Rector steered the university towards society

Open science

‘We want to give more knowledge back to society and bring that society in so that we can answer relevant questions from society,’ said Henk Kummeling in 2021 at the presentation of a book about Open Science by Vice Dean of Research Frank Miedema. Under the motto Sharing Science, Shaping Tomorrow, the university had to take its social role seriously.

That was not easy to do. Most scientists publish in leading scientific journals, so much of the scientific research remains accessible only to the universities that can afford subscriptions, which are usually expensive.

Henk Kummeling in 2021 at the presentation of Frank Miedema's book about Open Science. Photo: Utrecht University

Under Kummeling, Utrecht University encouraged scientists to publish more and more in open access, thus making their articles accessible to everyone. That, too, isn't easy. How do you assess the quality of the articles when the peer review system of traditional journals is reorganised? And how fair is it that scientists must now pay to publish in open journals too? ‘We have set a lot in motion these past few years,’ Kummeling says, looking back. ‘It is important to continue on this path. How can we make scientific language more accessible? There is now the idea of including a summary for the general public in every dissertation.'

The rector has tried to bring science closer to society in other ways as well. Kummeling was one of the initiators of the Utrecht Science Agenda as part of the university's anniversary in 2021. Non-academics from Utrecht submitted over 1,200 questions and UU students were supposed to work on them. The questions were organised by topic, but the initiative did not lead to a visible research project.

‘It turned out to be difficult to follow up on it properly,’ Kummeling observes. ‘There were both well-informed and green questions, so to say. It is up to the university to come up with follow-up steps to strengthen the bond between science and the city. We have established contact with fellow residents of Utrecht in the public libraries, for example.'

One way to make the university visible in the city is the annual Meet the Professor. That's when professors in gowns visit elementary schools. This was in 2022.  Photo: DUB

Recognition & Rewards 
 

At the opening of the academic year 2020, Kummeling delivered the message that the university wants to break the mantra that a scientist is only good if they publish in renowned journals. Participating in social debate and teaching should also be rewarded. An article by Paul Boselie on this subject in Nature led to both positive and negative reactions. According to Boselie, Kummeling has shown a lot of guts in calling out the hyper-competitive approach that emphasises individual researchers who made it to the top, pointing out the importance of collaboration and sharing. ‘Henk is someone who shouts very loudly in a whisper. His tone is soft, but if you listen carefully, his statements are razor-sharp.’

Henk Kummeling signs the contract Recognition & Rewards. Photo Universiteit Utrecht

The Recognition & Rewards policy has been given more and more substance in recent years. For example, UU has appointed professors on the basis of teaching expertise and started appointing professors in the field of Public Engagement.

In addition, science is now much more often considered a team effort. Individual researchers are not expected to be like a "Jack of all trades" and master all facets of the scientific process. The university is trying to enforce this by increasingly emphasising team achievements.

One consequence of this endeavour is that UU no longer provides information for rankings. The university is no longer mentioned in the Times Higher Education ranking and the Shanghai ranking can only use public data.

Renowned scientist Hans Clevers is one of the critics of this policy. ‘Recognition & Rewards ignores the fact that a healthy research landscape must have room for top research and for young people who feel they have the talent and passion to excel internationally.' Students have also protested against this policy because they felt that UU's position in international rankings helped them assess their study programmes.

In Kummeling's view, the criticism that top research can no longer be recognised or appreciated is nonsense. ‘Look at the subsidies Utrecht has received in recent years. We can still guarantee that we do good research.'
 

Socially-oriented education

UU has not only changed its view on research, it also changed its view on education. ‘I think that Kummeling can be seen as UU's great ambassador for education, both inside and outside the university,’ says Vice-Rector of Education Manon Kluijtmans. In 2023, she wrote the book De Universiteit in Transitie (The University in Transition) alongside Kummeling and Vice-Rector of Research Frank Miedema. The book makes a statement about what education should look like. ‘We want to prepare our students to contribute to society, the environment, health and wellbeing, as well as ecological, economic and social sustainability. During their studies, students must learn to think critically and learn to collaborate with students from other disciplines and society.’

