On February, 10-11th, 2015 the University of Amsterdam (UvA) hosted a seminar on human resources management and staff development in Universities.
The third training seminar was held within the framework of the ATHENA project “Fostering Sustainable and Autonomous Higher Education Systems in the Eastern Neighbouring Area”. The focus of the ATHENA project, supported by the European Union’s TEMPUS programme, is to contribute to the modernisation and restructuring of university governance by promoting and supporting greater university autonomy and financial sustainability in Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine.
The delegation from Lesya Ukrainka Eastern European University was headed by Rector Ihor Kotsan. The Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science was led by Andrii Hevko, Deputy Minister. The event was also attended by Roman Hryniuk, Rector of Donetsk National University, Petro Bekh, Vice-Rector for Research, Education and International Relations of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Tetiana Trubchaninova, national coordinator of the project, Viktor Hlebov, Director of the Institute of Social Sciences of I. Mechnykov Odesa National University. Among other foreign partners were participants from Armenian and Moldovan Universities and their respective Ministries.
The European University Association was represented by Thomas Estermann, the main coordinator of the project, Director of Governance, Funding and Public Policy Development Unit, who opened a bilateral meeting of the EUA and Ukrainian partners at the UvA library. The issues of adapting a new Ukrainian legislation on higher education were the most challenging at the meeting.
Prof. Dymph van den Boom, Rector Magnificus of the University of Amsterdam, in her opening speech greeted all international partners of the ATHENA project, stressed that human resources played a vital role in the development of the UvA.
Bert Burger, MSc, HR Department Director, together with Prof. Wout Buitelaar, HR Management & Organizational Behaviour Section leader, and Maaike Lűrsen, MSc, Director of Faculty of Science of the University shared their experience as to the tools of working with the recently fired staff members, classified their types, focused on the role of free English training classes for the employees of all levels in improving the emotional communication climate in the University.
Аmong other top priority questions discussed by the meeting how many employees should work in the Human Resources (Personnel) department, what kind of activities this department should perform, and the institution’s human resources strategy and its main elements.
The final part of the seminar was devoted to the Consortium meeting where relevant issues of budget, co-funding and holding a Benchmarking Forum in Yerevan, Armenia, were discussed.
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