News Overview August - November 2011

WUAS - Open House Spaceboxes

Molendwarsstraat 37/39, 15.30 – 17.00

Thursday the 17th of November Wittenborg organises an Open House for everybody who is interested in this new way of student housing: the Spacebox.

Since last August Wittenborg has arranged 24 of these colourful boxes that are so popular among students, international as well as Dutch, that they will all be occupied by the end of November.

On a surface of 18 square meters the student has his own, fully equipped apartment with shower, toilet, bedroom and kitchen: you have complete privacy, but still are surrounded by fellow students.

To introduce this way of living to the public Wittenborg has invited members of the press, the local government, housing associations and the citizens of Apeldoorn for an Open House. Students, staff, management and teachers will be present to answer questions and show people around.

If you are near to Apeldoorn and curious to see the Spacebox ‘up and running’, feel free to come and have a look. Looking forward to seeing visitors from Apeldoorn and the region on Thursday!

10/11/11 - On November 4, Ibrahim Shillingford finished his internship at Wittenborg. He started this internship on the 19th of July with the duel task of being an internal auditor for the checking of the effectiveness of Wittenborg’s quality control, and to propose solutions in cases where this quality control falls short. This he did through a systems audit, various interviews, and observation from within his internship.

From the many challenges (communicating professionally, developing analytic skills, “waking up early!”) Ibrahim learned to improve his auditing skills, and increase both his knowledge of European higher education systems, and quality control itself.

Ibrahim Vinikopoh Shillingford is Wittenborg Business School's first student from Nigeria. He arrived in the Netherlands on January 2009, and in his own words: “It was very cold!!.” Since then, he has displayed a determination, and motivation to excel in his studies, and this has not wavered in the slightest. He now approaches the last stages before graduation, and we wish him all the success that he deserves.

Student Tutor, Daniel O'Connell

One of the first Chinese students to ever study in Deventer – Xin (Daphne) Wang

Daphne Wang currently works as Financial Administrator at WUAS, alongside her teaching at Etty Hillesum, a local high school in Deventer, which she has done for a number of years. She is originally from Beijing, China and has special passion for Chinese language and the Chinese Culture. Her subject at the local high school in Deventer is, of course, the Chinese language.

Daphne joined Wittenborg a year ago after having worke for many years at financial departments in companies like Randstad Uitzendbureau (International Manpower Agency) and Kadaster (Netherlands Mational land Registry). In 1997, Daphne was one of the first Chinese students to study at the Rijkshogeschool IJselland, in Deventer, where in September 1997, she started her HBO Bachelor studes in “Bedrijfseconomie”.

“In those days there were no international classes for Chinese students! - I am so happy to now work in a truly international environment, after so many years of studying and working in a completely Dutch environment. I am also very pleased to hear that Wittenborg is going to organize a trip for students to go to Shanghai next year on an exchange programme with such renowned universities there. I would love to provide my expertise to help our University organize the trip.”

Throughout the year and during all six lesson blocks, WUAS arranges company excursions for all phase 1 and 2 business school students. Special research assignments are handed out to establish the connection between the course modules of that block and the excursion.

On November 2nd Wittenborg students visited Smurfit Kappa Zedek, an innovative packaging company whose customers include leading global companies such as Heineken, Philips, Unilever and Mars; brands that certainly sparks the students’ imagination! With course modules such as ‘Modern Principles of Marketing’ and ‘Procurement & Production’ the visit taps right into the core of the programme.

MarQuinho dos Santos, phase 2 student: “On arrival we were

welcomed by the managing director of the company Mr Jack Pieterson, who introduced us to Smurfit Kappa Zedek. After the presentation Mr. Pieterson and his sales manager) turned themselves into excellent tour guides and made effort in giving us a glimpse behind the scenes. This was my first excursion at Wittenborg and it was certainly a valuable one of which I’m glad I participated!”

