June 6 University of Kent, Brussels

June 6- University of Kent,Brussels

This morning we took a bus to Brussels which took about 45 minutes. As we approached the city Ingeborg told us that most street signs and business signs in Brussels would be in both Dutch and French. I attempted to take a picture but since it was raining steadily I was not able to get a good shot. We drove through down town and arrived at an office building. I was most familiar with Kent, Brussels since my outline for Orientation was on this campus. I knew that it was a post-graduate campus with around 200 students from all over the world.  The campus advertises themselves as the Brussels School of International Business (BSIS) and with their location near NATO allows for countless internships.  The classes are taught in English.

 From the sign you can see that there are several other things located within this building including another college...Vrije Universiteit Brussels which BSIB has agreements for use of their libraries and student recreation facilities.

We arrived in the rain to this office building and were met in the lobby by the site director, Roger Vickerman.  He and another man spoke to our group for about two hours.  We had lunch and then continued discussion after lunch.

Some interesting information about BSIB:

-Had to be accredited by both UK (since Kent is located in England) and by Brussels (have to be accredited for US students to come...no accreditation= no federal loans).

-Almost all faculty have PhD except for two that are CEO's of their companies.

-One faculty works for NATO (and by law can't earn outside salary) so teaches 1 class per semester for free.

-Students can be full time or part-time...range of options

-No GRE required.  Students judged on 'past performance and future potential'.

-Students have 2-3 hours per week of 'formal contact' with professors.  Other time spent in individual projects or dissertations.

-Goal of programs are to teach students how to think and analyze problems.

-Some of the more interesting concept that we talked about was with loans.  (Looking at my notes now I have new questions but will post what I wrote.)  Students don't have to repay student loans until their salary is above median salary which is currently 21,000 Pounds ($32,000).  Loans not paid after 30 years are forgiven. **Think this was talking about U Kent loans for undergraduates.  **UK tax structure not as high as Belgium so tuition is higher.


Buzz words in UK education currently:

-Internationalization

-Student Experience

-Employability

-Most interesting to me...UK operates on a 14 month calendar.  (Get a double pay check at Christmas and in July.)


**Some take aways from all those discussions:

-Graduate education here is much different than US.  PhD focus on dissertation and don't take classes.  I see value in the classes I am taking as they are preparing me to research and write a dissertation.  However, I can also see value in spending three years considering and writing about a problem.

-Remote campuses all have challenges with students thinking they are missing out on something on the main campus.

-Colleges have to be careful about issuing Visas to students.  If a college is issuing too many to unsuccessful students then it could lose the ability to issue any.

-Buzz words in UK are also in the US.  With the rising cost of tuition students want to make sure they are getting a quality education and are being prepared for the job market. 
After three days we have seen three very different types of schools.   We started with the traditional college then visited a high school.  Today was spent in a graduate school.  The next two days we will be back on more traditional campuses.  Tomorrow will be at Ghent and then Friday at Leiden.

After the bus back to Gent we had some time to walk around before things closed.  We are enjoying French fries (invented in Belgium), chocolate, waffles, and Belgium beer.

June 5 Ghent High School Visit

June 5       Ghent High School Visit

Today we are visiting a high school in Ghent.  This is a first-time event for the cohort and Ingeborg does not know what to expect.  Since I work full-time with high school students I am excited about visiting and learning more about high school education in Belgium.   In Belgium higher education there are two levels; University and University College with the latter being slightly more prestigious.  There are also different tracks within high school which starts in the sixth grade.  High school selected will have some impact on the type of college or college major that the student may select

At the high school we were escorted by the principal to a room in the back of the school.  The principal had been there 30 years with the first 25 as a teacher.  He spoke to us briefly then gave us a tour of the facilities. Some take-aways from the conversation with the principal:

 

-High school does prepare students for some types of employment.  Only those with bachelors degrees can become the ‘bosses’.

-Only a small percentage of students go onto University or University College.  -Students select college based upon location.  Scholarships do not exist since schools all cost the same.

-Colleges may mail some promotional material but very little.

-Parents don’t influence college decisions. (Per Ingeborg the selection of high school is more important since it determines what colleges they can choose)

-High school is ‘free’ but students have to pay for books (can rent) and field trips.

-Only some colleges have entry tests.  He mentioned art and film as two of these.

-High school offers ‘inclusive’ education for students with physical and mentally disabled.  For deaf students, Denmark would provide interpreters.