"What is the goal of university education?" says the flag. "So you get a PhD! Otherwise, get out of here!" answers Kummeling in this cartoon by Niels Bongers.

According to Kummeling, the power of education lies in the lasting influence the studies can have on the student's future life and, therefore, the impact said student can have on society. In his view, an academic education teaches people to look at the world differently. As far as he is concerned, UU students must be trained to make the world a better place. That is why UU has committed itself to the United Nations Social Development Goals in its Strategic Plan.

Kummeling also wanted to put this into practice with certain projects. He is a strong advocate of Community Engaged Learning, in which students, businesses and social institutions work together to answer questions through social internships or a project in a neighbourhood. The educational project Mixed Classroom, by Urban Futures Studio is an example of this. In this project, students work with policy officers to find solutions for societal problems. Kummelink thinks that this type of education could replace honours programmes at the faculty level. ‘Many honours programmes already had forms of Community Engaged Learning. This is fully integrated in the new Utrecht Education Model. And if students want something extra, they can simply take an additional course or minor.'
 

Woke culture, diversity & academic freedom

In 2021, Kummeling was asked to share his opinion on woke culture on the radio show Spraakmakers on NPO Radio 1. He argued how important diversity is for the student body and faculty but also said he is against cancelling people because it violates academic freedom. An excerpt of the interview was taken out of context and published on right-wing sites. Suddenly, Kummeling was the hero of the anti-woke movement. ‘That felt uncomfortable because my political heart has always been more towards the left part of the spectrum,’ he told DUB a year later.

In the last few years, university administrators have had to walk on eggshells. Kummeling sees himself as a torchbearer of academic freedom. ‘One should be able to have an open debate, even if opinions differ,’ he said on DUB. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of the Western Cape in South Africa in 2024, as a recognition of his advocacy of academic freedom, but also came under fire because he did not want to allow a guest lecture by the British scientist Neve Gordon, who advocates boycotting Israeli universities, to be held at Utrecht University. 

Kummeling was also criticised for adopting more restrictive measures for debates, with activists saying that he was not open to debate himself. Kummeling hit back, saying that activists were the ones who did not seem to accept different opinions, rendering the discussion impossible. ‘Academic freedom is not a licence,’ he said. ’You are always bound by the academy and the scientific integrity code. It must fit within the rules of academic research and the quality requirements we set for education. A scientist must always be open to other perspectives and criticism.’

Henk Kummeling during a lecture of Palestina expert Maya Wind at Utrecht University. Photo: DUB

Diversity and inclusion have been important topics for the Executive Board lately. Kummeling was particularly inclined to get to the bottom of UU's colonial past. A committee led by James Kennedy was set up to examine the university's relation to slavery. Kummeling also commissioned a committee to develop a checklist on how to make the curriculum less white and Western. Recently, he commissioned a redesign of the Utrecht University Hall to make it more inclusive. ‘Images matter. They only become problematic when they do not connect with what we experience in everyday life,’ he said in an article on DUB. ‘The Utrecht University Hall lacked this representation and is now trying to better reflect the diversity of the university community.’

Internationalisation

After his time as the dean of the Faculty of Law, Economics & Governance, Kummeling taught in South Africa for a while. He was asked to become the UU rector in 2017, by the end of his time abroad. As an administrator, Kummeling championed various forms of internationalisation. In the field of education, he encouraged Charm-EU, an interdisciplinary partnership between European universities that set up a joint Master's programme, again with a focus on social issues.

He also advocates a broader view of international cooperation. ‘The main focus of our interactions with other countries was their publication index and how well positioned they were in the rankings,’ Kummeling observed in a lecture held in 2022. ’As a result, we tended to work with universities with a Western background. But, to tackle the problems of our time, we need to collaborate with other universities as they can offer a different, more diverse perspective.’

He realised that UU's collaborations with universities from Central and Eastern Europe and the Global South had become invisible, so he aimed to change that by collaborating with countries like Suriname and appointing more professors with teaching assignments that explicitly mentioned the Global South. Examples include Bruce Mutsvairo and Payal Arora.