Jack Pieterson also represents the Dutch employers association, VNO-NCW, at regional level (Stedendriehoek) and is a member of WUAS’s Advisory Board.

PDP - the essense of a student's development.. by Wittenborg News - Tuesday, 1 November 2011, 11:52 PM

PDP – or “Personal Development Planning” – a core thread to Wittenborg’s business studies programmes, and its intensive student tutoring programme.

WUAS Lecturer Daniel O’Connell talks about the long-term benefits of the PDP programme, and its added value to Wittenborg’s students.

Why Personal Development Planning?

“What has Personal Development Planning (PDP) got to do with my studies in IBA?” is a question that the author of this article has heard often enough. It is a fair and necessary question to ask, and one that has a particular answer for each recipient who poses the question. Herein lies the unique, yet subtle, value of PDP, and this value is encapsulated in the word “personal”.

Our world today is undergoing a great transformation that is not so unlike the great Industrial Revolution of the 20th century which precipitated great social change. As then, so now with this “ Information Age” do we have great social change, with consequences that is still being absorbed by society. So, what has this got to do with PDP?

With this wider, faster access to information, students in higher education are exposed to many opportunities in regards to planning their future. Universities around the world are releasing highly talented people into society, but - and one must ask in today’s present climate – to what kind of society?

It is now common knowledge that the world population is rising consistently, with each year adding more and more highly educated individuals into a job market that is presently suffering from well-publicized economic turmoil. It is not uncommon to now have many applicants, with all the necessary qualifications, making hopeful applications for vacancies. It is an employers market, with a glut of talent to choose from. So, what is that spark that will set one apart from the others?

Those with a strong and well-developed plan of themselves and the life they want, will, in the opinion of this writer, stand apart from those who do not. Having the right qualification will meet one criteria, but you will be one of many. However, knowing the competencies that are strong in oneself , together with an awareness of those that are somewhat lacking, leads to precise and intelligently-measured action. Additionally, the application of reflection upon the studies that one undergoes contributes to a personal empowerment that is automatically noticed by those whose responsibility is job-candidate selection. What are being described are core PDP values.

The answer to the question mentioned at the beginning of this article is: “Everything!” It is everything because it places the individual student face to face with themselves, and the opportunities to change, upgrade, adapt to a rapidly changing world, and, how they can begin to successfully apply their newly-acquired knowledge in a focused, and highly creative manner.

This is the spark that draws an employer’s attention.

28/10/2011 - WUAS Students visit the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland and establish relations with the Polish students and Faculty there.

Independently initiated and organized by Wittenborg student Pouyan Kalanaki (Iran) and Saxion University student Agnieszka Plewa (Poland) in cooperation with WUAS's Students’ Union, a group of Apeldoorn based Wittenborg Business School Students took advantage of the autumn free study period / holiday, as an opportunity to expand their knowledge and experiences by exchanging information with students from different areas and different cultures in Poland. The main objective of visiting Nicolaus Copernicus University was to realize a project with environmental protection students, mainly focused on sustainable businesses.

Professor Adam Czarnecki‏, of Nicolaus Copernicus University, opened the program by presenting the main pillars of their studies, to help Wittenborg students get to know their approach to business education, and in return the Wittenborg students presented the main aspects of business studies, Netherlands style, to the Polish environmental protection students.

The programme ended with all students uniting in mixed Wittenborg and Nicolaus Copernicus student groups to present a profitable and eco-friendly business idea.

WUAS Business School Director, Peter Birdsall showed his admiration for the initiative; “at a time when most Higher Education students at Netherlands Universities and Business Schools are mainly concerned about doing just enough at University to gain study credits, it’s wonderful to see Wittenborg students taking their own initiative to expand their horizons together at a time when they could just take off on an individual holiday”. He added that WUAS has planned two study trips for the spring term, with a week visiting the UK, where students can visit Wittenborg’s partner, the University of Brighton, and a special trade mission project week to Shanghai, China at which students will be able to spend a week visiting the campus of the Shanghai Business School, and visiting international companies and organisations in the city.

