Have you ever wondered who deals with your exchange/IRP/additional semester requests? Who is responsible for all tuition fee payments? Who makes sure that broken lights are being changed? It’s the UCR staff! We don’t always realize it, but UCR consists of more than just students and faculty. Without its staff this place could not function. But who are these people? What do they do exactly? What drives them? ‘Meet the Staff’ hopes to provide more insight into exactly these questions, by interviewing the staff members that are so crucial to the functioning of this institute.
This week I’m interviewing Huib Hubregtse, UCR’s Head of facilities & ICT.
Can you briefly introduce yourself?
My name is Huib, I’m 47 years old and live in Zeeuws Vlaanderen. Since September 2014 I’ve been working at UCR as the Head of facility and ICT.
What does a facility manager do?
It basically comes down to being responsible for anything related to facilities or ICT in the academic buildings of UCR. My position is quite new: in 2014, UCR didn’t have a full time employed facility manager, but only a ICT coordinator. However, as the organization is slowly growing and becoming more professional, it became apparent that a head position dedicated to facilities and ICT was needed.
What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
I have to work with limited means. It’s simply not possible to do everything I wish to do with the resources I have and the time I work, but that is also what makes it a challenge. Regarding facilities and ICT, UCR is still in the youth phase, with possibilities for development and improvement.
What achievement are you most proud of so far?
There is not one single achievement I’m most proud of, but in general I’m happy that there’s support among students and staff for significant changes in ICT and facilities. One great example is Moodle, a replacement for Workspaces. We are currently in the trial phase, but both faculty and students are very enthusiastic, so there’s a big chance we’ll switch to Moodle completely in due time. This clearly shows that both students and staff see the urge of renewal and are willing to try out new things.
How is working at UCR different from working at your former employers?
Before this I worked at a big healthcare group (‘zorggroep’) for eight years, where the dominant task in my job as facility manager was managing department heads, teamleaders and staff. At UCR I have the opportunity to actually be in a directive and steering role, and I see more progress of my work. Being a facility manager is a fun job, where you see direct results from your work.
How much contact do you have with students?
More than I expected, actually! Students know where to find me with all kinds of ideas, proposals, problems or issues. This is something I really like, as students tend here to be critical and intelligent. To provide the best (ICT) facilities, it’s of vital importance for me to know what students and faculty actually want. When I first came here, I was quite surprised to see that students are working at the UCR reception and the IT help desk. But I’ve overcome my initial doubts, as it clearly works out very well. The students working at the reception and the ICT help desk are the link between the student population and staff.
What changes would you like to see within UCR in a couple of years?
Well, first of all, the basics should be right. We should have solid Wi-Fi, solid printers, solid facilities in general. But I also hope to have some ‘delighters’ by that time, meaning certain things where UCR excels at. I definitely want to focus on creating better study facilities, because from my own student time I know how important that is. During my studies in the Haque and Ghent (Vlerick Business School) my student houses where always too noisy. For that reason I always studied in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Royal Library) and in Gent in the University Library. Seeing other students busy with studying motivated me. We are looking into creating that here in Middelburg. Another exciting development is the setup of the new Engineering and Innovation Department, of course. I’m a Zeeuw from birth myself, and I definitely think that such a department is of vital importance to Zeeland. Especially the combination of Liberal Arts and Sciences with Engineering is a unique selling point, in my opinion. Throughout my working life I have noticed that the people who are truly interdisciplinary get the furthest in life. In our current society it is not enough to just be really good with people, or a wizard with numbers: you have to be able to know and apply both. UCR’s educational philosophy clearly links with this. Finally, UCR should become more open and transparent to the outside world. Opening up the entrance or the open air classroom initiative are two clear examples of this. I could go on because there are enough possibilities for development. That is why I am definitely not done yet with working for UCR.
Marije Sluiskes, Class of 2017, is a Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science major from Est, the Netherlands.
Image source: UCR
