The UvA’s staff
Healthy composition of workforce
At the end of March, 2015, a total of 5,484 lecturers and researchers were aligned to the UvA. This joint figure includes permanent and temporary academic staff. The Executive Board has explicitly stated that an imbalance has occurred in recent years between the number of part-time and permanent employment contracts for lecturers and researchers. Besides, it is important that the numerical relationship between academic and support staff remains healthy.
Flexibility is important in the deployment of staff because it enables a timely response to, for example, fluctuating student numbers and a decrease in financial resources. On 10 October 2014, the Board undertook – in conjunction with the representative advisory bodies - to seek an appropriate balance between part-time and permanent contracts, thereby resulting in a balanced workforce composition at each faculty. Agreements were recently made as part of the Collective Labour Agreement (CAO) which limit the number of part-time employment contracts of four years or less for lecturers, assistant professors, associate professors and professors to 22 per cent in full-time equivalent (fte). The representative advisory bodies are currently being consulted on how to effectuate this at the UvA.
Part-time contracts in figures
Of the 1,614.5 fte in lecturers, assistant professors, associate professors and professors, 1,145.7 fte has a permanent contract, 340.9 fte is employed part-time, and 127.8 fte is not employed (this includes temporary employees and secondees). These figures do not include PhD candidates.
Percentage wise, 40.2 per cent of lecturers has a permanent contract, 81.8 per cent of assistant professors, 96.4 per cent of associate professors and 85.4 of professors. The balance between permanent and part-time has become more out of kilter at some faculties than at others.
The balance between academic and support staff
The University of Amsterdam makes a distinction between academic staff (WP) and support staff (OBP).
|
Staff in employ |
2010 (in fte) |
2014 (in fte) |
2010 (in %) |
2014 (in %) |
| Total | 4,107 | 4,499 | ||
| WP | 2,339 |
2,633 |
57% |
58.5% |
| OBP | 1,768 |
1,866 |
43% |
41.5% |
These figures* show that the number of employees has risen over the last few years, with the number of academic staff growing somewhat stronger in relative terms than support staff.
Support staff are tasked with assisting with education and research. Of the 1,866 fte OBP, 1,046 fte is employed by the faculties and 820 fte by the central units and services. The duties and responsibilities of OBP vary greatly: timetabling, programme administration, lab support, Personnel and Organisation, secretarial support, communication, operational management and finance. The staff from, for example, Student Services, the University Library, and Alumni Relations also form part of OBP.
*All figures exclude staff employed at the Academic Medical Center (AMC-UvA).