Economics programme in shock after sudden cancellation of English-taught track

Shocked, angry, appalled, sad, worried. These are some of the emotions expressed by people in the Economics department after news that the English-taught track of the Bachelor's programme in Economics & Business Economics will end.

"Many colleagues fear that the department will be downsized," says Economics lecturer Martijn Huysmans. "A third of our students come from abroad. If we lose them, we will need far fewer lecturers. Young and foreign lecturers are particularly fearful for their jobs."

From English to Dutch
Currently, the Economics programme in Utrecht is entirely taught in English, with an intake of around 400 students per year, of whom 150 are international students and the rest are Dutch students who deliberately choose an English-language program.. Last year, the university announced that a Dutch-taught track would be introduced from September 2027 onwards and that the English-taught track would have an enrolment cap.

This change was presented in the spring as part of a series of agreements made by former UU President Anton Pijpers with the association of Dutch universities (UNL) to reduce the influx of international students. At the time, UU made an inventory of which bachelor's programmes could switch entirely to Dutch and which would have both English and Dutch-taught tracks.

UNL's joint plan was an alternative to a government proposal to subject English-taught bachelor's programmes to a language test to determine whether it was necessary to teach them in English. Dutch universities feared that, if the proposal went ahead, all English-taught bachelor's programmes would be at risk. 

Now, it looks like the Economics programme at Utrecht University may have to be taught entirely in Dutch by 2029, and there will be no English-taught track at all, contrary to what the Executive Board had told the programme beforehand.

Trust damaged
According to Economics lecturer Huysmans, the staff feel that they have been lied to. The dean of the Faculty of Law, Economics & Governance, Elaine Mak, is angry too. Last week, she could hardly believe that the situation was different from what everyone thought. "The impact is huge," says Mak. "This harms the trust that the faculty and the Department of Economics have in the Executive Board."

According to the dean, it only emerged now that the university agreed to discontinue the English-taught track last spring, but "something went wrong at the Executive Board level". The dean says the board can provide further explanation on the matter.

Uncertain future
Mak emphasises that downsizing and compulsory redundancies are out of the picture for now, but she understands the concerns that the staff (particularly international staff) have. "We are now entering a scenario with many uncertainties. If we get fewer students in a few years, this will impact our income and, as a result, the tasks and working environment of our staff."

She emphasises that the Internationalisation in Balance bill, on which the House of Representatives is yet to vote, must first come into force. "Nothing will change overnight. We have time to investigate matters further and make agreements."

According to the dean, follow-up discussions with the Executive Board have already been scheduled. "I will do everything I can to protect the Utrecht School of Economics and prevent job losses. We expect the Executive Board to help us with this."

Militant staff
The staff of the Economics department are not giving up. Huysmans refers to a step-by-step plan in UNL's April document, which states that the universities' executive boards will submit their implementation plan to representative advisory bodies. Huysmans: "We have not been provided with any information or consulted in any way, so we question the legality of the board's decision to discontinue the English track."

Huysmans' colleagues are discussing this with the General Education Union (AOb), FNV and WOinActie. "Many colleagues are combative."

On Wednesday, WOinActie announced in a statement that it received the announcement "with dismay". The protest group criticised the "undemocratic and indecent" course of events. "There has been no consultation; neither employees nor the employee participation council have been consulted. Communication with those directly involved has also been completely non-transparent."

"This decision by the UU Executive Board is yet another example of the extreme hierarchy that exists at Dutch universities and how much they lack democracy. We therefore call on all colleagues to discuss even more intensely about what it means to function democratically as a university."

WOinActie calls on the UU Executive Board to "immediately reverse the decision and refuse to throw colleagues under the bus in ill-advised political deals."

The Executive Board reacts
In a written response to DUB, the Executive Board states that it has agreed with UNL to reduce the number of international freshers at UU to a maximum of 658 per year. In addition, the university agreed to add a Dutch track to the Economics programme, with the English track to be discontinued no earlier than the 2029-2030 academic year.

The Executive Board deliberately chose not to announce plans to discontinue the English-taught track, as it hoped to see a significant decline in the number of international students in the Netherlands, which would allow the English-taught track of the Economics programme to continue. "To avoid unnecessary unrest, we decided at the time to only communicate that we would be adding a Dutch track to the existing programme and establish an enrolment cap for the English track."

The Executive Board takes responsibility for the situation that has arisen. Vice-President Margot van der Starre, now acting as an interim president, says: "We realise that this announcement has hit the Utrecht School of Economics community hard. We should have handled this process differently, and we should reflect on that."

In its written response to DUB, the board acknowledges that it made an "optimistic, and on closer inspection incorrect, assessment" that the measures agreed upon with UNL could be mitigated. In hindsight, the Executive Board also considers the decision to prevent unrest by not sharing its intention to discontinue the English track back in April to have been an incorrect assessment. "We understand that the board of the Faculty of Law, Economics & Governance and the management of the Economics department are disappointed and angry that they were not included in this scenario. We, the Executive Board, did not handle this process well."

At a meeting held in the Spinoza Hall on the international campus, attended by some 60 to 70 staff members of the Economics programme, the Executive Board apologised for its overly optimistic assessment and the fact that staff are now faced with a different agreement than the one they, the faculty board and the department board were aware of.