4.3 NPO funds for the realization of education

With the conclusion of the NPO Administrative Agreement, Tilburg University has received resources to take measures aimed in particular at providing additional guidance and support for students with mental problems, study progress problems, or disadvantages in the broad sense that students have suffered as a result of the loss of the possibility of physical education. The commitment is to provide lecturers, educators, and support staff with more opportunities and support to help students properly. The commitment is also to give them more space to address the delays and relieve the workload associated with the coronavirus crisis. Tilburg University has chosen to allocate the allocated funds directly to the realization of the set goals. In the spending plan funds are allocated for the years 2021 and 2022. In 2022, the Minister of OC&W decided to give institutions more time to implement their plans in a responsible way. To this end, 2023 has been designated as the regular spending year for the available resources from the NPO and 2024 as a so-called “overrun year.”

Theme 1: Intake and transfer

Within Theme 1, smooth intake and transfer, we mainly focused on guiding students, both in catching up with individual backlogs and in paying attention to the advancement of personal development and socialization. Therefore, we make additional investments in tutoring and support for personal development. We support our lecturers in the area of digitalization of education, so that students are offered more flexibility. Finally, we are committed to strengthening the bond that (prospective) students have with the university and the city, by making the campus a vibrant and challenging place where students like to stay.

Providing extra guidance and opportunities for catching up on study delays—commitment to socialization and personal development

Within the framework of TEP, all Schools have developed PASS for their students. In addition, there is a firm commitment to preparation for the labor market. From the Education Spending Plan, efforts are being made to further strengthen and intensify PASS. An additional career service officer was appointed in early 2022 to provide students with more guidance in their steps into the job market. In addition, funds have been used to expand the number of education coordinators to better support and advise (potential) students.

Providing opportunities for catching up and preventing study delays—digitalization and flexibility

In 2022, Tilburg University appointed a process analyst to improve the processes around examinations and timetabling. In addition, we are committed to improving the digital accessibility of our education. Through instructional designers, specialized support is provided to lecturers in the development of online education and blended learning. For example, the entire first year of the Bachelor’s in Rechtsgeleerdheid is offered in a blended format.

This requires continued attention to the workload of lecturers by focusing on the proper support of the educational processes necessary to catch up and prevent delays in the future. Therefore, several Schools have started deploying multidisciplinary support teams close to the lecturer. In addition, student assistants are being deployed to relieve lecturers and scientists, creating time for flexibility and digitalization.

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

By 2022, the number of lecturing staff and internship coordinators has been expanded to ensure they have more time and space for individual guidance. In addition, more time and attention are available to proactively approach and support students with study delays. The expansion of staffing also ensures that extra attention can be paid to educational initiatives such as the Extended Master’s program and reinforcing the transfer between universities of applied sciences and the university. The funds for the appointment of education and internship coordinators were delayed due to the later start of these employees. By now, practically all positions have been filled.

Tilburg University offers students help and advice on writing assignments, such as papers, reports, or a thesis, through the Scriptorium. At the Scriptorium, consultations without appointment have been expanded. During the consultations without appointment, students can come in for brief questions and ad hoc advice on writing in general or specific writing assignments. The expansion has allowed more students to receive additional help and support. As a result, they are able to catch up earlier backlogs caused by motivation problems.

Improving the introduction of students and enhancing their bonding with the university and city

To strengthen the bond with the university and the city, we invest in a living and vibrant campus with a wide range of social and cultural activities. In 2022, the Culture on Campus project was launched with various activities, amongst others, in the context of the university's 95th anniversary. The result is a more vibrant campus. Based on this experience, the program will be further refined, and a plan will be drawn up for sustaining the approach after 2023.

To get students off to a good start at the university, a learning pathway on study and learning skills is being developed. This is particularly designed to provide support to students who have fallen behind in executive skills. Web-based modules were developed for this purpose in 2022. The content of the modules was finished and some of it is already being used in lectures. The self-study modules will be available to all interested parties from March 2023.

Overall, Tilburg University expects a slight underspending on this theme. The reason for this is that TSB has chosen to put additional effort into the direct support of lecturers in order to better guide students and increase their chances of study success. As a result, overspending actually occurred on this additional theme. TSB has discussed this change with the School Council.

Deployment of own resources

Finally, Tilburg University has funded several actions from its own resources. These include the deployment of a project leader to work out a vision for digital assessment, setting up streaming facilities in all 110 lecture halls and developing a new, blended approach to information for students choosing a study program. For Theme 1, Tilburg University expects to spend a total of €510K of its own resources.

Theme 2: Student well-being and bond with the program

In the Spending Plan, with regard to Theme 2, student well-being, we have mainly focused on the direct support of those students who encountered or are still encountering well-being problems. We will do this by expanding the range of training courses offered to students and staff, deploying more deans of students and psychologists, expanding the capacity of assessment committees, and directing a clear integrated approach to student well-being.

