What do we do with the funds we acquire through Dutch students' grants?
Use of Quality Funds at faculty of Science
Because of the introduction of the student loan system in the Netherlands, financial funds became available to enhance the quality of higher education. In 2019 the Faculty of Science received these Quality Funds. Since then, plans have been made on how the money will be used.
The student members of the Faculty Council and Education Committees actively contribute to all plans. The improvements are based on students' own ideas and substantive additions from faculty members.
What plans have already been made?
The majority of the Quality Funds will go to small-scale and more intensive education. The remaining money is used to improve student guidance.
What has already been done? (summary):
More attention is paid to the learning process of students:
We hire extra people to free up lecturers and give students a better education. An example of extra support are Super Teaching Assistants (STAs).
New and improved courses:
By investing money in educational innovation, we ensure that our education always keeps moving forward and that students are well prepared for their careers. Most departments invest in the development of new courses and the adaptation of existing ones. A number of departments are working on innovations that meet the demands of the research field and/or professional field.
Look at the improvement plans per department
- We have hired 4 more student advisors:
To ensure that students can meet with the study advisors more often and more quickly, we have hired 4 new study advisors.
- Special projects aimed at several subjects, including student welfare:
Besides their regular study advisor work, the additional study advisors focus on special projects aimed at student welfare, the improvement of the tutoring system, labour market orientation, internationalisation, the visibility of the study advisors and study progress monitoring.
- At the request of students, there have been additional investments in internationalisation and digitisation activities
Evaluation
The plans are evaluated annually by the departments, education committees, the Schools and the Faculty Council. Also, as usual, the courses that have been developed and improved with Quality Funds are evaluated and adapted if necessary. In addition, a faculty working group with representatives from the Schools and the Faculty Council writes up a faculty progress report, including a financial justification, which is then sent to the Executive Board.
More information
Are you curious about the full plans? Or do you want more information? Then take a look at the overview page about the use of the Quality Funds.