WUAS launches promotion and partnership campaign in Shanghai and Beijing.

The Business School has re-established links with its partners in China, setting the stage for a number of durable partnerships with 3 Shanghai Universities and completing promotional activities at 9 of the largest China-wide agencies.

Through the informal relationship Wittenborg holds with staff members at Shanghai’s Fudan University, Board Members Peter Birdsall and Maggie Feng were invited to hold important discussions with management of the Shanghai Business School, regarding joint development of progression rogrammes, the exchange of professors and students and the close cooperation of each other’s research centres. The agreement between both institutes is expected to be signed in December.

The first project will be to enable a group of Wittenborg’s students to travel to China and take part in a special China Project Week in the form of a trade mission to Shanghai in May of next year. During this week Wittenborg students will be introduced to the culture and business in Shanghai, staying at the famous University campus, visit various higher education institutes, follow guest lecturers, meet fellow students and also visit Dutch companies and organisations dealing with international business and trade in the city.

Talks were also conducted with the Shanghai Finance University in order to establish a partnership, and it is expected that a Memorandum of Cooperation between the two institutes will be signed before the end of the year.

Wittenborg also joined Shanghai University’s progression programme jointly offered in Shanghai with an Australian institute, and which will allow progression of students from Shanghai into specialisations at Wittenborg in Apeldoorn, including Economics and Management and Hospitality Management. During a tour of key Chinese Study Abroad Agencies, Peter Birdsall gave presentations to managers and counsellors on the programmes offered by Wittenborg, and the wonderful green city of Apeldoorn, that is fast becoming an attraction for international students in the Netherlands to live, study and work in.

The city of Apeldoorn welcomes international students, and is planning to work with Wittenborg to make the city an excellent place for this important group of knowledge migrants to live, study, work and spend their leisure time. This was a clear message given during a debate between local politicians, civil servants, the Apeldoorn housing corporations and other representative groups of young people in the city.

The Higher Education organisations represented were WUAS Business School and the Theological University. The Wittenborg Student Union was also represented, and made it clear that student’s main priority is to feel welcomed in the city and to be assisted with the process of integration and life in the town – by means of facilities and decent student housing.

Wittenborg Chairman Peter Birdsall made it clear that the “Space Boxes” that the school had realized in the centre of the town, were only an example of the excellent stimulus that an international student could bring to the town. Research has shown that each international student brings at least 25,000- euro per year to the city in which they study and live. International students and fully international schools such as Wittenborg, with its 46 nationality mix in a population of 200 students will be an essential asset in the coming years, with graduates, as skilled knowledge workers contributing to a ever increasing aging workforce.

During the debate, Saxion, the regions large general University of Applied Sciences was encouraged to consider housing its international students in the city, something that the school has resisted until now. The debate concluded with a call for closer cooperation between the institutions and organisations, and a commitment from the City of Apeldoorn to support and facilitate the expansion of quality student housing, and higher education for international students in the town.

This news in the Dutch press:

The Stentor

Transfermagazine (Nuffic)

Dutch Government confirms that international migrants give a positive impulse to the Dutch economy and culture. Minister Leers of Immigration indicated yesterday in The Hague that the Dutch government sees highly qualified knowledge migrants as essential for the Dutch economy. He stated that migrants bring innovative ideas and new insights to the Netherlands.

Truly International Higher Education

Of course, not all international students will continue their careers in the Netherlands, the majority leave to start their careers in their home country, or often in other countries, around the world. However, the true international environment those students will find in Holland places them in good stead to bring innovation to economies around the world.

WUAS is renowned for its international mix of students and staff, who together represent more than 50 different nationalities, 5 continents and many different languages and cultures. (46 nationalities of students in table left). English is the main language spoken at Wittenborg, both in and out of the classroom.