Offering additional guidance

A number of actions identified under Theme 1, such as strengthening and intensifying PASS and deploying additional education and internship coordinators, offer students not only the support to prevent or make up study backlogs but are also explicitly aimed at increasing student well-being, in part by increasing the likelihood of study success. The state of affairs and justification for this has already been presented under the first theme.

Supporting students through training courses

We are committed to both providing an additional range training courses for individual students and offering training to lecturers and student and study associations to support others. In doing so, we focus on providing an appropriate range of training courses for four different target groups:

1. staff members directly involved in student guidance,

2. student board members,

3. confidential contact persons at associations,

4. the general student population.

With the latter target group, the emphasis is on expanding preventive training sessions appropriate to the most common problems, such as stress management, attention and concentration problems, procrastination, and perfectionism.

As of the first quarter of 2022, training sessions and meetings have been organized for staff in the student support chain in areas such as mental health, suicide prevention, addiction treatment, and highly giftedness. For student and study associations’ confidential contact persons, a range of training courses was rolled out in the fall of 2022. This has given them a clear framework within which they can further roll out their own policies regarding social safety and embed them within the structure of the association. In the spring of 2023, new training sessions will be scheduled and peer feedback meetings for the confidential contact persons will begin.

In the first quarter of 2022, a new range of Gezondeboel E-health modules was launched to meet the increasing demand for short-term interventions within the broader framework of preventive and early diagnostic well-being policies. Based on the interim evaluation (third quarter 2022), it was decided to extend the current contract for another year. With the E-health modules, students are able to progress independently on a wide range of topics. In addition, student psychologists incorporate the possibilities of this prevention portal into their approach to Blended Care. The latter will be further expanded starting in 2023.

Also launched in the first quarter of 2022 are peer-to-peer groups for students with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), students dealing with grief, and students who want to work on their theses together (Thesis Together Try-out). This approach meets the increasing need of students with support requirements to connect with peers, exchange experiences, help each other, and build a social network. In doing so, the peer-to-peer groups provide recognition, acknowledgement, and better coping with studies. It is being investigated whether the activities of peer-to-peer groups can be expanded for students with autism, students who struggle with procrastination, and for international students who experience culture shock.

More support for students, continuity in number of employees

In order to help students quickly and effectively and minimize waiting lists, we are committed to expanding well-being support, both in terms of direct support and in terms of ensuring integrality. To this end, in the last few months of 2021, the deployment of deans of students was expanded by 0.6 FTE and, as of January 2022, this led to the deployment of an assistant psychologist for 0.8 FTE. In addition, the well-being officer started as of June 1, 2021. She is responsible for providing a clear and coherent range of well-being initiatives. The ownership of well-being and the directing role lie with the individual student, but the university creates the right preconditions and seeks cooperation with external care providers where necessary. As a result, considerable progress has been made in the cultural shift from intervention to prevention and improvements have been made in communication to students. In addition, cooperation with external healthcare partners has improved.

A major stress factor among students appears to be the increasing waiting time at Examination Boards due to the transition to online assessment. To mitigate this, staffing at the Examination Boards was expanded in 2022. The additional support will ensure that the increased number of requests to the Examination Boards are handled in a timely manner.

Provision of additional facilities for students, improvement to information facilities

A new student well-being homepage was delivered in early 2022. This was prompted by an indication from students that information related to student well-being and support was sometimes difficult to find.

Deployment of own resources

From its own resources, Tilburg University has invested in increasing opportunities for encounter and contact. To this end, 120 additional outdoor workstations were created, the number of study workstations in the library was increased by 160, and a central meeting place with a living room atmosphere was created where students can meet each other scheduled and unscheduled. In addition, the staffing of the student desk has been expanded, which has led to better accessibility. In total, we expect to spend €230K of our own funds within Theme 2.

Theme 5: Teacher training programs

Within teacher training programs, Theme 5, we have paid attention to intensifying and innovating education so that the future teacher trained within our university are well prepared for the education of the future. In 2022, additional subject matter experts were appointed to the Tilburg Center of the Learning Sciences to support this effort.

During the coronavirus crisis, students involved in teacher training programs were able to do fewer internships. As a result, they received less feedback on their pedagogical skills. Tilburg University still provides students with this feedback by making additional internship visits and offering more internship opportunities. An internship coordinator was appointed for this purpose in 2022.

Additional theme: Additional help in the classroom

Finally, Tilburg University is committed to the direct support of our lecturers. The funds for this became available in 2022. The money will be used by the Schools to appoint student and teaching assistants to support lecturers in the additional tasks they take up for our students. This support ensures that the additional tasks, such as providing blended education, do not lead to additional workload. In 2022, there is still an underspending on this theme. This is due in part to tightness in the labor market, which resulted in staff starting later in the year.

Also read

4.1 NPO in 2022

4.2 Choices made in advance

4.4 NPO funds for the realization of research.