UGent is a place where staff and students enjoy being. They can study and work on topics that interest them and use their talents and knowledge to build our academic community. However, we often hear signals from students and staff who are struggling. The workload causes a lot of stress, sometimes even leading to burnout. Some colleagues and students feel that their complaints and problems are not heard, and finding solutions often takes too much time.
Therefore, we want to strongly focus on improving the well-being of all students and staff at our institution. This way, we make UGent a place where it is even better and more enjoyable to work and study, and where every member of the UGent community feels safe and valued. We see well-being as a fundamental pillar of the university ecosystem and want to strengthen the various actors and actions around well-being at our institution with an integrated approach.
Well-being is not separate from the core tasks of the university and the way we frame studying, research, and working. Healthy food in our restaurants and cafeterias, space to move and relax, promoting social connectedness and cohesion within departments, research groups, and services through inclusive events, lunch seminars, mentoring programmes, buddy systems, etc., are essential for the well-being of every UGent member. Our infrastructure is also important: buildings where it is pleasant to work in both winter and summer, and campuses with plenty of green spaces, water features, and that promote meeting and collaboration are of great importance.
As a rectoral duo, we want to set a good example with our leadership style, connecting communication, and decisive approach to things that go wrong. Together, we make a difference, based on three focal points:
- Well-being and health as a fundamental pillar of the university ecosystem
UGent is a diverse community of students and staff, each in their own phase of their study or professional career. To fully develop talent and allow everyone to achieve their goals, creating a safe, stimulating, and healthy study and work environment where everyone can feel good is essential. This not only contributes to a positive balance between physical health, emotional stability, resilience, self-confidence, and stress management (mental well-being). It also promotes social connectedness, meaning, and enhances performance.
The action plan Welzijn en Engagement@UGent recently presented to the Board of Governors is built on the results of the well-being survey conducted by Pulso in 2023, with more than 4000 UGent members participating. We endorse the four university-wide key points from this plan: 1) respectful behaviour, 2) social support and appreciation by/for supervisors, 3) development opportunities, and 4) managing workload and the importance of an open feedback culture, connecting communication, and engaging in dialogue about workload and (dis)connection. The results of the broad survey for the OAP on transgressive behaviour at UGent (2022) also deserve continued priority action, both at the level of the Doctoral Schools and the faculties, departments, and research groups. To work with the recommendations from these studies, we provide tailored training and support networks. These are best embedded in existing structures.
The Columbus results for incoming students (January ’25) show that self-regulation (the extent to which students can plan and manage their learning process) and motivation are the most important predictors of study success and that these compensate for cognitive differences in prior knowledge. For students to focus on their studies and stay motivated, their mental health is crucial from the start of their study trajectory. This well-being is partly determined by the extent to which students feel involved in their programme. Here lies a unique opportunity for programmes and teaching staff to work on study involvement in collaboration with students in the post-COVID era.
For progressing students at UGent, the results of various well-being surveys and focus groups indicate increased study pressure, worrying, and loneliness as the main sources of reduced mental well-being. In its vision note 2023-2024, the Ghent Student Council indicated that very few students seek help for psychosocial problems. Excluding help for transgressive behaviour and educational complaints, the difficult step towards psychosocial help seems more of an accessibility than a service problem. In the report of the Ghent Student Council 2018-2019 on mental well-being among students (n=4382), students indicated that aspects such as confidentiality, continuity of help, personal contact, tailored referral, and continuous availability are the most important in the mental support offering. This need has recently been addressed with the opening of the ‘care centre for students’, a joint initiative of all higher education institutions in Ghent.
- Leading by example in a performant policy structure
We pay extra attention to the role of persons in a leadership position in the well-being policy. We strongly believe in “leading by example.” As a rectoral team, we want to set the example by prioritising well-being in all its facets. We address structural causes of well-being problems (work pressure, uncertain career prospects, etc.) and aim to finally realise the much-needed cultural shift in how well-being issues and transgressive behaviour are handled. We protect colleagues and students who have complaints and actively support them.