International students in the Netherlands

According to the Nuffic (the number of international students who are in the Netherlands to obtain either a higher education diploma or credits (credit mobile students) on the basis of highly divergent sources of information, can only be estimated.

If the inbound flow of credit mobile students is 85% of the outbound group the entire group may comprise 81,700 students. This therefore accounts for approximately 59,200 international students who are in the Netherlands for the purpose of obtaining a diploma and 22,500 incoming credit mobile students.

With respect to the first group of 59,200 students, the Nuffic has derived information from their registrations in government accredited higher education and from student residence permit records. The latter applies to students from outside EU and EFTA countries. These concern a total of almost 56,600 students (non-EU).

With respect to the second group of 22,500 students, these are students registered through participation in the European Erasmus Programme and student trainee residence permit records.

This applies to 8,400 students. This takes the total number of international students about whom a larger amount of information is available to 65,000 (56,600 plus 8,400). Inbound mobility is rising compared with the same group in previous academic years

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“So, I am going to teach!” exclaimed Mayor of Apeldoorn, Fred de Graaf with a big smile!

Yesterday evening, Burgermeester de Graaf was presented with an honorary professorship from WUAS during his farewell ceremony at the Apeldoorn City Hall. After 12 years as Mayor of Apeldoorn, Mr de Graaf will take up a new important position as leader of the Senate in the Netherlands Parliament. The ceremony was attended by many dignitaries including Prinses Margriet and husband prof.mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven, and the Canadian Ambassador who represents the strong ties between Apeldoorn and Canada. Speakers included the Mayor of Deventer, Mr Andries Heidema and Apeldoorn government councilor Mr Rob Metz. Wittenborg was represented by a select group of students and staff, who themselves represented more than 12 different countries!

The honorary professorship, known in Dutch as an ‘erelectoraat’, was presented during the closing ceremony by Wittenborg board members Mrs Maggie Feng and Mr Peter Birdsall, and will focus on the field of public administration and corporate governance. It is intended that Mr de Graaf will work with Wittenborg in presenting an Apeldoorn symposium which will be organized for local, national and international companies, organisations and education institutes and will look at issues such as sustainable entrepreneurship, sustainable leadership and corporate governance.

Ben Birdsall’s “Distilleries of Scotland by Vespa” Co-organized by Wittenborg

British writer and painter, Ben Birdsall, recently rounded off his “Scottish Whisky Distilleries Tour by Vespa”. The purpose of the trip was to present the rich Scottish Whisky culture through oil paintings and storytelling, which will be concluded in a book expected to be published by the end of 2011. The book will be titled “Distilleries of Scotland by Vespa”. For his new book Ben toured the Highlands, Orkney, and the Western Isles by vintage Vespa, visiting as many distilleries as possible during an 18-day trip from Edinburgh to Orkney, Speyside to Skye and Islay.

Starting out as a relative novice, his aim was to become a whisky connoisseur, gathering historical notes and getting a grasp of the processes and anecdotes connected with the craft. The trip was co-organized by Wittenborg, involving a student in gathering information and contacting whisky distilleries and whisky clubs. The trip was not-for-profit: all profit generated from this trip will be put into Wittenborg students’ future real-life business projects.

Ben Birdsall was born in West Yorkshire, England, and after graduating, he moved to Italy where he worked in the Australian painter Arthur Boyd’s studio in Tuscany. Always writing, his play ‘Staggart Lane’ was performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1987 and in 1995 his novel ‘Blue Charm’ was published, being shortlisted for the Authors’ Club of Great Britain Best First Novel Award. In 2005 his short screenplay ‘Galatea’ was filmed in Italy by Australian artist, Jamie Boyd. In 2007, his ‘Tuscany by Vespa’ was published by Arteventbook, which also published ‘Vespa Valdera Tour’ in 2010. His ‘Umbria by Vespa’ is his latest completed work. Birdsall has exhibited paintings in Italy, Ireland, England and Switzerland, where he lives now with his wife and daughter.

