meet both the university's sustainability ambitions and its aim to save costs. C&F evaluated how premises are used and by how many people.

The reception of the Administration Building will only be open between 8.30 am and 4.30 pm. Photo: DUB

Teaching and working hours
The buildings where education is provided will close half an hour after the last lecture. In some cases, this will result in the building remaining open for half an hour longer. "Thanks to our survey and conversations with stakeholders, we found out that some premises close at 5:00 pm even though the last lecture officially goes until 5:00 pm, which forces the lecturer to finish 15 minutes earlier to make sure everyone can leave on time. That's far from ideal, so we decided there should be half an hour between the end of a lecture and the closing time," says Roozeboom.

Those who want to continue working after their building is closed can simply go to another building. The two university libraries are going to set up additional undesignated working spaces for colleagues from other premises.

Evening and holidays
Only six buildings will remain open in the evening, namely Janskerkhof 2/3 (used by the Faculty of Law, Economics & Governance), the city centre library, the Koningsberger building, the Androclus building (used by Veterinary Medicine), the Science Park library, and the Ruppert & Educatorium at Utrecht Science Park. Ruppert and Educatorium will remain open in the summer.

There are some exceptions, though. "If there is a farewell or anniversary celebration in the evening, it can be held at another building," says Rozenboom. Each faculty is allowed to hold an activity in a different building six times per year, provided they request to do so in advance. "This is not set in stone, though. We estimate that six is a reasonable number, but it can be adjusted if needed."

The education premises on Drift will be closed for four consecutive weeks in the summer. Photo: DUB
 

Special arrangements 
Separate arrangements will be made for Education for Professionals, which often takes place in the evening, and the summer school. Both will be assigned premises for their classes. Different rules also apply to laboratories, which will be under the rules that currently apply to weekends.

Consternation 
The memo Adjustment of opening hours in buildings and receptions(only accessible with a Solis ID, Ed.) states what the new rules mean for each building. An article has been published on the Intranet (only accessible to employees) presenting the new opening hours in a slightly more up-to-date pdf.

Some employees have already reacted to the change, commenting on the Intranet article. Some find the accompanying overview unclear, while others are not happy about the changes. For instance, one person notes that opening the buildings later forces employees to come to Utrecht during rush hours. Others also ask about service provision after the receptionist in the Administration Building has gone home.

UU Council is surprised
The chair of the University Council is surprised that there is already an article about the new opening hours on the Intranet. "The procedure is to submit the memo to the University Council first and only publish it after the council has held a public meeting about it."

The memo was sent to the UU Council for notification. "Usually, memos sent for notification are not discussed in detail with policy staff or the university administration, but concerning this particular memo, the university had agreed to discuss it with the council," says chair Wim de Smidt.

De Smidt expects councillors to still have questions about the new opening hours. "That is why it is on the agenda of both the image-forming meeting to which the council can invite policy officers, and the public opinion-forming meeting on February 3, which the university administration will attend. I don't know what the council's reaction will be now that the plan has already been published because we wonder if that discussion will add anything."

He also expects other councils to have questions about the plan. "For example, I heard that Social Sciences is not happy that the Groenman building is closing and they wonder if the faculty board was informed."

Service Council is disappointed
The chair of the Service Council of the University Corporate Offices also has questions about the plans and is disappointed that the council was not consulted beforehand. "It was an ad hoc decision to close the building during the Christmas holidays, but we were promised that we would be included in further decisions regarding the opening hours," says Bobby Baidjnath Misier. 

"The memo is unclear about the reception during opening hours. It is also unclear what kind of research preceded this decision." He says questions about the decision will definitely be asked at the Service Council board meeting on Thursday, January 23.