The name change of the Faculty of Arts is not going ahead for now. Whether it will happen at all remains in question.
If it were up to the faculty board, the Faculty of Arts would have been renamed the Faculty of Humanities as of September 1. But that plan has been put on hold since the board of directors withdrew the proposal following discussions in the university council.
Confidential
The council discussed the name change twice with the board, both times primarily behind closed doors. The reason for the confidential discussion is still unclear. Only the part where the faculty board joined to answer questions from the council was public.
There were critical questions about the urgency of the change, the support for it within the faculty, the costs, and its practical implications. These were questions that the faculty council of arts had also asked the board before they eventually approved the proposal.
On hold
However, the council did not seem satisfied with the answers provided by arts dean Thony Visser. Why exactly is unknown, as the council discussed the answers in confidence. But the board withdrew the proposal at the end of April, which it usually does to revise or scrap a proposal entirely.
According to UG spokesperson Anja Hulshof, the proposal is currently ‘on hold’. Nothing is known about the progress of the name change at the Faculty of Arts either, confirmed arts spokesperson Marijn van Bronkhorst.
Whether the board will even submit a new plan to the council remains unclear. For the time being, this at least means that the Faculty of Arts will retain its name.