To see more of Ben's work, please click here.

One-third of Postgraduate Research Assistants in the Netherlands comes from Abroad

One-third of all Postgraduate Research Assistants (PRAs) in the Netherlands has a foreign passport. This amount increased considerably since 1996, the last year when research about this was conducted. Back then only 1 percent of them came from abroad.
© Transfer

According to the research into PhD routes of Utrecht University and Erasmus University Rotterdam, the brain drain of Doctors from the Netherlands is not that substantial. On the contrary, we can speak of ‘brain gain’ in the Netherlands, since a lot of foreign Doctors want to stay in the Netherlands after defending their dissertation.

The research on PhD-Trajectories and Labour Market Mobility was subsidised by the Ministry of Education. Back in 2005, the ministry already indicated that there was too little known about PhD routes and PRAs themselves. For this research, the University of Utrecht and the University of Rotterdam questioned 443 PRAs from Delft, Wageningen, and from their own home cities. They believe this group is representative for all PRAs in the Netherlands.

Most foreign PRAs in the Netherlands come from Western and Eastern Europe and Asia, the research shows. The reputation of the university or supervisor are the most important reason for foreigners to come to the Netherlands for a PhD. According to the researchers, the Netherlands does not have to worry about a brain drain. Although out of all respondents one-fifth wants to go abroad after getting their PhD title, a great amount of foreign PRAs wants to stay in the Netherlands, and only a handful of Dutchmen plans to leave the country.

The research also reflects on the career opportunities of PRAs in the Netherlands. Of all respondents, 86 percent turned out to have a job even before defending their dissertation. Amongst the people who were still jobless was no relative majority of foreigners. Most of the PRAs found a job in the academic world. Furthermore, the research shows that PRAs feel that their supervisors have sufficient foreign experience. Two-thirds of them state that they are given enough possibilities to build up international contacts.

The percentage of international students in the Netherlands continues to rise. In the past academic year, one in ten students at research universities came from abroad. Five years ago this was only 7%, or one in fourteen.
© NUFFIC

At universities of applied sciences the increase was smaller: from 6% in 2006 to 6.5% now. In total there are 81,700 international students in the Netherlands, coming from 61 different countries. These are some of the outcomes of ‘Mapping Mobility 2011’, a publication issued by Nuffic for the second year in a row.

Wittenborg: the Most International Private Business School in the Netherlands
Wittenborg Business School has, in contrast to many other universities in the Netherlands, students from truly all over the world, and not only from e.g. Germany and China.

At the moment, 75,9% of all students at Wittenborg are international. Nearly 40 nationalities are represented at Wittenborg at the moment.

Other Highlights
The publication also shows that the number of students in the Netherlands coming from the BRIC countries (the growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China) is on the rise. Nuffic actively promotes Dutch higher education in these countries through its Netherlands Education Support Offices.

Dutch Students Abroad
A total of 42,500 Dutch students went to study abroad, in a total of 80 different countries (figures from 2008). Their favourite destinations were the UK, Belgium, Germany, the US and Spain.

Nuffic thinks that many Dutch students are still not aware of the opportunities that await them abroad. The organisation encourages Dutch students to spend a period of time studying abroad, through its www.wilweg.nl website.

More Information
You can download ‘Mapping Mobility 2011’ from the mobility statistics page of the Nuffic website.

