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Keuzegids 2019: Further decline in TU/e's appraisal

In the annual Dutch universities guide published today, Keuzegids Universiteiten 2019, TU/e's appraisal by students has fallen for the second year running. Lex Lemmens, Dean of the Bachelor College, cites as the main cause the unexpectedly strong growth over the past three years and thinks that it will take another two years before the rating again approves. Wageningen leads the ranking, followed in second place by the University of Twente. TU/e comes in consistently in eighth place.

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photo Foto | Nathan Dumlao (Unsplash)

“If all universities across the board performed better than the year before, a fall from 62.5 to 60.5 (TU/'s rating last year and this year on a scale of 0 to 100, ed.) does not necessarily mean that TU/e has performed worse this past year,” says Lex Lemmens at the start of the interview. By which he means that figures don't tell the full story.

Not that he wishes to hide behind this reasoning. “I am not totally surprised that we are seeing a decline in our rating in the Keuzegids for the second year in succession, even though in early October in Elsevier's education special we were declared the best university of technology. We can only wait for the full analysis of the figures. But the sharp rate of growth we have experienced over the past three years was unexpected and consequently the steps we took to address the consequences didn't start as early as they could have.”

Lex Lemmens in 2017. Photo | Bart van Overbeeke
Lex Lemmens in 2017. Photo | Bart van Overbeeke

Likewise Rector Magnificus Frank Baaijens states that it is difficult to draw conclusions at this early stage, before he has the results of the analysis. "But I don't find it odd either, because we're also scoring less well in the National Students Survey (NSE) on certain points." He endorses the conclusion drawn by Lemmens that the strong growth in intake is the main cause.

Short lines

This has caused the short lines for which TU/e has been well-known in recent years to lengthen, as Dean Lemmens explains. “We are busy restoring them and in the coming years we'll be using the studievoorschotmiddelen (institutional funding available under the student loan system), among other things, to do so. This will involve a million euros in 2019 and in the two years thereafter no less than two million per year. In the Bachelor College we are already teaching the basic courses in small groups of five or six students and we have invited the departments to come and inspect this and, where possible, to apply it to their majors.”

The streaming and digital looping of classes to other lecture theatres is anything but ideal, Lemmens says. Does this mean the end of blended learning? Lemmens: “No, certainly not, but we must become much more adept at employing online knowledge transfer and at extending hands-on education. We have to find the balance in these things and for that there is also funding available.” For getting these activities and others, such as the use of teaching assistants and the creation of more study and teaching rooms, running smoothly, Lemmens expects that TU/e needs another two years. And Baaijens says he doesn't expect all these measures to be reflected immediately in the NSE scores.

Language proficiency

In the Keuzegids, in the chapter on the English proficiency of lecturers, TU/e trails the field with a rating of 6.1 on a scale of 0 to 10. As a reason for this Lemmens offers the transformation from Dutch to English in the university's teaching. “We've introduced it almost university-wide, but you can see very good ratings for lecturers decline as soon as they switch to presenting their material in English. Here too some time is needed,” says Lemmens.

TU/e's low score for ‘international allure’ (6.0) is something Lemmens finds difficult to fathom. According to the compilers of the Keuzegids, this relates to questions concerning how strongly international the program's focus is, or the extent to which students are encouraged to gain experience abroad. Lemmens: “With the exception of the Industrial Design program, the Bachelor College provides no opportunity for gaining experience abroad. That is something for in the Master's phase. For the rest,  I must say I do have the impression that here on campus we are working in an ambiance that is increasingly international.”

This week the university announced that it currently has students of 91 different nationalities on its campus.

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