International Campus to remain, albeit with less office space

It was already known that UU would have less money to spend on real estate after the considerable cuts to the higher education budget. The most striking aspect of the university's new approach is that University College Utrecht, the School of Economics and the School of Philosophy, Politics & Economics (PPE) will get to stay in the International Campus.

This marks a U-turn as UU decided to sell the campus on Prins Hendriklaan in 2019. However, the property proved difficult to sell, so UU has decided to keep it. The buildings of the former Kromhoutkazerne, which are geographically located between the city centre and Utrecht Science Park, will have to be used more often by the rest of the university.

Less office space
The cost-cutting measures include the reduction of floor space. The university is considering a reduction of 15 per cent, which would mainly concern office spaces. Many offices have remained empty since employees have been allowed to work from home on some days of the week. In addition, classrooms will have to be used more intensively. This will be achieved through smarter scheduling, a project on which the University Council is very critical. The university also wants to dispose of buildings that are not being used sufficiently, though it hasn't announced which ones. 

Investments in buildings will only be made when strictly necessary for education and research. UU will take another critical look at projects on the list to be implemented to define which ones can be postponed or scaled back.

Projects that will continue
Projects that have already started will not be affected by this new approach. Both the construction plans for a new faculty building for Veterinary Medicine and the redevelopment of the Van Unnik building will go on as planned. Energy-saving measures will also go on as they will ultimately lead to savings on energy bills.

The plans have been discussed with the deans and faculty directors as well as with the directors of the University Corporate Offices, the University Council and the Supervisory Board. The measures will be further elaborated, providing more clarity on which buildings will be divested or where office space will have to be surrendered.

Cutbacks
Through these decisions, the university aims to spend even less on real estate than it is allowed to. UU has agreed with the University Council that no more than 15 per cent of the total turnover may be spent on real estate. Sometimes UU spends slightly less than the budget, and sometimes it spends slightly more. From this year onwards, UU is receiving less money due to substantial austerity measures imposed by the government on higher education. This means its turnover is dropping, and so is the amount that can be spent on real estate. The university even wants to spend less than 15 per cent so that more money is left for education and research.