Hanze organisation under redesign: More compact to increase impact for students and region

Hanze is redesigning its organisational structure. The organisation will be set up in a more compact way to better align education, research and the professional field, so as to be able to respond more quickly to developments in the region and bring education even more in line with the needs of students.

Education, research and the professional field are grouped into six thematically related clusters. The support services will work in three clusters. The current 29 organisational units will be reduced to nine identically organised units, for example. In the new form, education and research can increase the added value to both our students and the environment in which Hanze operates.

Since its establishment, Hanze has grown into an knowledge institution of significance with a wide range of activities for students which are in line with the themes of the North, and a highly developed higher professional education research profile. It is Hanze's ambition to use education and research to improve its connection to the challenges of the region even further. In the current set-up, the organisation is experiencing bottlenecks, in the area of manageability due to the large number of small organisational units, but also in the collaboration between education and research.

Agile and future-oriented

The new set-up will make it easier to work together at all levels. Because each component is organised in the same way, the lines of communication between the different thematic clusters will become shorter. Because education and research will be 'under one roof', both activities are given a boost: education will be even more in line with current events and research will take full advantage of the talent that is present within the Hanze.

Hanze will become a learning, agile and accessible organisation that is in keeping with the times and ready for the future. Dick Pouwels, President of Hanze’s Executive Board: "Society expects us to offer knowledge and solutions to pertinent societal issues and thus help shape our future. Issues that require input from our study programmes and researchers. Students expect us to educate them in the context of these societal issues. This requires an accessible and decisive organisation that is able to tackle the challenges of tomorrow with our students and our environment."

Natural turnover

The redesign does not have an austerity objective and is therefore not aimed at reducing staff. If a more compact organisation means less staff is required, this can be compensated for by natural turnover. Hanze has already incorporated the cutbacks caused by the demographic reduction of students into its long-term budget. The intention is to start the redesign in 2026. In the coming period, the organisation will be informed and the Hanze Representation Council and Supervisory Board will consider the proposed plans.

For students, the impact will be minimal. Educational programmes will not change as a result of the redesign.