The Dean

The Dean of Leiden University College

Overall responsibility for all LUC affairs rests with the Dean, who is appointed by the Executive Board of Leiden University at the recommendation of the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs. The Dean chairs the College Board and Board of Admissions of LUC.

College Board Leiden University College (CB)

The College Board is the executive organ of LUC and includes the functions of Dean, Educational Director, and Institute Manager. The College Board meets every other week and collectively decides upon all LUC affairs under the chairpersonship of the Dean. Decisions by the College Board that concern the community, are communicated in the CB Newsflash.

The Educational Director and Institute Manager have specific delegated responsibilities:
• The Educational Director manages all educational affairs. This includes curriculum development and management, quality management, staff development, and educational policy development.
• The Institute Manager is responsible for HR, financial, administrative and campus affairs. She is also the supervisor of LUC’s support staff.

The College Board is supported by the Secretary to the College Board Caitlin Utama and can be contacted via collegeboard@luc.leidenuniv.nl. 

Prof. Dr Giles Scott-Smith Dean (Chair)
Dr. Joris Larik Educational Director
Drs. Mirjam van den Brand Institute Manager

Board of Admissions Leiden University College

The College Board also functions as the Board of Admissions. Decisions on admission applications are made by the Dean on advice by the Admissions Office (assisted by a team of staff members who are involved in the admission procedure) and with the formal approval of the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs.

College Council (CC)

The College Council is an internal advisory body to the College Board, consisting of eight elected members: two academic staff members, two support staff members, and four student members. Elections for the student members take place in the fourth block of the academic year for 2nd and 3rd year representatives and in the first block of the following year for the 1st year representative and are open to the whole student body of LUC. Student members are elected for a one-year period. Staff members are elected for a 2-year term. Staff elections take place in the fourth block of the academic year.

The College Council meets at least four times per year with the College Board. Regular points on the agenda of these meetings are the mid- and long-term strategy of LUC, working and living environment, and social and cultural affairs regarding the whole College. In formal matters (e.g., finances and reorganization), the College Board has the right to consult staff members on the Council only. Please note that although the College Council will be informed about issues and decisions with regards to the academic programme, the advisory capacity in this regard lies with the Programme Council.

The College Council can be contacted via: cc@luc.leidenuniv.nl  they also have a mailbox on the 4th floor (next to the printers). 

College Council Staff

Dr. Otto Spijkers (academic staff | chair)
Dr. Marco Cinelli (academic staff) 
Justyna van der Hulst (support staff)
Ada Sulaj (support staff) 

Jelle Berends | 1 st year student rep
Villarni Ferreira Ramos | 2 nd year student rep
Ari Bektore |3 rd year student rep
Thomas Karmarker | student member at large

Programme Director

The Programme Director is the head of the Education Team and is responsible for:

• programmatic decisionmaking
• managing the BA and BSc programmes as outlined in the Course and Examination Regulations (OER)
• quality control in the programme
• making the annual teaching-plan
• developing and maintaining relations with academic units external to LUC (within Leiden University and beyond) for the purpose of running the programme

Structural changes in the programme made by the Programme Director need the compliance of the Programme Council and the College Board before they are sent to the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs for further approval.

The Education Team can be contacted at education@luc.leidenuniv.nl (this is also the centralized email address for all education related business).

First Year Programme

The first year consists of two main components – the Global Challenges courses and the Academic Skills courses. Each one has a member of staff in charge of coordinating the courses and the teams of lecturers who teach them.
Students should always first contact their course lecturer if there is an issue they need to discuss.The coordinator of each course should only be contacted afterwards, if necessary.

First year course coordinators 
Dr. David Ehrhardt | Global Challenges 1
Dr. Achim Häger Global | Challenges 2
Dr. Jyothi Thrivikraman | Global Challenges 3
Dr. Caroline Archambault | Global Challenges 4

Dr. Jacqueline Hylkema | Dutch History and Language
Dr. Adam Buben General Education | History of Philosophy
Dr. Joy Lee Academic Skills | Introduction to Statistics
Dr. Elisa van Cleemput Academic Skills | Mathematics
Dr. Barrie Sander Academic Skills | Academic Writing

Capstone Coordinator

The Capstone (bachelor’s thesis) is the final assessment of LUC’s academic programme. Research and writing are overseen by an academic supervisor. The final product is assessed by a supervisor and a reader. The overall management of the Capstone process is in the hands of the Capstone Coordination Team.