‘You can really feel he is committed to this subject’, says Bruce Mutsvairo. ’We were recently visited by a delegation from a Ugandan university and I asked him if he would like to meet the group as well. He made room for it even though the invitation came at short notice. He has put the contact with Global South on the agenda.’

The pursuit of a more international community and increased attention for the Global South goes against the zeitgeist. ‘In the Netherlands, political parties are trying to frame internationalisation as a threat to national identity and the accessibility of education for Dutch students," Kummeling said in the lecture given in 2022. "I think this kind of nationalism is nonsense and it is our job to come up with good strategies to effectively refute it.’

‘I still think that,’ Kummeling says now. ’The university is an international institute, we shouldn't build walls around it. Unfortunately, we have not yet succeeded in finding a good strategy to convince political parties of this.’

"Don't worry, they were just joking." Cartoon by Niels Bongers

 Participation councils

As a professor of Constitutional Law and former chairman of the Electoral Council, Kummeling considers co-determination bodies very important. ‘The enormous added value of the University Council is that they can constantly hold up a mirror to the Executive Board,’ Kummeling stated at the start of his rectorship. ‘They can ask: “Are you sure you know what you're doing?”. Although we do our best, we do not always have a complete picture of who will be affected by our decisions. I enjoy collecting ideas, thoughts and even a critical note from council members.’

He also came up with ideas to take democracy to the next level, such as appointing a student assessor to the Executive Board. He has always opposed elections for positions like that of the rector or the student assessor because he finds that the rector has too few powers to justify such a vote.

In his book Universiteit in Transitie (University in Transition), he devotes quite a few pages to the importance of co-determination. He advocates more professional autonomy and forms of deliberative democracy in which citizens have a say in political issues. The 'deep democracy' debate about the university's collaboration with the fossil fuel industry, held in March 2023, can be seen as an example of this.

Kummeling is often bothered by the fact that climate activists or the pro-Palestinian movement do not seem to take co-determination bodies seriously. After all, members are elected.

A University Council meeting. Photo: DUB

Nevertheless, the relationship between the rector and the representative advisory body faltered more than once. The rector was annoyed that the same questions came up every year because the members changed each year. The number of parties also increased, resulting in fragmentation and positions getting hardened. ‘The hardest thing about that tone is the insurmountable mistrust in the air. As if we had a secret agenda or were trying to get things done through devious tactics,’ he told DUB in 2020. “The relationship has improved since then,” Kummeling says now. ’A few years ago, when councillors were trained, they were told that administrators couldn't be trusted. The attacks were sometimes very personal. The dialogue is more constructive now.’

There is still friction between the council and the board sometimes. This occurred recently when the council did not agree with the compulsory abolition of honours programmes at the faculty level.

‘The rector has always been greatly involved with the representative advisory body,’ says University Council chair Wim de Smidt. ’His arguments were always well-substantiated and he was always the first one to take a step towards the council when opinions differed. But, if he didn't get his way in the end, you could see he was not happy about it.’

Student wellbeing & Covid

If there is one theme that has stood out recently, that is student wellbeing. In 2018, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) published an exploratory report stating that fifty percent of students in the Netherlands suffered from fatigue and twenty percent were stressed to a certain degree. The introduction of the student loan system in 2015 and the rise of social media were said to be major influencing factors.

Students' stress only got worse over the years. The pressure to perform increased, making students more and more stressed out. UU set up a student wellbeing task force and started organising Wellbeing Weeks each year to deal with the problem.

This was Kummeling's idea. He indicated in a blog post that he took the subject seriously and that the university had to be careful not to set excessive demands. On that note, he took a look in the mirror, stating that the university had to become more aware of the issue. He also emphasised that students set high standards for themselves. ‘When will student boards and individual students conclude that they can and should take it down a notch?’

