Illustration Shutterstock WUR’s Supervisory Board has two new members. That means this body, which monitors the Executive Board and gives it frank feedback, now has a full complement of six people. But who chooses the members, who approves the appointments and is the mix of members still appropriate for these times? Opinions on that last aspect in particular differ.
Supervisory boards usually have a dual role: they are supposed to monitor the executive board’s activities and also act as a partner it can bounce ideas off. WUR governance expert Katrien Termeer, who is a supervisory director of various NGOs herself, says membership is a serious responsibility, not some trivial side job. ‘You approve the financial statements, evaluate the performance of the executive board and are personally liable if something goes wrong.’ She hasn’t analysed WUR’s Supervisory Board but she stresses the importance of a wide range of expertise among the supervisory directors: ‘You need people who know about finance, IT and organizational change as well as people with a feeling for trends in society at large.’
That feeling is what is missing at present in the WUR Supervisory Board, thinks former Teacher of the Year Ignas Heitkönig. ‘I’m shocked at the current composition. Why does it include the financial director of an industrial meat processing company, for example? We’re in the middle of a climate and biodiversity crisis, so you need people who can think about future-proof agriculture, not people who are part of the problem.’
Lobby
The Supervisory Board choses its own members (see inset). The appointments are approved by the ministries of Education and Agriculture — currently the responsibility of caretaker ministers such as Eppo Bruins (of the NSC party) and Femke Wiersma (of the BBB). ‘That is not a formality,’ says Heitkönig. ‘There is a definite political aspect to this, which has consequences for the direction the university takes. If you appoint people who have links to the agri-industry or major lobbying groups, such as the agricultural company Avebe, you know what you are getting.’
Research, education and small-scale sustainable initiatives are underrepresented
PhD candidate Anne-Juul Welsink, who is involved in Scientists4Future (S4F), also has questions about the procedure. S4F and Solid Sustainability have analysed the supervisory boards of all Dutch universities, she says. They looked at the backgrounds and connections of all the supervisory board members. ‘The composition turns out to be skewed. The members mainly come from the private sector, often with a governance background. Of course supervisory bodies need such people, but research, education and small-scale sustainable initiatives are underrepresented. The WUR Supervisory Board does currently have someone from a “green” foundation — WWF — but they are still all establishment figures.’ That is why Welsink and S4F want a debate about the selection procedure.
We have no insight into the links between politicians, the private sector and the university
Heitkönig: ‘I looked at a Supervisory Board annual report but couldn’t find anything about their decisions or what their considerations were. What goes on there is out of sight of society at large. We have no insight into the links between politicians, the private sector and the university. They no longer merely lobby for a policy: they have become part of the policy-making body. Some of the people in this supervisory body represent companies that refused to talk to Johan Remkes during the nitrogen dialogue. That is not a neutral position.’
A workshop organized recently by S4F produced a very different picture of the future for WUR, says the former Teacher of the Year. ‘We talked about a campus without companies such as Unilever or FrieslandCampina and with more space for education, student housing and research into healthy soil and a healthy living environment,’ says Heitkönig. ‘Leeuwenborch (which is now located away from the campus, ed.) could move to those spaces. To achieve that, we would need a different make-up of the Supervisory Board, among other things, with more members who are rooted in science, sustainability and education, rather than mainly experts on financial reports.’
Confidence
One of the new members, Sigrid Hoekstra (WoonFriesland housing corporation), will be the main point of contact for WUR Council and the Student Council; she ‘enjoys our particular confidence’, as it is put. Both the councils were involved in the appointments. ‘We had transparent discussions and the process went smoothly,’ says WUR Council chair Blair van Pelt.
WUR Council chair: ‘We are free to voice criticisms and put any topic on the agenda that we consider necessary’
The chairs of the central representative bodies say they have confidence in the collaboration. The councils have official meetings with the Supervisory Board several times a year. ‘We have a good feeling about Hoekstra,’ says Van Pelt. ‘We are basically on the same team but with different roles. We are free to voice criticisms and put any topic on the agenda that we consider necessary. Everything we discuss with her is confidential and, as with her predecessor, we could talk things over with her if we were to get on poor terms with the Executive Board. There are good arrangements for that.’ The Student Council chair Hanna Elsinga emphasizes that the student perspective is not forgotten. ‘You can tell they don’t see education as a sideline. We recently discussed AI in education and I could see they were taking my point of view seriously even though I’m much younger.’
However, for PhD candidate and S4F member Welsink the fact that the meetings are held privately is a reason to be critical: ‘Who oversees the supervisory body? If we don’t debate this issue across WUR, nothing will change.’
The Supervisory Board was not available for comment and the chair prefers to avoid the limelight. Former chair Jeroen Dijsselbloem was not available either to reflect on his experiences. He said he would be unable to do an interview due to a packed diary.
The Supervisory Board – recruitment and publicity
How do you become a member of the Supervisory Board? An examination of the rules shows that the procedure — such as the role of representative bodies and the publication of the profile — is laid down in law.
The first step is when the Supervisory Board draws up a profile of who they are looking for, after consulting the Executive Board. This draft profile is sent to the representative bodies for their advice. They also have an opportunity to discuss the appointment profile with the Supervisory Board.
Once everything is agreed, the profile — the ‘vacancy’ — is published. Anyone can apply, except for WUR employees, politicians and some other specific categories. The new members who were appointed in April were found with the aid of a recruitment agency. The members are ultimately appointed by the Ministry of Education in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture. The chair too is appointed by the Ministry of Education in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture. The underlying idea behind this is that it keeps the supervisory body independent of the executive body.
Each member serves a four-year term on the Supervisory Board, with a maximum of two terms. The Supervisory Board regularly talks to WUR employees, for example during working visits prior to board meetings and in its meetings with the councils. The discussions the Supervisory Board has with the Executive Board are private.
From then to now
From the former chairs Job Cohen and Jeroen Dijsselbloem to the current chair Elbert Dijkgraaf, and from Berry Marttin and Robert Smith to Mariënne Verhoef, the Supervisory Board has had a lot of members since 2018 (the first year for which the annual report is available online). The longest-sitting member is Tjarda Klimp (who is also CEO of Vion Food Group), who joined in 2018. Verhoef was another familiar face until recently, when she completed her two terms, eight years in total. The board now has its full complement again, with chair Elbert Dijkgraaf and members Frank Baaijens, David Fousert, Sigrid Hoekstra, Kirsten Schuijt and Tjarda Klimp. Hoekstra is executive director of WoonFriesland housing corporation and Fousert is CEO of Royal Avebe.
Over the years, the backgrounds and experience of members have ranged from the CEO of WWF and a Rabobank banker to members of the supervisory boards of Avebe and FrieslandCampina. Both now and in the past, the WUR Supervisory Board has had professors and rectors from other universities.