Sandra van der Hor is per 1 March 2020 appointed as the new external confidential counsellor of TU Delft. 

What is the role of the external confidential counsellor?

• acts as an independent and confidential counsellor; 

• provides adequate support for those who are dealing with undesirable behaviour;

• provides a listening ear; tries to find a solution in the informal atmosphere; discusses other options available to create a safer or better situation; 

• monitors the follow up;

• only upon request of the reporter; refers reporters to other health care services;

• will keep all information confidential at all times, unless the reporter gives explicit permission to share the information with others.

• have a hierarchic relationship with TU Delft as employer;

• fulfil the role of a “mediator” between parties; 

• investigate complaints or hear witnesses. It is not about getting “the truth” on the table, but providing the reporter with proper tooling to deal and act upon the occurred situation; 

• take over the conversation. It is up to the reporter to act upon the help, tips and tricks that the counsellor provides.

The information and correspondence shared or held with the external counsellor is always confidential and will remain anonymous. 

In case you have other questions or complaints that do not belong to the external counsellor, Sandra will refer you to the right person or health care service.  

“Out of genuine involvement, I like to work with people and organizations that need a listening ear, advice or help. As an external and certified external counsellor, I offer that listening ear. Together we find out if the reporter would like to do something with it, and if so, what the next steps could be.  

Preventing is better than curing and that is why prevention always comes first to me. Signalling (early) and tackling psychosocial workloads will - in many cases - prevent serious and long-term problems for employees, employers. And students. 

Fortunately, more and more organizations realize that undesirable behaviour and integrity violations occur everywhere now and then.  Every organization should ensure a safe workplace where everyone in the organization has a contribution to achieve this result. This requires an open culture where eyes are not being closed for (potential) problems.  Respect, care and integrity are personal values to me. People characterize me as accessible, professional, reliable, practical, decisive and driven.” 

Sandra van der Hor can be reached by phone at 06-21170603 or by mail via S.vanderHor@tudelft.nl