“Erasmus 2013, at home in the world” is the title of our strategy for 2013, which was developed in 2008. Halfway through the planning period, the Executive Board conducted a mid term review of the strategy. What is working well, what should be revised, what has succeeded, what has failed, and where do we need to adjust our ambition levels – these were some of the questions we asked ourselves. The strategy document reminds us of the ambitions set in 2008: by 2013, the Erasmus university will have grown into a proud, impact-driven university that offers excellence both in research and in teaching within a focused, recognisable profile. So far, so good, the ambition hasn’t changed.

The mid term review process highlighted a number of key learnings. Whereas in general, we seem to be on track to achieve our key objectives as set out in the strategic programmes developed to implement the strategy, there are also areas where we fall short. This is notably the case for graduation rates, where progress has been frustratingly slow. There are also areas where, frankly speaking, the ambition was unrealistic to begin with. Think “life long learning”, for example. The stated ambition is to become market leaders by 2013, well, this means beating the Open University at their own game in the next 2-3 years. ”That dog won’t hunt”, is what my American friends might say. The results of the mid term review have been discussed with the board of trustees (Raad van Toezicht), as well as with the Deans in yesterday’s College van Decanen. For every faculty, tailor made measures will be added to the strategy covenants to ensure we do not relax our targets and we increase the likelihood to meet the ambition levels by 2013.