Our Statement – Social Safety Education Inspectorate Report – March 2024
Published by Albaraa Khalil on
Lijst Bèta's
formal statement on:
the Education Inspectorate Report &
the TU Delft's Response
The 2024 Inspectorate report reveals a harsh indication of the lack of social integrity among employees at TU Delft. The report underlines the already acknowledged prevalence of socially unsafe behaviour, a matter that Lijst Bèta has dedicated effort to addressing, thus emphasising the severity of the situation. Based on personal experiences of both current and previous Lijst Bèta members, it leads to the regrettable conclusion that the management, attention, and oversight of social safety issues within the current system are lacking. While TU Delft’s response acknowledges the existence of socially unsafe behaviour, it appears to sandwich this admission with strong allegations of inaccuracies, thereby seemingly consciously disregarding the findings in the report.
Regarding the student community, the outcomes are troubling, as the workplace culture and attitudes among professors and staff directly influence and mirror the experiences of the present generation of students. If the existing complaint system fails to operate properly, it impacts both staff and students due to the inability to address and resolve such concerning issues.
Across the previous years, Lijst Bèta has undertaken various initiatives aimed at safeguarding students from socially unsafe behaviour, including conducting surveys, providing training, optimising complaint systems, and securing financial compensation for campus-wide social safety projects. Throughout such processes, there have been observations regarding the inadequate general communication and effectiveness of the integrity system. At a micro-level, students are often tasked with ensuring the safety of their own peers, with numerous cases pointing to inadequate supervision from the Integrity Office. In light of this, Lijst Bèta is committed to thoroughly assessing the Inspectorate report, enhancing the existing Integrity Office framework to ensure that student concerns receive a high level of attention.
Lijst Bèta will be on top of addressing this issue at our university and advocates for more concrete actions to be taken by the Executive Board in response to the findings outlined in the report. The current response fails to sufficiently address the seriousness and urgency of the situation as Lijst Bèta feels that the emphasis was placed on managing public perception rather than prioritising the release of the report and addressing the core issue at hand.
Does Lijst Bèta approve or disprove of going to court?
The current explanation behind the lawsuit started by the CvB given in their statement is not something that Lijst Bèta finds reasonable. So, based on what we know now and our legal expertise, No, we do not see any possible grounds.