Wittenborg Scores High in 2015 National Student Survey: Students Especially Pleased with Internship Experience
Results show WUAS once again did well - its study programme in general, scoring 7.68 out of 10 – improving on last year’s score of 7.5.
In the 2015 National Student Survey (NSE) measuring students’ satisfaction, the national average for universities of applied science, like Wittenborg, on their general study programme is 7.66 while it is 8.08 for research universities.
On the whole, the results indicate that students in the Netherlands are more satisfied with their studies than ever before, according to a press release from Studiekeuze123 who organized the survey.
Wittenborg also managed to outscore the national average in 13 of the 17 categories in which it was rated – including the content of its programmes, the expertise of lecturers, study information, study load, the quality of care its students receive at the university and study facilities.
Students were particularly pleased with their internship experience at Wittenborg. The scale of the scores ranged from 0 to 5 (best). By converting the scores to a scale of 1 to 10, the university scored 8.32 as far as internship experience is concerned compared to last year’s 7.22.
Students awarded a score of 9.0 to the supervision they received at their internship company, while also giving high marks for the preparation they received from the university for their internship, what they learned from the internship and the link between the internship and their chosen study programme.
Though the university is doing excellent on the academic front, it was clear that the city where it is located, Apeldoorn, should become more student-savvy and take better care of the needs of its student population. It scored lower than the national average in terms of the cultural scene, bars, pubs, restaurants and sports facilities in the city.
Wittenborg organizes regular outings and game-nights for its students such as the recent laser-games evening in Apeldoorn and a trip to London for its Master Students. During Project Weeks students often visit interesting tourist attractions in the Netherlands. The next one will be a trip to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
The availability of student housing in the city and its affordability also still hovers below the national average but has improved significantly from last year’s average score of 5.3 to this year’s 6.1. Slowly but surely it is getting there!
The university’s library and media center is set for a major improvement this summer when Wittenborg will take occupancy of its second Apeldoorn-campus which will be located at Spoorstraat 23, on the opposite side of the railway from its current location where it will continue to teach its Bachelor programmes. The library and research center will be housed in the new building.
Other areas Wittenborg students participating in the 2015 NSE were happy with, were the quality of guidance and feedback received from lecturers, the quality of skills assessment and the general skills they acquired from their studies. These include critical skills, problem-solving skills, communication and reasoning skills as well as the degree of collaboration with others. They were also in praise of the scientific skills they learned such as methods and techniques of applied research (7.6) and analytical thinking (7.5).
The National Student Survey involves large-scale national research, organized by Studiekeuze123 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.
WUP 21/5/2015
by Anesca Smith