The Executive Board of the University of Twente has appointed Dr A.M. (Alma) Schaafstal as the new portfolio holder for education of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS). With effect from 1 September, she succeeds Arend Rensink, who held the position for the past few years. The appointment is for two days a week, for a period of four years. In addition to her role as portfolio holder (and also vice-dean), Alma will remain active as programme director for Creative Technology.
Alma joined the University of Twente in 2015. Before that, she did, among other things, research on serious gaming at TNO for many years and joined Windesheim as a lecturer in this field. As programme director, she led the further development of the educational programmes for the bachelor's in Creative Technology and the master's in Interaction Technology, and set up with colleagues in Twente and Amsterdam the VU-UT bachelor's in Creative Technology, which started this academic year. Given the stage of this development, Alma will continue her role as programme director for now.
Joost Kok, Dean of the Faculty of EEMCS on the appointment: "Alma has a great heart for education and has made a valuable contribution to various educational innovations in recent years, both within the faculty and outside. With her drive and enthusiasm, she knows how to connect people. Given the task we face in the coming years, that is a quality that is very welcome in our faculty board."
Alma Schaafstal on "This position offers a fantastic opportunity to translate what I have learnt over the years to the faculty level, and also apply lessons-learned more broadly to our faculty. Big challenges await us in education: demographics leading to fewer Dutch graduates, the internationalisation debate, the current generation of students whose behaviour still seems to be influenced by the lockdown years, and the call to connect disciplines in education as well. I look forward to continuing to work on this together with colleagues inside and outside the faculty."
The EEMCS faculty board consists of the dean, Joost Kok, the portfolio holder for operations (Stephan Maathuis), the portfolio holders for research (Peter Veltink) and education (Alma Schaafstal), and a student assessor. Gergana Georgieva was recently appointed for the latter position.
The Executive Board is excited about the appointment and wishes Alma every success in her new role.
