Luxembourg’s only university embroiled in row over governance

Luxembourg’s only public university is facing mounting pressure over staff allegations of bullying and harassment, but the institution’s rector has denied that there is a systemic issue at the university.

Jens Kreisel, who took on the role in 2023, dismissed suggestions that recent allegations of a “toxic work culture” and unfair hiring practices reported in local media were indicative of a wider issue at the university.

“Certainly, there are situations which are difficult for some people. We are an institution of 2,800 people, and certainly some of the cases which have been reported in the press need to be looked into clearly,” he told Times Higher Education. “But I don’t think there is a systemic issue or a difficult environment at the university.”

The controversy began in December after The Luxembourg Times published interviews with 10 former and current staff in the university’s faculties of law, economics and finance accusing management of “bullying and threatening behaviour”.

Since then, more allegations have emerged in local media, with staff accusing the university of having opaque promotion procedures and engaging in favouritism.

In an open letter published in the Luxemburger Wort on 7 March, two professors at the university called the institution’s governance policies “hierarchical” and “undemocratic”.

In the letter, Luc Heuschling, professor of constitutional law, and Benoît Majerus, professor of European history who has been nominated as a candidate for the board, detail what they describe as “shortcomings” in the university’s internal standards.

Heuschling and Majerus acknowledge media reports of “instances of harassment” and criticism of the university’s response. They say they will “refrain from making a judgment on the substance of these reports” but add that various bodies such as the ombudsman, unions, university council and faculty councils had not fulfilled their roles if staff felt they had to turn to the press.

They also criticise the university’s response to the media reports, saying it approached them with a “mixture of condescension and a shoot-the-messenger reflex”.

The academics say the university espoused a “top-down” approach to governance. “In our view, a more structural problem stems from a highly hierarchical, undemocratic organisation that leaves too little room for the university community in decision-making,” they write.

Asked if he agreed with the professors’ assessment, Kreisel said that he disagreed with the criticism of the media response but that the comments on governance reform were “constructive” and “worthy of debate”.

“There are many different views in our university and in the country on the governance model, and I accept that we look into this, and we discuss it,” he said.

Addressing the allegations over a lack of transparency in the hiring processes, he said: “There is no favouritism. Our hiring procedures are robust, we have many different avenues for promotions.”

He also pointed to an open letter signed by about 250 academic and administrative staff in support of the university in February as it came under increasing scrutiny. Local media reported that some PhD students said they felt obligated to sign the letter, citing internal communications.

Frédéric Krier, central secretary at the education and science syndicate of the Independent Luxembourg Trade Union Confederation, said the union shared the concerns raised in the open letter by the two professors.

“We’ve had this position for many years and there have been some advancements since the creation of the university in 2003,” he said, adding that before legal amendments in 2018 the university council had been composed entirely of outsiders such as representatives from the private sector. “But the functioning model is still vertical and top-down and issues with transparency remain,” he said.

Krier said the union had assisted several professors who had accused the university of harassment and unfair promotional practices. “For several professors, the grounds on which their applications were rejected was not very clear because the criteria are not clear,” he said, stressing that transparency in hiring decisions had been a longstanding issue.

He said the university was working with the union to discuss and review procedures around harassment complaints. “Dialogue [with the university] has been working,” he said, adding that a collective bargaining agreement would be signed within a few weeks.

Rector Kreisel said the university was looking at ways to make it clearer to the academic community where to turn with concerns about the working environment and well-being.

Allegations of bullying and harassment first emerged in September after masked protesters handed out flyers to MPs warning of an “alarming situation behind the scenes”, The Luxembourg Times reported.

In February, the government launched an external audit into governance at the university following mounting media reports detailing accusations of troubling behaviour.