The University of Groningen (UG) has recently started calling itself an ‘agile university.’ Many find that cringe-inducingly ugly—a contrived management buzzword. Last week, UKrant invited the UG community to suggest alternatives.
We received dozens of original and funny suggestions (and, to be honest, a few weird ones too). The editorial team put together a shortlist. Everyone can now vote for one of the five options (see the poll at the end of this article).
New developments
An ‘agile’ university, says the UG, is one that can quickly respond to new developments. That’s important, because the academic world is under pressure, both from within and beyond borders. But the UG is big, sluggish, and bureaucratic—hardly agile.
In short, the term doesn’t match reality. According to one contributor, UG’s supposed ‘agility’ looks more like ‘the stiff swaying of tree branches than the nimbleness of a banner.’ Another made a similar comparison: UG, the weather vane.
Frederic van Kleef, managing director of the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health, commented: ‘Agile makes me think of going whichever way the wind blows.’ He advocates for the engaged university. ‘It shows that the UG takes the fate of the world seriously.’
Listening to each other
Paul Upham, environmental science researcher at the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE), proposes the connected university. ‘It implies both listening and being listened to.’
Another approach, inspired by the University of the North, is The Northern Compass, suggested by Tim Kousemaker (FSE and YoungRUG). ‘A compass ensures you find your way to your destination’, he explains. And on the addition ‘of the North’ he says: ‘It refers to an institution that connects the region and provides direction in turbulent times.’
The university council’s science faction also made a contribution. They came up with the Flex Factory, the UG Rocket, the brash brain factory, and the De Vries accelerator (after university president Jouke de Vries).
Not alongside, but with one another
Internist Rick Pleijhuis from the UMCG suggests this alternative: multiversity. His description is just as elegant: ‘At the UG, you study at a multiversity—a place where different forms of knowledge and cultural perspectives exist not just alongside but with one another. This creates a rich learning environment and a broad perspective on a rapidly changing world.’
A less serious, but funny suggestion comes from Alexandra van den Doel, policy advisor at the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB): the rubber UG. Her more serious alternative: adaptable academics. She also offers a logo suggestion: an adjustable wrench.
Also noteworthy is vRUG, coined by student Anne Fleur Bus. It stands for vindingRijksuniversiteit Groningen (a play on words combining ‘inventive’ and ‘Rijksuniversiteit’).
Resilient
Many proposals use terms like the dynamic, the resilient, the future-proof, the robust, the worldly, and the versatile university.
Other suggestions include the responsive, the adaptive, the progressive, the critically adaptive, the boundary-pushing (‘We’ve been working at the boundaries of knowledge for years, but we’ll also need to redefine our boundaries with society’), and the entrepreneurial university—alongside the slightly more cynical: the-university-that-parrots-consultant-jargon.
Fluid
A slightly different take is the fluid university, suggested by student Esther Lainez. She explains: ‘Fluid makes you think of flowing water—smooth, constantly moving, and adaptable to any recipient and circumstance; it implies continuous motion and flexibility.’
Myrna Kooij’s alternative also carries a philosophical tone: adapted to change. She’s a biologist, and it shows: ‘As one of the oldest surviving universities in the Netherlands, the UG is doing pretty well as an educational institute from an evolutionary perspective.’
Based on all submissions, the UKrant editorial team created a shortlist. As one contributor aptly put it: ‘Anything is better than agile.’