New Coordinator Bachelor Programmes on the Development of Wittenborg

As the new Coordinator of the Bachelor Programme, Rauf M A speaks about Wittenborg’s future development:

“There are great opportunities for an institute like Wittenborg to offer to its students. Being strategically located at a good place, it is a fact that Wittenborg has better prospects to have a greater offer in various subjects and specializations with emerging market demands. Wittenborg has built up a strong name in the market for delivering high quality business education to young and enthusiastic Dutch and international students (from over 37 countries). Being the most international business school in the Netherlands, this unique multicultural blend provides a great learning atmosphere to students in the classes, enabling them to think beyond boarders. At the same time it is a big challenge to fulfill the increasing demands of such a diverse group of students. Wittenborg’s mentoring policy is unique in the Dutch context, providing the best possible guidance to its students through a structured and monitored support system of tutoring. The tutoring system is designed to support students through keeping and maintaining record of all students by reviewing their progress and supporting in case of problems (e.g. related to keeping up with the pace of the programme). This system is widely appreciated by the students as they believe that this system ensures that they can graduate in time. Hence, individual as well as group tutors play an important role in each student’s academic life, enabling them to complete their degrees smoothly. In addition to academic learning, the External Relations department actively supports and helps students when it comes to excursions, study trips, work placements, and finding a job after graduation. This is also a significant impetus provided by the school: students should start a successful career after their studies.

There is always room for improvement and there are certain areas to focus on, which need to be formalized in a way in which they are in practice at the moment, to improve the strength of Wittenborg’s qualification(s). Pursuing a growth strategy, Wittenborg continues to invest heavily in high-quality resources in the shape of new staff members, engaging people with higher academic degrees, expertises, and scientific research and educational experiences. This unique input is vital for any academic institution striving to deliver high quality education. In addition to these resources, a special emphasis has been put on matters related to the development of course content, such as a new form of additional examination involving blind peer reviews, but also on more structural matters like the way in which module descriptions can motivate and convince students to get more knowledge of the subject at hand and improve their learning. This is vital for their successful future career in any industry after graduation. Wittenborg is implementing a stronger, more reliable and credible examination and evaluation system to guarantee the worth of its academic degree.

Furthermore, focus will be put on restructuring resources of Wittenborg to improve the academic learning quality. During the last accreditation panel visit earlier this year, it was even noted that criteria in certain areas are too ambitious at this level in this business school at the moment. This corresponds with our drive to maintain and further improve our internationally accepted high standard quality education in the field of business and social sciences. Wittenborg aims to maintain its position as a pioneer in the Apeldoorn region, in developing quality international programmes in the area of business which gives its graduates the right start in their career. The ultimate goal is not only to provide good quality education to current students, but also to continue building an institution which will have a long-term impact, not only in the region but also in students’ home countries, all across the globe. To achieve these goals, only the education cannot help much unless some efforts are taken to connect with the contemporary scientific research. For this Wittenborg is continuously building collaborations with partner institutes for conducting joint scientific research projects. Rauf completed an MBA in Marketing & Management, after which he functioned as a lecturer at a graduate college for three years. After moving to the Netherlands he completed an MSc in Business Administration with a specialisation in HRM at the University of Twente. Currently, Rauf is carrying out his PhD research in HRM.”

Head of Wittenborg Research Centre Dr Teun Wolters on the Development of the Centre

It is Wittenborg's vision that the development of the university should rest on two pillars: education and research. For the moment all activities emanating from this fall within the ambit of the business school, but this may change in the future.

The intended research activities will be accommodated by Wittenborg’s Research Centre, headed by Dr Teun Wolters. The research will be in the area of Dr Wolters’s research and teaching commitment (corporate sustainability including sustainable innovation) while there is also room for various research themes that are supported by Wittenborg’s stakeholders and other interested parties. The centre intends to have meaning for the local economy by doing research and consultancy for companies and other organisations in its surroundings.

The centre’s research is primarily of an applied nature, but by means of a careful coordination and pooling of resources it must be possible to generate new knowledge that can be published in academic journals.

