Leiden will be the third university in a short period for te Beest. Before coming to Twente in April 2002 as the successor to Hugo Barbas, he had been the highest financial officer of the University of Eindhoven since 1998. He left Eindhoven on his own accord after the university council of the University of Eindhoven discovered a serious budget deficit. At his arrival in Twente, te Beest was immediately confronted with the UT's grave financial position. The treasury was empty and the university was forced to make drastic cutbacks in order to get out of the red, to complete overdue building maintenance before 2008 and still leave money for the necessary new housing development. The 2008 deadline was and is the result of an agreement with the municipality. What Barbas refused to take on - a spending cut in the services sector that threatened to lead to a loss of 160 FTEs - te Beest tackled. Three years later, he is satisfied with the UT's financial situation. Furthermore, there is a `widely supported' university plan and genuine progress with the real estate plans.
Trans. Jeroen Latour