We want to encourage and support persons in a leadership position at all levels to make this cultural shift themselves. Many such persons are willing to solve problems but feel insufficiently supported in doing so. We want to change this. We give persons in a leadership position not only the responsibility but also the support and resources they need to solve problems. Among other things, a policy unit ‘Well-being and Health’ will be established to play a connecting role within the UGent community.
This unit will have the following tasks:
- Development and Monitoring of Digital Well-being Platforms: For students and staff, each consisting of three pages: a page with recommendations and activities to strengthen mental, physical, and social well-being; a page with information on prevention and the possibility of short-term psychological support; and a page with information on mental problems and how to deal with them.
- Direct Connection with Well-being Services: Including the Student Centre, the care centre, the Well-being and Engagement team (HR), Trustpunt, the Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work (CPBW), and faculty well-being ambassadors. Through a coordinated approach with HR, initiatives such as attention to respectful behaviour in the onboarding programme, ‘tailored career paths’, or ‘butterfly roles during care credit/parental leave’ can be thoroughly developed and streamlined. Aligning policies between different UGent services will ensure that well-functioning initiatives are maintained and further rolled out, and that bottlenecks can be quickly addressed.
- Support for Well-being and Health at the Faculty Level: We support the rollout of a network of faculty well-being ambassadors who are crucial for raising awareness and sustainably implementing initiatives around well-being and health promotion.
- Better follow-up of reports and complaints regarding transgressive behaviour
Since 2018, UGent has had a code of conduct applicable to students, staff, and anyone who comes into contact with a student or staff member of the university. Following the Pano report on March 16, 2022, it became clear that our institution needed to accelerate its policy on transgressive behaviour. This is also evident from internal documents. In its vision note 2023-2024, the Ghent Student Council reported that, although it is a small sample (n=21), a third of those reporting transgressive behaviour are not satisfied with the psychosocial support at UGent. The survey of the OAP section also showed that many staff members are confronted with transgressive behaviour or well-being problems, and that there is too often no solution for the reported issues.
The recent audit conducted by Deloitte regarding Transgressive Behaviour at UGent (2024) formulated several points of attention regarding 1) the organisation of reporting points (separate for students and staff), 2) the systematic follow-up of reports, 3) the psychosocial support of reporters, and 4) the monitoring of reports. These recommendations must be structurally embedded in UGent’s well-being and health policy.
Firstly, we ensure that staff and students who want to make a report are supported wherever they are within the university and, if necessary, referred to the appropriate reporting point. We therefore ensure good coordination between the various reporting channels. We also clearly inform reporters about the follow-up options available, depending on the type of report they make. Reports must be handled independently of policy, with integrity and mutual consultation with the reporter. Each reporting point is staffed by a certified confidant. Following the audit report, we aim to roll out a low threshold reporting point at the faculty level, as organised in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Specifically, we envision the following approach:
- Informal reports should be possible both anonymously and non-anonymously. The thresholds must be as low as possible. Students can do this at a faculty reporting point or with confidants in the student centre. Staff can contact Trustpunt in both cases. All reports are centrally registered.
- The faculty reporting point must be able to inform the dean about repeated reports concerning a person so that it can be assessed whether and how to respond to the reports.
- Within the policy unit ‘Well-being and Health’, staff members are designated who have access to the overview of all reports and are authorised to take action in situations where there are frequent reports. These actions are primarily solution-oriented, but further investigation and possibly disciplinary procedures must be possible if necessary.
- The reporter can switch from an informal report to a formal complaint at any time. In the case of a complaint, which is official and non-anonymous, the reporter can count on assistance in the reporting process and legal and psychosocial support where needed. Reporters are also informed of the protection rules that apply to them and are actively supported in this. This way, we protect them from possible reprisals resulting from their complaint.
With the above proposals, we work towards a more structural embedding and better alignment of well-being and health policy, striving for a healthy and safe living environment where all students and staff feel good. We provide concrete and accessible channels for everyone to support and strengthen well-being and health, prevent physical and mental problems, and seek help when health is at risk. Together with UGent members, we continue to evaluate whether the support offering meets their needs. Because a healthy mind in a healthy body not only promotes individual academic performance but also contributes to social connectedness and cohesion within our UGent community.