By involving lecturers and students in the centre, the research will contribute to the build-up of a valuable body of knowledge. Here, three facets can be distinguished:

• Lecturers can add to the textbook knowledge specialised new knowledge by which they can enhance their teaching and supervision. The research leads to new knowledge in terms of research skills, fieldwork experience (direct contacts with companies) and new substantive knowledge on business and management.
• By coordinating students’ research work, the design and content of their papers can be enhanced. By setting up a coherent research programme, contributions of individual students can contribute to a broader knowledge build-up.
• By facilitating publications (at different academic levels), Wittenborg’s lecturers will be offered opportunities to enhance the quality of their work.

The centre will also develop contacts with external researchers and research institutes. In this way it can operate as a katalyst of interesting collaborative research. Recently, there are nascent forms of collaboration with universities and consultancy firms, that will be worked out in the near future

New Dean and Head of Research Centre at Wittenborg

As from the start of the academic year 2011-2012, Teun Wolters will function as the new Dean of Wittenborg Business School. Besides overseeing the programmes Wittenborg offers, Teun will also be involved in starting up a new research centre: the Wittenborg Research Centre.

This new research centre (Wittenborg Research Centre) will deal with research in the field of e.g. sustainable entrepreneurship and sustainable energy. Besides experienced specialists, graduating students will be concerned with the centre. They will conduct research for their graduation project (lasting six months), while Wittenborg will make sure all individual graduation projects will connect to one another. Like this, a usable knowledge-base for the region (Apeldoorn and the ‘Stedendriehoek’ area – Apeldoorn, Deventer, Zutphen) will be built up. Teun Wolters: “The research which will be carried out will be of great use to local business in the Apeldoorn area. An example would be to setting up innovative projects which will facilitate a greener Apeldoorn. Next year, Wittenborg will start a new programme in which a lot of attention will be given to sustainable entrepreneurship: ‘MSc International Business & Management’”. In this programme, students will follow courses such as ‘sustainable entrepreneurship’, ‘sustainable innovation’, ‘business ethics’, and ‘socially responsible entrepreneurship’.

Wolters’ vision is to look strategically to the level of sustainability within business. According to the dean, especially the small and medium enterprises are not that well-prepared for the future in this area: “The world population is increasing, production is rising, but the earth will not grow along”, he says. “We want to advise companies on how to facilitate the necessary sustainability within their business conduct.”

Teun Wolters studied economics at the VU (Vrije Universiteit) in Amsterdam, where he obtained his PhD in the field of labor issues, and worked at e.g. TNO for a few years. At TNO he came into contact with scientific environmental issues. “Within the Wittenborg Research Centre, I want to work together with professional researchers and operate on the border of science and practice”, he says with an inspiring tone. “And it is my task as dean to safeguard the scientific quality of education.” Since Wittenborg is a private institution, it can set stricter demands when it comes to the intake of new students. “We do not want a mentality that a 6 (C-) is enough in this institution”, he determinedly states. “Students who come here must have a certain ‘drive’. There is a lot going on at Wittenborg and a lot is possible. The lines are short.”

At the moment, Teun is worried about the limited student housing in Apeldoorn. He would really like to turn Apeldoorn into a student city. Many students who study at Wittenborg return to their country of origin once graduated, to apply the acquired knowledge to e.g. a family business. Wolters also strives to keep alumni in the Netherlands, and especially in Apeldoorn. “It should be possible to get foreign students, who have already followed some form of technical education, to the Netherlands”, he says. “They can strengthen Dutch business.”

New Wittenborg Students Introduced To Apeldoorn

This week, an introduction day for new students starting their studies at Wittenborg Business School took place in Apeldoorn. Together with the municipality of Apeldoorn and the Theologische Universiteit (Theological University), students were offered a lunch at the city hall, an official welcoming speech, a city tour, and to wrap up the festivities, a barbeque. The introduction day was partly made possible by the Students’ Union of Wittenborg, which put a lot of hours in planning the event.

The new students from WUAS come from all across the globe, including Iran, Greece, Saudi-Arabia, and the Netherlands.