For more information, including the LUC Capstone Repository, visit the ‘Thesis and papers’ page on the Current Students website.
Questions relating to capstones can be sent to capstone@luc.leidenuniv.nl

Capstone Coordination Team
Dr. Diana Branduse Capstone Coordinator
Ms. Ada Sulaj Capstone Administrator

Major Team Leads (MTLs)

Next to their supervisory role, they are tasked with the coordination of the Major and they provide input in the broader coordination of the programme. They are the main contact point for the student representative (Peer Advisors, see section below) in each Major on issues concerning courses and planning.

Major Team Leads
Dr. Paul Hudson Earth |Energy & Sustainability
Dr. Kristin Makszin Global Health | Innovation and Society
Dr. Beatrix Futák-Campbell | World Politics
Dr. Barrie Sander | International Justice
Dr. Daniela Vicherat-Mattar | Culture, History and Society
Dr. Lucie Zicha | Governance, Economics, and Development

Programme Council

The Programme Council2 is a legal advisory body, consisting of eight members: four academic staff and four student members. Elections for the student members take place in the last block of the academic year for 2nd and 3rd year representatives and in the first block of the following year for first year students, and are open to the whole student body of LUC. Students are elected for a 1-year term while staff members serve a 2-year term.
The duties of the Programme Council are:

• advise on the formulation and amendment of the Course and Examination Regulations of the programme
• evaluate each year the implementation of the Course and Examination Regulations
• advise, on its own initiative or upon request, on any other matters concerning the teaching programme.

The Programme Council sends its advice to the Programme Director and to the Faculty Council of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs for inspection. 
The Programme Council can be contacted via programmecouncil@luc.leidenuniv.nl

Programme Council members

Dr. Davina Osei (Chair)
Dr. Aisa Manlosa
Dr. Josien de Klerk
Dr. Wolfgang Steinel

Marco Gurin | 2 nd year student rep
Avril Schroten | 3 rd year student rep
Isidora Breyiannis | student member at large

Advisory Council

The Advisory Council provides the College Board with advice on important strategic developments regarding issues central to LUC’s programme and activities, including liberal arts & science education, interdisciplinary research, relations with the city of The Hague and its institutions, student recruitment, labor market orientation, and financial sponsoring. The Advisory Council consists of academics, professionals, and one of LUC’s alumni.

Advisory Council members
Prof. dr. Inge Hutten (Chair) | Rector of the International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague
Prof. Dr. Bruce Mutsvairo | Associate Professor, Utrecht University Georgina Kuipers, PhD | Alumna LUC, Researcher and Educational Manager at the Nederlandse School voor Openbaar Bestuur
Prof. dr. Han de Winde | Professor of Industrial Biotechnology Institute of Biology, Leiden University
Prof. Dr. Maarten Frens | Dean of Education, Erasmus MC

Board of Examiners

The Board of Examiners is an independent legal body within LUC’s organization and consists of six members of LUC’s academic staff and an external member. Members are appointed by the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs. The Board has a number of responsibilities. Primarily, it is tasked with determining whether a student meets the requirements regarding the knowledge, understanding, and skills that are necessary to obtain a degree from LUC. To this end it is additionally responsible for ensuring that the outcomes of assessments and examinations adequately reflect the attainment of the learning objectives of LUC’s curriculum. It does so by means of a number of quality assurance procedures, including periodical reviews of grades and evaluations that students receive in LUC’s courses.

The Board is also responsible for enforcing the regulations concerning fraud and academic misconduct. Students can write to the Board if they have requests, concerns, or complaints about issues that fall within the purview of the Board. This includes requests that are directly related to their study programme, such as requests for course withdrawals, exemptions, transfer of credits, and external courses. The Board endeavors to respond within fifteen working days.
For more information on the Board of Examiners and to download request forms, see the ‘BoE Tab’ on the Current Students website.

IMPORTANT: Please note the difference between LUC’s Board of Examiners and the Examination Appeals Board of Leiden University. If you disagree with a decision of LUC’s Board of Examiners, you can lodge an appeal with the University’s Examination Appeals Board. The Examination Appeals Board also hears cases regarding negative binding study advice, grading decisions by individual examiners, and decisions with regard to admission to programmes (among others). You should lodge your appeal within 6 weeks after you received the decision in question. For more information on the Examination Appeals Board, see the ‘Faculty and study programme regulations’ page on the Current Students website.

The Board of Examiners is supported by an Official Secretary and can be contact boe@luc.leidenuniv.nl

Board of Examiners members
Dr. Achim Häger (Chair)
Dr. Ajay Gandhi
Dr. Sarah Hinman
Dr. Maja Vodopivec
Dr. Densua Mumford
Prof. Dr. Teun Dekker (External Member)