University College miscalculates costs

University College Groningen costs more than expected – 800,000 euros more, to be exact. The UCG board estimated last year that 3 million euros would be enough from 2018 onwards, but equipment, furnishing and support staff costs in the current faculty building on the Hoendiepskade were miscalculated.

Student accommodations in the Steenhouwerskade were also more expensive than budgeted – the RUG has to subsidize the cost difference. Both facilities will be moving to the Bodenterrein eventually. To balance out costs, UC has also decided to enrol 200 students instead of 100, which was the original plan.

No more bachelor courses during law master

As of next year, the law faculty will no longer tolerate master’s students completing bachelor courses in their master’s phase. The hard cut-off policy, introduced in 2012, forbid bachelor students to enroll in master’s classes and vice versa, but students of notarial law and European and international law were permitted to continue doing it.

There are several required bachelors classes for law students to achieve their ‘civil effect’, qualifying them to become judges or lawyers. From the 2015-2016 academic year onward, it will cost 50 euros per EC – up to 400 euros – for students to take the classes during their master’s phase.

New name for Next

Next has to change their name: no one knows what it means. Next is the central location at the RUG for help with career advice, but ‘if you have to continue explaining what the name means, then you’re off the mark’, says president Poppema.

The new proposed name is University of Groningen Career Centers. It’s plural, because the council wants two career centers: one at Zernike and one in the centre. The name isn’t their only problem: their contracts with student organisations are continually re-evaluated with each new committee, which causes delays.

Keuzegids recalled after mistakes

The Universiteiten Keuzegids published last week has roughly 900 mistakes. For example, the RUG has not four, but six, top study programmes: applied physics (76 points) and philosophy (76) have joined archeology (78), religious studies, (76), theology (88), and math (82).

‘After the correction, it appeared that some studies didn’t change much, but mistakes are mistakes’, editor-in-chief Frank Steenkamp says. ‘And when you have hundreds of small mistakes, you can only come to one conclusion: recall your book and prepare a revised version.’ The corrected version will be published on 18 November.

Intersection at Zernike must be safer

The RUG wants to create an overpass at the intersection of the beltway and Zonnelaan near Zernike in order to make it safer for cyclists. But there’s no money for that, the municipal council says – instead, they want to encourage cyclists to take alternative routes, even though they’re less direct.

Instead of an overpass or a roundabout, the municipality would rather install stop lights at the intersection, but the RUG disagrees. ‘A traffic light just invites you to ride through red’, says president Poppema. Installing them would cost 500,000 euros.