Education

Savings plan for the faculties

The university’s Executive Board has asked the deans of TU Delft’s faculties to submit cost-savings plans based on the university receiving ten percent less in government funding.

The following is a partial summary of the plans submitted by the deans. Based largely on the faculty deans’ recommendations, the Executive Board will reveal its action plan on June 8.

Technology, Policy and Management (TPM)
• Save 1.5 million euro
• Conduct more research with a smaller faculty
• Discontinue educational services
• Maximise combinations of education and research
• Fewer student assistants
• Entrepreneurship more important in applied research
• Reorganize departments that only provide education
• Make students pay for language courses
• Enhanced external profile, especially within Europe
• More clusters in graduate schools

Aerospace Engineering (AE)
• Operate more efficiently (save 1.5 million euro)
• Save 0.5 million euro through savings on facilities
• Save 800,000 euro through a hiring freeze
• Create new curriculum for MSc programmes
• More multi-disciplinary collaboration
• Enhance expertise in aircraft propulsion and flight performance

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS)
The following plans deliver savings of 1.7 to 2 million euro
• Abolish the electromagnetism section
• Abolish the International Research Centre for Telecommunications and Radar (IRCTR); integrate it with telecommunications department
• Close the high voltage hall or give it a new function
• Formally discontinue the computer graphics section; convert it into a interactive visualisation section
• Give the Veem Hall another function (possibly an electrical engineering and computer science lab)
• Reduce support services via a natural process of attrition
• Cut MSc programmes
• Strengthen ICT as service provider
• Stricter hiring and project policies

Architecture  
• As of the 2012-2013 academic year, set enrolment through admission exams. With 400 fewer students than the current enrolment of 3,200, fewer teachers are needed, which saves nearly 2 million euro
• Cut 1 million euro from overhead costs

Industrial Design Engineering (IDE)
• Save 500,000 euro by returning rooms in the large machine hall to the real estate department. Reorganize the model making/machine shop and merge with mechatronica
• Critically evaluate the laboratory course curriculum and offer joint courses with TPM
• Collaborative research: jointly set up with EEMCS laboratories (for example computer science and perception research)
• More efficient organisation of visualisation (drawing, model making) with other faculties that also use visualisations

Civil Engineering & Geosciences (CEG)
Due to CEG’s weak financial position, a renewal plan was devised last year to deliver 9.5 million euro in savings. This plan must lead to a balanced budget via the following measures:
• Cut 18 (fte) full-time equivalents (21 positions) and a natural attrition of 15 fte (already partly achieved)
• Save 1.4 million euro on laboratories: the construction lab (Stevin II) becomes a macro-mechanical lab shared with TNO and Architecture. Halving the hydrology lab (Stevin III) for the water engineering department. Designating the other half for the water management section and a smaller part to the AS faculty.
• Save 500,000 euro by relinquishing two semi-storey floors
• Save 500,000 euro in overhead costs
• Generate extra income via the engineering sector: currently 13 million euro
In addition, become 10 percent more ‘flexible’ through partnerships with other faculties and additional section reductions.

Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (3mE)
• Alter the model making/machine shop; use more post-docs/PhD students for teaching (0.6 million euro)
• Reorganize material sciences (1.1 million euro)
• Simplify education and exam regulations, reduce time needed for study advisors.
• Structurally support industry and revenue-generating projects (1 million euro)
• Facility: flexible working spaces; possibly terminate lecture hall pooling system (0.4 million)
• Assess the social and economic importance of groups (0.6 – 0.7 million euro)

Applied Sciences (AS)
This faculty will reveal its plans in May 2010

Collaboration between faculties
The Executive Board has asked the faculty deans to further develop the following plans:
• CEG, OTB, TPM and 3mE will determine whether they can combine their activities in the field of transport, while further strengthening course content.
• Mathematics transferred to AS faculty, thus separated from EEMCS
• Flow and sections of process technology are more clearly organized; set up the Institute for Sustainable Process Technology
• The construction and construction technology department given a new focus, supplementing CEG’s ongoing reorganization
• The design context and conceptualization (IDE) department to collaborate with the media studies section (Architecture), creating more efficient, innovative education
• OTB to merge with faculty of Architecture
• Reorganise materials science and engineering department and strengthen the Delt Centre for Materials (3mE)
• Development a Climate Change Institute Delft; the Aerospace faculty’s remote sensing of environment section relocated elsewhere (CEG, AE, EEMCS and AS).
 

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