in cooperation with external contractor
UT security updated
UT security is being revamped; according to the university this update is necessary to be able to better respond to `developments in a hardening society, with new security risks'.
The university is seeking to contract a national commercial security firm by the end of the year. This contract will be put out for tender on the European market; according to Tom Koppen, head of the facility department which contains UT security, this will introduce new knowledge, routines and procedures regarding security. UT security (14 FTEs) will be headed by a qualified manager supplied by the contractor. The current manager, Marcel Weustink, will be kept on as an advisor until his early retirement in a year and a half. Current staff members will be kept on, but any vacancies will be filled by the contractor. Koppen: `This is not a reorganisation and there will be no lay-offs. We are searching for the perfect balance between having our own staff and hiring external guards. The university's specific culture and its students require an approach from the guards that is quite specific and takes a while to become accustomed to.'
Over the past months, the facility department performed a so-called market conformance research. This research compared UT security to four large external security forms. According to this research, completely outsourcing UT security has very few financial advantages. Staff size and salaries are at an acceptable level, but an intrinsic upgrade is needed. Koppen: `UT security has always been mainly an operational department. What's missing is embedding in a UT-wide security policy (yet to be shaped -ed), and a direct injection of new security expertise which requires cooperating with an external contractor.' He estimates the new structure might take several hundreds of thousands of euros to set up, but feels it is better than re-inventing the wheel. `We need better policies and professionalisation of the service.'
Koppen expects this new professional attitude will demand a higher `security-awareness' of students and staff. A new access system for the buildings will be introduced before the end of the year, with penalties for any violators. Koppen: `Procedures will be stricter, but the open spirit of the university will be preserved.'
Weustink confirms that the UT security guards are enthusiastic about the new plans, not in the least because their legal position at the UT will be maintained. The new structure will still have to be formally approved by the executive boards of the facility department and of the university.
Trans. Jeroen Latour |
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