Student Council
All students have the opportunity to influence the university’s policies by participating in the decision-making process. This applies to both the faculty level and university level (in the University Student Council (USR)).
Staff Council
VU Amsterdam has had a Staff Council since 1993. Its members are university employees who are elected by their fellow employees from among candidates who are members of the various trade unions or who participate as candidates on an open list.
The authority of the Staff Council (including the right to be consulted, the right of consent and the right of initiative) is stipulated by the Works Councils Act (Wet op de Ondernemingsraden - WOR). In accordance with the WOR, the purpose of the Staff Council is ‘to engage in participation in the interest of the proper functioning of the university in all its objectives’. The Staff Council meets with the Executive Board at least once a month.
Joint Assembly
The Staff Council and the University Student Council collectively make up the Joint Assembly. The Joint Assembly holds consultations with the Executive Board. The Joint Assembly’s responsibilities and authority are laid down in the University Joint Assembly Regulations and are related to the right to be consulted about the annual university budget and the annual report (including financial statements), the right of consent regarding the strategic plan (multiannual policy plan), the Management Regulations and the Educational Quality Assurance Plan, among other things.
Representing the interests of individual employees is not one of the Staff Council’s tasks. The trade unions and other bodies are responsible for these activities.
Subcommittees
Each faculty and most service departments have a subcommittee. A subcommittee is a local staff council that is involved in affairs that are restricted to the relevant faculty or service department.
Contact details
Secretary OR: Klaske van den Berg, E-mail: or@vu.nl, Tel. 020 59 85312 / 020 59 85238 / 06 43214894
Secretary USR: Astrid de Bruin, usr@vu.nl, Tel. 020 59 84536 / 06 2896 1474
E-mail Joint Assembly: gv@vu.nl
Visiting address
Secretaries OR/USR
Van der Boechorststraat 1, room 1E-41
1081 BT Amsterdam