On 5 November 2018, the Executive Board made an intended decision on the quality agreements in education that will be reached with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) in response to the sector agreement on investing in the quality of education (Investeren in Onderwijskwaliteit, April 2018). On 12 December, the Executive Board will discuss these quality agreements with the University Council to obtain its approval.
Valid for the period 2019 to 2024, the quality agreements are the result of an intensive process that has been coordinated at faculty level by the educational programmes themselves. Since March this year, all faculties have been formulating their own plans concerning quality improvements in education. All faculty councils have been intensively involved in planning and the process is almost complete in the faculties. All of the plans combined form the quality agreements that the Executive Board will now discuss with the University Council. Once approved by the University Council, the quality agreements will be put to the Ministry. The Ministry will provide the income of the student loan system (in Dutch studievoorschotmiddelen) to enable the realization of the agreements. For the UT, this involves the sum of € 2.6 million in 2019 that is expected to reach a total of € 6.5 million by 2022.
Regarding the bottom-up approach that the UT applied to develop quality agreements, Thom Palstra says: “I am satisfied and proud about these quality agreements and the extent to which students in particular, but also our staff, have been actively involved in the development process. This demonstrates that quality of education is high on the agenda that is remains a key focus.”
FIVE PROGRAMMES TO IMPROVE QUALITY
At UT level, the faculty plans have been converted into five programmes in which efforts are being made to improve education quality:
- Community building
- Learning facilities
- Teaching professionalization
- Talent development of students
- Global citizens
Students and educational staff have made a substantive contribution to developing these quality agreements. Each programme has a long-term ambition in order to direct the efforts the UT will take to improve education. Faculties can participate in a programme to the extent that is required in order to realise a significant improvement of education, in line with the needs of students and staff.. This means that there are differences of emphasis in the faculties’ approach to the five programmes. These are described in broad outline below. (LINKEN/UITKLAPPEN OP WEBSITE NAAR DE VIJF PROGRAMMA’s)
EDUCATION QUALITY AGREEMENTS: FIVE PROGRAMMES
The most important priorities set by the faculties in the programmes are as follows:
The Faculty of Science and Technology (S&T) is focusing its quality improvement strategy on the learning facilities, community building and teaching professionalization programmes. The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) is concentrating on study facilities, intensifying the educational process through student guidance and teaching capacity. The Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences (BMS) is focusing its quality improvement across all programmes, as is Engineering Technology (ET), although it is also placing particular emphasis on maintaining the small-scale approach in its educational programmes. The Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) is concentrating on staff development and the evaluation of teaching performance, career guidance, internationalization, E- learning and blended learning, as well as study facilities.
FOLLOW-UP
The Executive Board is discussing the proposed policy agreements with the University Council on 12 December. The UT plan on quality agreements will be assessed parallel to the institutional quality assurance audit for which the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO) will visit the UT in late 2019.
Once the agreements have been approved, faculties and the university in general will report on the progress of the quality agreement programmes. Based on this information, both faculties and the university will determine the desired course of action within a programme in close consultation with students and staff. This programmatic approach provides enough room to respond adequately to new situations and to incorporate unforeseen opportunities.
MORE INFORMATION
Contacts: Bertyl Lankhaar (+31 (0)53 489 2210), spokesperson for the Executive Board/ Merijn Snel, Strategy & Policy adviser (+31 (0)53 489 3951)