University returns to Fryslân

Yesterday, the opening of the academic year at the University of Groningen campus in neighbouring province Friesland took place. This is the start of an exciting year: 174 years after the closure of the university in Franeker, a full-fledged university campus will be established in Leeuwarden from september 2018 onwards. The campus will form the eleventh faculty of the UG.

In 2018, the first bachelor programme will start: Global Responsibility and Leadership. The programme will have some aspects of a university college: a small-scale learning environment combined with challenging education and an international study environment. To accommodate the new bachelor programme and the already existing master programmes, the UG has decided to buy the former Beurs- en Waaggebouw in the city centre of Leeuwarden. This building, that used to house the local library, will be renovated extensively and become the home of academic education in Friesland.

Living in harmony

Lijst Calimero was very involved in the plans for the campus. We formulated a number of conditions to ensure that the campus wouldn’t negatively affect education in Groningen. For example, the new bachelor programme shouldn’t compete with the already existing University College Groningen. Furthermore, the campus should have its own staff, so it can operate independently and doesn’t require extensive human resources from Groningen. And finally, students should always be able to finish their programme in Leeuwarden, even in the unfortunate event that the campus might not catch on. You can find our full list of conditions here. The Board of the University agreed to these conditions and they are now part of their plans.

We will keep following the latest developments, as the faculty council is formed by a number of University Council members until the campus has officially become the eleventh faculty. You can follow the latest developments at https://www.rug.nl/cf.