‘A new beginning’, that is how Master of Ceremonies Erwin van Braam, Concern Staff Director, describes the university’s plans. And that new beginning – which gives priority to the student success rate – was preceded by a great deal of discussion, explains Executive Board Chairman Ron Bormans. So much discussion that employees eventually sighed: ‘Please stop talking, let’s just do it.’

That is why, over the next four years, the Executive Board will be investing in eight workplaces dedicated to this process of change, whose activities will transcend the boundaries of study programmes and schools.

Ancillary staff to become part of educational teams

It was already clear that the Board wishes to place greater responsibility on lower levels of the organisation. Yesterday, more information was given about the way in which this will be achieved.

The teaching teams that existed until today will now turn into educational teams. This is quite a significant change, as an educational team will not only consist of lecturers, but also include researchers, management, ancillary staff and facility personnel. Ancillary staff can be a part of multiple educational teams.

That means a further decentralisation of the services provided by the University of Applied Sciences, as well as a further decrease of expenditure on central services.

The education-related services (such as educationalists, deans and student affairs) are kept at 15%, but the expenditure on so-called generic services (such as the Executive Board, Human Resources and the financial department) will be reduced from 22.7 to 20 percent of the budget. Four years ago, this was still 27 percent. The money that is recouped in this way, goes directly to education.

The four economic schools will be dissolved

Study programmes will start collaborating in a different setting in the coming years. Instead of schools, domains will be created, starting with an economic domain. The four economic schools – the Rotterdam Business School (RBS), the School of Financial Management (IFM), the School of Management (IBK) and the School of Commercial Management Studies (COM) – have already developed a joint educational approach in recent years. Starting this academic year, they will be providing their educational programmes together from one location.

Entrepreneurship will be a new theme and a new part of the curricula of the economic study programmes. Students from other programmes for whom entrepreneurship offers an attractive perspective can also take part in this. The possibilities to facilitate students in setting up their own business will be examined as well.

The four current schools will be dissolved and merged into the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences Business School, to be headed by a three-person Management Board.

The same trend applies to the technical study programmes. The programmes offered by the School of Engineering and Applied Science (EAS), the School of Built Environment (IGO), the Rotterdam Mainport University of Applied Sciences (RMU), the School of Communication, Media and Information Technology (CMI) and the Rotterdam Academy (RAC) will work more closely together with the Research Centre for Sustainable Port Cities and the RDM Centre of Expertise, and the building at Academieplein will be given a thorough overhaul, Bormans explained.

Compulsory continuous training

Furthermore, lecturers will be obliged to periodically receive additional training in pedagogical and didactic skills, the role of central employee participation in a decentralised university will be examined, and more attention will be given to Master programmes than has been usual in recent years.

The recruitment and acceptance policy will focus on diversity, in accordance with the diversity charter signed by the university a year and a half ago.

‘Before summer vacation started, the Executive Board and Central Representative Board were arm wrestling about the desirability of a (variable) binding study programme recommendation’, said Bormans. ‘The university will now spend more time to discuss this topic with each other in detail and initiate a broader dialogue led by independent experts.’

Each year, 50 lecturers will be given the opportunity to experiment with new technology

In addition, the digitisation of the educational programmes will be given a boost. A physical location will be created, the Edulab, where experiments with new technologies can be conducted. Each year, 50 lecturers will be offered a voucher (time) to make use of the experimentation facilities according to their own specific needs and wishes. Any knowledge that is obtained in this way must, of course, be shared.

What binds us together?

If education becomes more decentralised, then what still binds us together as a University of Applied Sciences? ‘The mission and objectives as laid down in the strategic agenda,” Bormans explains, ‘in other words, our shared aim to offer high-quality, inclusive and context-rich education.’

What also binds us is the fact that the quality of the educational programmes is monitored in the same way for everybody, namely on the basis of student satisfaction, student success rate, staff satisfaction, links to the labour market and evaluation by experts (accreditation), and that we have agreed on the ways in which we collaborate (e.g. when it comes to elective modules and minor programmes).

The financial administration, ICT, staff and processes are uniform. Furthermore, everyone must adhere to the same (legal) rules, of course, such as the Higher Education Act and the rules and regulations of the accreditation organisation NVAO.

Budget later this year

Decentralisation also requires a different type of management by the Executive Board. According to our WORK plan, the Executive Board monitors the objectives of the educational teams, motivates, facilitates and invests.

How much the Board will invest, and how the funds will be allocated, will be presented in the budget, which will be published at the end of this year.

Text: Dorine van Namen
Photo: Hans Tak