4.3 NPO funds for the realization of teaching

Tilburg University has chosen to allocate funds directly to the realization of its stated goals. Because the efforts in 2021 consisted primarily of preparations for the actual expenditures (e.g., recruiting education coordinators and Examining Board secretaries and developing an appropriate range of training courses), the expenditures in 2021 were significantly lower than included in the plan. It is expected that this calculated backlog will be made up from 2022 onward.

Theme 1. Intake and progression

Within Theme 1 (smooth intake and progression), problems have been identified, particularly with regard to the supervision of students, both in helping them to catch up with individual delays and in ensuring attention to development of personal development and socialization. For this reason, Tilburg University is making additional investments in tutoring and support for personal development. In addition, it is important to prevent delays in the near future, especially given the continuing uncertainty surrounding the further development of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are therefore committed to providing good support to our lecturers relating to digitalization of education, such that more flexibility can be offered to students. Finally, Tilburg University is committed to strengthening the bond that current and prospective students have with the University and the city, by making the campus a vibrant and challenging place where students like to stay.

The provision of additional supervision and opportunities for catching up on study delays: commitment to socialization and personal development

Within the framework of the TEP, all Schools have developed a PASS program for their students. In addition, substantial efforts were directed toward preparation for the job market. From the spending plan for teaching, efforts were directed toward further strengthening and intensifying the PASS program. The year 2021 was characterized by plan development and recruitment. This led to the start of an additional Career Service Officer in early 2022 to provide more supervision to students as they approach the job market. In addition, in preparation for the new academic year, the possibility of working with smaller groups within one of the Schools is being considered. This is intended to identify more quickly when students need additional support, given the delays they may have accumulated in their prior education due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Providing opportunities for catching up on individual study delays and preventing them in the near future

The delays that have been accumulated call for customized solutions for individual students by working with them to prepare good study plans and to seek areas where acceleration might be possible. Furthermore, additional internship opportunities are being pursued so that students will be able to catch up on any delays and improve their preparation for the tight job market. To this end, in the last three months of 2021, active efforts were made to increase the number of program and internship coordinators. This will be elaborated further in 2022. It will provide the space necessary to provide true customization where needed. Moreover, the recruitment of more staff for the Scriptorium will provide students with additional assistance and support in the thesis-writing process. This will allow them to catch up on previous delays caused by motivation problems.

Improving the orientation of students and enhancing their bonding with the University and city

In addition to the usual activities (e.g., an introduction week for first-year students), Tilburg University is committed to improving the connection between secondary school and university, including in conjunction with national efforts. This means that it is important to have a clear picture of what causes students to drop out, so that we can provide additional supervision and advice. In this regard, particular attention is paid to students who are currently in the final year of university preparatory education and who were not able to make sufficient use of open days and other information activities during the past academic year. By conducting several surveys of prospective students, by training staff, and by instituting a new, hybrid approach to information, the University is now better equipped to meet the demands of our future students. Full implementation of this approach will take place in late 2022.

To strengthen bonding with the University and the city, we are investing in a vibrant, living campus with a wide range of social and cultural activities. The process of recruiting a project Leader for Culture on Campus was started in 2021. In addition, Marketing & Communication has been working with Facility Services to develop new plans that will meet the needs of our students and provide them with opportunities to meet each other. Unfortunately, due to government regulations that were in place at the end of 2021, it has not yet been possible to organize any additional activities on campus. The funds that were available for this purpose in 2021 have therefore been shifted to 2022.

To ensure a good start for students at the University, a learning pathway on study and learning skills is being developed. It is intended primarily to provide support to students who have developed deficiencies in executive skills. A group of lecturers was formed for this project in 2021. Beginning in 2022, it will work to develop a web-based module, which will be available in the third quarter of 2022.

Providing opportunities for catching up on and preventing individual study delays—digitalization and flexibilization

We are committed to improving processes and expanding opportunities for responding to changing circumstances. To this end, a process analyst was appointed in 2021, who has started to improve processes relating to examinations and scheduling. The use of proctoring and the decision to allow examinations to be taken online strained the processes in the organization of examinations, and it was necessary to optimize their organization. We are also committed to improving the digital accessibility of our education, with a particular focus on pre-Master’s students. This calls for continuing attention to the workload of lecturers by focusing on the proper support for the educational processes that will be necessary to catch up on delays and prevent them in the future. To this end, several Schools have started to use interdisciplinary support teams close to the lecturer. In addition, student teaching assistants have been used to relieve the burden on lecturers and researchers, thereby creating additional time for flexibilization and digitalization. Where it was not yet possible to use these solutions in 2021, initial efforts to recruit these employees were made, and they are expected to start in early 2022. Finally, the University has started to intensify and optimize the use of digital tests. A Project Leader identified needs within the University and developed a new vision for digital testing. These developments will continue in 2022, with the goal of meeting the demand from lecturers and students at the start of the 2022/2023 academic year.

Conditions for the implementation of actions for Theme 1: Support through IT

The effective implementation of the aforementioned actions calls for investing in the facilities that enable implementation. Internal funds are therefore being used to expand streaming and recording facilities have been increased, both by investing in fixed streaming and recording facilities in all major lecture halls and by providing mobile units. For 2022, we are investigating the possibility of installing fixed facilities in classrooms with a capacity of fewer than 50 students, so that we will be prepared for the possible resurgence of COVID-19 in the fall.