Pictures of the introduction day can be found on the Wittenborg Facebook page. A special folder has been created

Download - Pictures of WUAS Graduation Ceremony July 2011

A collection of photos taken at the July 2011 Graduation Ceremony of Wittenborg Business School is now available for download.

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Wittenborg Brings New Student Housing to Apeldoorn

At the start of the coming academic year, a new form of student housing will be brought to Apeldoorn by Wittenborg Business School: the so-called ‘Spaceboxes’. 24 of these colourful compact housing units of 3 by 6 meters, including a kitchenette, bathroom with shower, and living area, will be placed in the Molendwarsstraat in Apeldoorn.

Currently, most of WUAS’s students are housed in apartments and houses throughout the city. The Spaceboxes will stay in Apeldoorn for the coming 5 years. In the future, permanent student accommodation will be realized and possibly centralized and located closer to the university itself. Thanks to fruitful collaboration between Wittenborg, housing corporations, and the local government of Apeldoorn regarding the Spaceboxes, readily available housing for the growing number of students arriving from abroad, including the newly enrolled students for the new Master programmes (such as the Master of Business Administration (MBA)), is ensured.

Apeldoorn alderman Hans Wegman, responsible for both education and housing, is very pleased with the development. “The Spaceboxes are more than welcome in Apeldoorn. During the period in which students study in Apeldoorn, they should have a place to live in. This is why good and affordable student housing is of the utmost importance.”

For years, the local government of Apeldoorn has been trying to expand the offer of higher education in the city, partly to fight the phenomenon called “young flight” (Dutch: jonge vlucht): students and young professionals moving to other cities to start their studies and careers. The wish for more student housing has been on the agenda for quite a while, and thus, the arrival of the Spaceboxes gives a positive impulse to this wish.

Future residents of the Spaceboxes can be satisfied with the location of their new homes. The central train and bus station, Wittenborg Business School, two supermarkets and the shopping area are all within walking reach. A concierge of WUAS will function as a supervisor of the Spaceboxes, to make sure everything remains in order.

Tomorrow, Thursday the 11th of August, from 10 to 11AM, a press conference about this impulse for student housing in Apeldoorn will be held on-site at the Molendwarsstraat in the Haven-Centrum area. The Spaceboxes have already been moved to this location (see photo on the left).

Wittenborg Does Well in National Student Survey

Results from the National Student Survey 2011 (Nationale Studentenenquête 2011) show that students of WUAS Business School in Apeldoorn are satisfied with the education they get, their school itself, and the city in which they study. Looking at the mean national results, Wittenborg scored above-average.

Wittenborg Business School scored above-average in 12 out of 15 categories. The table and graph displayed below show the scores. The scale of the scores ranged from 0 to 5 (best). Converting the scores to a scale of 1 to 10 and combining all categories, WUAS scores a 7,0 average (national average = 6,8). Although this is a good result, Wittenborg Business School strives to heighten this mark to a 7,5 next year.

As shown in the table displayed above and the graph shown underneath, different aspects of higher education were dealt with in the questionnaire. Specific points in which Wittenborg excels (with scores more than 0,3 points above-average, on a scale of 1 to 5) are the suitability of classrooms (3,78 – 0,33 above-average), the information on rules and procedures (3,65 – 0,48), the availability of work spaces (3,6 – 0,62) and the information about outcomes of educational evaluations.

Other categories in which Wittenborg scored above-average are: the connection between the programmes of Wittenborg Business School and programmes on secondary school level, the level of contact between students and industry, the quality level of work placement guidance, class schedules, and the way in which Wittenborg deals with complaints and problems. WUAS students also value the availability and affordability of living space in Apeldoorn. This positive judgement might be the result of the joint commitment of Wittenborg and the local Apeldoorn government for student housing and the related housing services.

The National Student Survey involves large-scale national research, organized by Studiekeuze123, carried out by the independent research agency ResearchNed and commissioned by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the higher education institutions, in which every year, all students within higher education are invited to cast their opinion on the programme(s) of their university.