Key points from the SURF Members' Council of 14 June

Discussions at the Members' Council on 14 June included the 2022 annual report, the core package of services and tariffs for 2024. You can read more about the key points in this post.

The following topics were discussed with the Council of Members:

Annual report 2022

At this meeting, the Annual Report 2022 of the SURF Cooperative was presented to the Council of Members for adoption. Although the budget foresaw a deficit, the year ended positively. The audit was conducted by Mazars, who issued an unqualified audit opinion on the annual report, with a restriction due to the release of a provision built up for the merger into 1SURF. As this concerned outdated information and SURF has since taken steps towards the future, a detailed audit of the build-up of the provision was no longer possible for the auditor. Hence the restriction, which is a one-off and will not come into play next year. The Council of Members adopted the annual report with some additional compliments. Thanks to clearing the provision and addressing the fee model, SURF is heading for a healthy future.

Core package of services 2024

Every institution that becomes a member of SURF signs a membership declaration, which sets out the arrangements for cooperation within the cooperative. The core package is determined annually by the Council of Members. These are services that members purchase exclusively from SURF, insofar as they wish to make use of them. The Executive Board (BoD) requests advice in advance from the SURF Portfolio Advisory Committee (SPA), composed of two representatives at CSC level from all SURF sectors. Both the SPA and the (vice)chairs of the CSC sector consultations advised positively on the BoD's intention not to change the core package. Thus, there are no new services for which purchase from SURF is mandatory. On this basis, the Members' Council adopted the 2024 core package of services.

Additional services 2024

SURF recently paid attention to part of its additional service offerings based on the analysis made last year of the entire package. Most of the services did not experience any problems, a limited number needed to be scrutinised. This was picked up in early 2023. For these services, the changes needed to achieve a sound business case for each service were determined: from change in price to further development or phasing out. All changes were combined into one proposal, which was discussed with the SPA and the CSC (vice) chairs. They recommended positively to implement the whole by 2024. This process also included the Member Council Rates Committee, which also gave a positive opinion. Based on these opinions, the BoD will take the decision to implement the changes by 2024.

2024 tariff letter

As per the articles of association, it is up to the BoD to set the tariffs taking into account the opinions received. The tariffs for 2024 are set taking into account the above matters (determination of core package and the amended additional services); also, in accordance with agreements, the inflation correction is applied (in accordance with CPI CBS for 2022). The decisions will be incorporated in the 2024 Rates Letter that will be sent to all members in the summer.

Next step in the rates process

Finally, the final steps in the portfolio and rates process were also discussed with the SPA, CSC (vice) chairs and the Members' Council Rates Committee. The aim is to simplify the system, after which both existing services and new services will have a clear process and clear agreements on how services can be included in the core package. After the summer, this will be discussed again with the Members' Council Tariff Committee, CSC chairs and SPA, after which it will be submitted to the Members' Council in October for decision.

Scientific Technical Council nominations

New members of the Scientific Technical Council (WTR) are nominated by the Supervisory Board to the Council of Members. They appoint the members based on their expertise and vision in the cooperative's fields of activity. The following persons were appointed or renominated in this Council of Members:

Appointment of Prof Dr Marcus Specht for a first term. Marcus is professor of Digital Education at TU Delft and director of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Center for Education and Learning. He is further leader of the 4TU Centre for Engineering Education and member of the Executive Board.
Appointment of Dr Nynke Bos for a first term. Nynke is Lecturer in Teaching, Learning and Technology at Inholland University of Applied Sciences and Academic Dean, Master Learning & Innovation.
Reappointment of Prof Arno Lodder for a second term. Arno is professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the VU University of Amsterdam.
Reappointment of Dr Martijn Kleppe for a second term. Martijn is a member of the Executive Board of the Royal Library (portfolio Research & Discovery) and a member of various networks around research.

Npuls

An important upcoming step for Npuls is the signing of the covenant by the four participating Partners: UNL, VH, MBO Raad and SURF. To that end, all parties have now received the third draft version of the covenant, incorporating feedback received earlier from the Partners, SURF's Supervisory Board and Works Council and the Npuls Members' Council, among others. There are compliments for the thorough process of working together and the text is agreed to be signed on behalf of SURF. The non-participants in Npuls also endorse the agreements for the cooperative. In addition, an addendum will be drawn up, detailing the penmanship and operational management. More (substantive) information about Npuls can be found at npuls.nl. Here you can also subscribe to the newsletter.

Changes in the Council of Members

The vacancy that had arisen in the hbo department due to Hans Camps' retirement from De Haagse Hogeschool has been filled by Yvonne de Haan, vice-president of the HAN Executive Board.
The vacancies that arose in the MBO department due to the departure of Gerry Geitz at Noorderpoort and the appointment of Mirjam Koster-Wentink to the MBO Council Board were filled by:
- Rob Neutelings, chairman of the Board of Curio
- Arlène Denissen, member of the Executive Board of Albeda