Theme 2. Student well-being and bond with the degree program

With respect to student well-being (Theme 2), we are particularly committed to providing direct support to our students who have encountered or continue to encounter issues relating to well-being. We do this by deploying more Student Counselors and psychologists, expanding the range of training for students and staff, and focusing on a clear, integrated approach to student well-being, proceeding from a previously formulated central vision. This integrated approach is supported by clear information facilities based on a single-entry principle.

Provision of additional supervision

Some of the actions identified under Theme 1 (e.g., strengthening and intensifying the PASS program and employing additional program and internship coordinators) go beyond merely providing students with the support they need to prevent or catch up on study delays. They are also explicitly aimed at enhancing student well-being, in part by increasing the likelihood of academic success. The status of and justification for this have already been presented under the first theme.

Support for students through training

We are committed to providing additional training opportunities for individual students, as well as to providing training to lecturers, student associations, and study associations as a means of supporting others. Wherever possible, we do this in collaboration with other universities. In the last quarter of 2021, preparations were made to launch a suitable range of training for four distinct target groups:

• Staff members who are directly involved in student counseling

• Student administrators

• Confidential contacts in associations

• The general student population

For the latter target group, the emphasis is on expanding preventive offerings appropriate to the most common problem areas (e.g., stress management, attention and concentration, procrastination, and perfectionism). To this end, joint purchasing with other universities will be used wherever possible. In 2021, this resulted in the intensification of knowledge sharing and the further development of a national network for student well-being.

In the first quarter of 2022, a new E-health offering will be implemented to meet the increasing demand for short-term interventions within the broader framework of preventive and early diagnostic well-being policies. The remaining training options will be partially implemented in the second quarter of 2022 (suicide prevention for staff in the student-counseling chain) and deployed for the target group of students starting in the 2022/2023 academic year. For students, the highest priority will be to provide training to the confidential contacts in associations, in order to monitor and promote social safety.

Preparations have also been made for the launch of peer-to-peer groups in the first quarter of 2022. These groups are aimed at students with ADD/ADHD, as well as students who are faced with grief and loss. This peer-to-peer approach aligns seamlessly with our vision on student well-being and meets a growing need that students have for support in connecting with peers, sharing experiences, helping each other, and building social networks.

Additional support for students; continuity in capacity

To help students quickly and effectively and to minimize waiting lists, we are committed to expanding support for well-being, in terms of both direct support and safeguarding integrality. In 2021, this resulted in the expansion of student counseling services by 0.6 FTE in the last few months of the year. In addition, the Well-being Officer started work as of June 1, 2021. She is responsible for providing a clear, coherent range of ongoing and new initiatives relating to well-being. Although ownership and control of well-being rest with the individual student, the University creates the proper conditions and seeks cooperation with external care providers where necessary. The Student Well-being Working Group, in which both staff and students are represented, fulfils an initiating and connecting role in the implementation of the established vision on student well-being.

One major stress factor among students appears to be the increasing waiting time with the Examining Boards due to the transition to online testing. To limit this factor, stronger support is being provided to the Examining Boards. This has proven difficult, due to limited supply on the job market. Nevertheless, it is expected that additional staff to support the Examining Boards will start in all Schools in early 2022.

Provision of additional facilities for students; improvements to information facilities

In 2021, students indicated that the information on student well-being and support is available within Tilburg University, but that it is sometimes difficult to find. To improve this situation, the student well-being homepage was developed. The accessibility of the student desk was also increased by matching the available capacity to the expected demand and digitalizing a number of processes.

Conditions for implementing actions for Theme 2: opportunities for encounters

To be able carry out these actions, it was necessary to invest in expanding the opportunities for encounters and contact. To this end, an additional 120 additional outdoor workplaces were realized. This also allowed students to congregate on campus during the pandemic in good weather for encounters and study-related facilities. In the library, the number of study workstations has been increased by 160, and a central meeting place with a living room atmosphere has been created where students can meet each other for scheduled and unscheduled encounters. The informal setting lowers the threshold for mutual contact.

Theme 5. Teacher training programs

Within the teacher training programs (Theme 5), students were not able to do as many internships during the past year and a half. As a result, they received less feedback on their pedagogic skills. Tilburg University would nevertheless like to provide students with this feedback by making additional internship visits and offering more internship opportunities. Within the context of teaching, attention was also devoted to the didactic principles of online teaching so that the future lecturers trained within our University will be well prepared for future teaching. In 2021, initial efforts to this end were made in the form of recruitment and the development of plans. These plans will be materialized in 2022.

Conditions for implementing actions for Theme 5: Digitalization and support

To enable the actions for teacher training program, the investments related to digitalization and support from Theme 1 will be aligned.

Additional theme: Additional help in the classroom

Finally, Tilburg University is committed to providing direct support to our lecturers. We offer them additional support in the form of student teaching assistants and Teaching Assistants, so that any additional tasks they may take on for our students (e.g., by providing blended education) will not result in an increased workload. Although these funds will not be available until 2022, work was not at a standstill in 2021. Within the Schools, the recruitment of student teaching assistants and Teaching Assistants was already in full swing, so that they could be deployed as soon as possible in 2022.

Conditions for implementing actions for Additional help in the classroom: Digitalization and support

To enable the actions for this theme, the investments related to digitalization from Theme 1 will be aligned.