"Your own fault". Cartoon: Niels Bongers

The blog post was written before the pandemic. Between 2020 and 2022, students could barely meet each other. There were few lectures in person and even fewer activities for students, which made students feel even more under pressure. Kummeling told DUB at the time: ‘We tried to find out what was going on, digitally. Students had food and drink delivered to their homes and then they could tell us what was going on. We even saw some students crying. We heard certain things and thought: "My goodness, we must do something."’

Now, in hindsight, he says: ‘Covid made us realise how important the interaction between teachers and students is. When that was taken away, there was little left for students. Fortunately, we have been able to pick up where we left off. I don't believe that the pandemic has caused lasting damage to their mental health.’

Utrecht has a rich student life. In addition to the social clubs, there are many study associations and associations in the field of sports and culture. These student organisations also fall under the rector's responsibility. They are invited annually to academic ceremonies and their representatives have an annual dinner with the rector. Kummeling acknowledged the value of these associations even though he was not part of any when he was a student. ‘He was not affiliated with any social club, but Kummeling was interested in student life,’ says Anneloes Krul, who served as the student assessor to the Executive Board for a year. ’He often asked me what was going on in the associations. I taught him a student cheer every week.’

Student culture

Social clubs and traditions. Photo: DUB

The rector's duties specifically include the distribution of board grants and subsidies. The existing regulations are reviewed every few years, but the associations are never satisfied. Kummeling acknowledged in the latest redistribution that this is a difficult task. ‘Student organisations should feel seen and appreciated for what they do. However, these organisations and their activities are so diverse that it is hard to assess them transparently and fairly. That is why UU has chosen to assess student organisations more generically, based on the number of members.’ This generated a big debate.

The traditional side of student life was less to his liking. For example, he was very annoyed when Io vivat and Gaudeamus were sung at academic ceremonies and made sure that these songs were replaced by a newly composed University Hymn. Kummeling: ‘If you were to translate the misogynistic lyrics of these songs, you would blush in shame.’

In corona time: "I'm celebrating the university's anniversary here, all by myself." Cartoon: Niels Bongers

The rector is also responsible for contacting student associations when they step out of line. The time for drinking games is over, he said to the newspaper AD/Utrechts Nieuwsblad when he took office. At the beginning of his rectorship, things were relatively quiet in Utrecht. Reports of violations of the code of conduct were more common but this did not lead to sanctions. However, Kummeling emphasised that associations should keep the introductory period friendly and not see it as an opportunity for hazing.

In recent years, the fraternity USC has come under fire several times. Last year, USC distributed 'slut lists' online, which the university considered a step too far. Sanctions were imposed against the association, which was also compelled to work on changing its culture. The sanctions were lifted in January.

‘I won't miss imposing sanctions,’ says Kummeling. ’It's a complicated process. We want to make it clear to associations that we will not tolerate such behaviours. That's why we impose sanctions. They must show that they are taking it seriously. At the same time, society is also on top of it and change takes time. We have stayed closely in touch with the associations concerned and learned that we must continue to monitor the steps they take.’

Afscheid

"If they sag, I'll get on top of them, like so". Cartoon: Niels Bongers

Henk Kummeling will bid farewell to the rectorship on March 26, when UU will celebrate its anniversary. He will not be completing his second term. ‘I announced this to the Supervisory Board when I was appointed. After a while, you don't want to be the circus horse that keeps going around and around in circles anymore. Besides, my fingers are itching to get back to teaching and doing research.’ He will remain active as an administrator at the European level. Kummeling will promote Utrecht University's policy in the field of open science and Recognition & Rewards as the chair of the prestigious European working group Coara.

Henk Kummeling to be DUB's guest editor-in-chief for a week 
Kummeling will serve as DUb's guest editor-in-chief in the week he says goodbye to the position of rector magnificus. The rector attended an editorial board meeting and suggested several topics he believes DUB should cover. 

DUB's editors worked on the rector's suggestions and the resulting articles will be published on the week of March 24-28. The topics include the university's reputation, how art and science can go together, UU's cooperation with the Global South, heavy workloads in student associations, and how students build their CVs.