General Questions

What is Inclusivity and Culture?

Inclusivity and Culture is the title given to DAE’s activities, initiatives and policies towards building an inclusive, diverse, respectful and safe culture within the Academy for students, teachers and staff.

This includes official policies on ethics and behaviour, feedback processes, participation in decision-making, complaints and investigations, and diversity initiatives.

What is DAE’s current policy?

DAE is legally required to have policies on many issues that fall within the remit of Inclusivity and Culture. All of DAE’s official policies are publicly available on this website in PDF format in the Governance & Regulations section, although some are currently only available in Dutch. These are extensive texts and cover everything from the Supervisory Board’s makeup to Privacy, Whistleblowing and the Misconduct Complaints Procedure. DAE is currently working on updating and translating all of these documents and expects to publish new versions early in 2021.

What is DAE doing to identify areas for improvement?

In December 2020, DAE began working with the external organisation Bezemer & Schubad to assess the school’s culture. DAE is committed to acting on the outcomes of this investigation and making positive changes where necessary.

The school is also establishing new forms of participation for students, teachers and staff to ensure that decision-making is more representative. BA and MA course committees will be installed from the beginning of 2021, and a new Institutional Participation Council will become active in February 2021. You can find out more about both of these forms of participation here. DAE will also continue to build on the existing collaboration between the Executive Board and the Student Council.

DAE aims to set a standard for transparency in design education, and the school is working towards this goal. More information on specific initiatives can be found in the updates section of Inclusivity and Culture and on the News page of this site.

How will the DAE community become more inclusive in the long term?

Everyone at DAE is aware that there is still a long way to go on this front. This is why the school is focussing on a number of different initiatives around inclusivity.

DAE has opened up an ongoing conversation between students and staff and is building an environment where both parties can feel safe and supported in sharing their thoughts and ideas. The school is also introducing inclusivity training programmes for teachers and continues to invite diverse voices into the school to lecture, teach and be part of the administration and organisation.

The Executive Board is currently working closely with the Student Council and the Anti-Racist Committee to address specific action points. Outcomes from this are shared in the joint statements page of this site’s Inclusivity and Culture section.

Which internal organisations have a say in the school’s policies and decision-making?

DAE has recently overhauled its internal structure, introducing new bodies to ensure both students and staff have a clear seat at the table. These include the Institutional Participation Council and course committees at BA and MA level. You can find out more about these here. They will become active in 2021 and will directly impact the Academy’s policies and decision-making at all levels.

The Executive Board is responsible for decisions and policies relating to the school’s overall management and administration and is appointed by the Supervisory Board.

Decisions about the curriculum are made by the studio leaders, department heads, coordinators and tutors under the Executive Board’s supervision.

The Academy relies on its management team to create a bedrock for the educational process. This encompasses Communications, HR, Finance and Operations teams consisting of staff and freelancers, including many former students. They are responsible for many of the day-to-day decisions relating to the running of the school, under the supervision of the Executive Board.

More information on the structure of DAE can be found here

What is the role of the Student Council?

The Student Council is the main connection between the student body and the Executive Board. It provides a platform for students to raise concerns and issues and share ideas.

It consists of current students from the BA and MA programmes and holds a weekly meeting that all students are welcome to attend. It also works closely with student-led bodies and initiatives such as the independent Anti-Racist Committee.

You can find out more about the Student Council here.

Who can I contact if I need support?

Students should contact their coordinator or mentor first. They will help guide students to appropriate support if they cannot provide it themselves, and they may refer a student to DAE’s student counsellor or confidential counsellors.

If students are uncomfortable talking to their coordinator or mentor for any reason, they can also contact the student counsellor and confidential counsellors directly.

You can find out more about the Care provided within the Academy here and about the confidential counsellors here.
https://www.designacademy.nl/p/study-at-dae/student-life/care
https://www.designacademy.nl/p/study-at-dae/student-life/confidential-counsellor

Students and staff can also contact Mores, an independent disclosure office for reporting undesirable behaviour in the performing arts, film and television sectors, art education and museums. Mores is completely independent of DAE and provides certified confidential advisors that can listen to individual concerns or complaints and offer advice. They work with ethologists and lawyers if necessary. https://mores.online

How do I report an incident or concern?

There are several ways to do this. Students can contact DAE’s student counsellor Olga Pullens: olga.pullens@designacademy.nl or BA student counsellor Mona Smits: mona.smits@designacademy.nl.

Students and staff can contact DAE’s internal confidential counsellor Yolande Hezemans: yolande.hezemans@designacademy.nl. This can be anonymous if necessary, using a throwaway email or you can ask her to keep your identity hidden.

Students and staff can also contact an external counsellor. DAE’s confidential counsellors are:

Tamara de Reu dereu@devertrouwenspersoon.nl
T 088 111 99 00

Jeroen Zweerts zweerts@devertrouwenspersoon.nl
T 088 111 99 10

Both are associated with “De Vertrouwenspersoon” (The Confidant), an organization that operates nationwide and works exclusively with professional and qualified employees.

Any member of the DAE community can also send an email directly to the Executive Board: executiveboard@designacademy.nl.

How do I report an official complaint?

The process for reporting a complaint is outlined in DAE’s Misconduct Complaints Procedure here. An official complaint can be made to the Executive Board, to DAE’s confidential counsellors or the complaints committee. Official complaints can not be made anonymously.

What happens after I have reported an official complaint?

All official complaints will be discussed by a Complaints Committee, including at least one current student and one current staff member. The process for hearing an official complaint is outlined in the Misconduct and Complaints Procedure. The committee will make a decision within 12 weeks of receipt of the complaint, and inform the Executive Board of their recommendation. The Executive Board can select from four disciplinary measures if the complaint is upheld, outlined in the procedure document. There is also an appeals process.

How can students and staff feel safe in reporting inappropriate behaviour?

DAE is working to create an environment where all students can feel safe. The school wants to identify and remove any barriers that make students or staff feel like the system is unavailable, ineffective or unsafe. There are now several ways to report inappropriate behaviour at DAE, including contacting external independent counsellors and reporting organisations, so students and staff always have someone to turn to.

The school has also asked the independent company Bezemer & Schubad to investigate the school’s culture.

What investigations are currently taking place within the school?

Bezemer & Schubad has been commissioned to undertake two investigations within the school.

The first is specifically focused on allegations of impropriety within a BA department. Current and former students, teachers and staff within this department have been contacted and invited to take part in the investigation.

The second is wider-reaching, looking at the culture of the school. More details of this will be shared soon. DAE aims to be as transparent as possible in reporting the activities and outcomes of these investigations while respecting privacy and Dutch law.

Is there an expected timeframe for these investigations?

We expect the first results in early 2021.

Have any tutors, heads or staff been suspended?

Not at this time.

What is DAE’s response to the recent protests in Eindhoven (January 2021)?

DAE believes strongly in the right to protest peacefully, which is a fundamental human right that must be protected. It does not condone violence or destructive behaviour. Recent events have forced DAE to increase security. You can find more information and our full response here.