-Students ‘know’ a lot but need to ‘do’ more.  Principal worries that high school does not prepare them for college.

-Teachers are evaluated by law every 4 years and are tenured after the first 4. of employment  The evaluation determines their teaching plans.  Difficult to fire a teacher with tenure. 

-No fundraising permitted.

-Capital improvements must be made with yearly budget.

He had three current seniors come in to speak with us.  The conversation was dominated by one of the three who spoke perfect English.  She spoke so much that she really did not give the other two students an opportunity to speak.  The students were dressed in typical teen-age fashion with all three wearing jeans.  The English speaking student spoke of her dream of going to Stanford but honestly knew little about it.  My take-aways from that conversation:

-US colleges are all about parties.  Parties in houses instead of the street sounds appealing.

-College like a village…fraternities and sororities.

-Feel they are prepared for college based on what they have learned so far in high school.


-Some students have jobs but only work a few hours after school.

-They were confident in their career choices.

I enjoyed the high school visit.  I think that it helped with our understanding of how students prepare for college and what they are thinking as they make decisions.  Since my full-time job is visiting with high school students I have the opportunity to go into many American High Schools.  I thought that the physical structure and classrooms looked similar to high schools that I visit in the US. 

Another positive thing about Ghent is not all toilets require a 'toll'.  However, I think they are just for men.  Yes, that is on a public street.

Ghent also has pretty canals and this picture is of the cohort as we walked back from our visit to to the high school.

June 4 Utrecht University

June 4 –To Utrecht University

Great breakfast in the lobby of the hotel this morning.  Typical American food mixed with European.  Waffles, bacon, eggs, and all the cheese and bread you desire were the main choices.  We were meeting in the lobby to go to Utrecht at 9:00 but the bus was very late and we departed at 9:40.  Ingeborg, our tour guide, had built in some extra time so we will only be 20 minutes late.

We arrived in the rain to a university building that from the outside looked similar to any US college building.  Once on campus we passed trees and other green spaces and it truly felt like places on the University of Alabama campus.  Entering the building there were similar elements that appear in many Unions throughout the United States.  There were student lockers and advertisements that I could not read right off the lobby.  As we walked toward the room we were meeting in I thought of architecture buildings on US campuses.  Modern art designs with the arrangement of bricks on the wall and plenty of straight lines.  Further down the hall, I would later discover, were meeting rooms for campus organizations.  I was not able to ask how groups were selected to use the meeting rooms but there were several with group names on the doors.

We went upstairs to a room with a smart board and a hall window that went from the hip to the floor.

The main speaker for the morning was Casper de Bok. His position was international policy advisor and though he had student affair roles he reported through academic affairs. Casperhad on jeans with a grey vest and a white shirt without a tie. He appeared identical to any American faculty who is asked to give a guest lecture…nice but not too formal. After Casperfinished a woman who did not identify herself came and spoke. Some interesting aspects from what they told us:

-Orientation will be required for the first time THIS year by The Netherlands for all students beginning college but Casper suspects that Utrecht might be the only one to stick to the requirement this first year. Other colleges may ‘waive’ the requirement to assist with enrollment.  Students that apply after summer orientation would not be permitted to enroll at Utrecht.

-College tuition is very inexpensive for student (around 1,000 Euro = $1,400 dollars) but new rules byThe Netherlands allow a ‘fine’ of 3,000 Euro for not finishing in four years.

-Average salary nation-wide is 35 Euro but there is 40% tax rate. With the high tax rates the state can afford to make college 'free'.

-Women make up 75% enrollment in some fields and there is some concern about those numbers. Colleges and the state are considering ways to encourage male enrollment.

-High school students list first choice and second choice institutions and know what scores they must earn in their high school to be admitted to their first choice.

-Some English speaking program at Utrecht but most taught in Dutch.

This picture is of the cohort as we toured the union/classroom building after the lecture/discussion.  This was a testing room and you can see that the desks are spaced evenly.  Though we are on the second floor you may also notice the grass out the windows behind us.  The grass was much prettier than looking at a flat ceiling or an air conditioning unit.

The building directly next door we were told was called the Confetti Building and it certainly appeared to look like confetti.  Random squares on the building were colored with green, tan, or white.  The windows were black and created a strong mix of colors.  We later learned that it was international student services and a residence hall to international students.  Later in the week we learned that only international students lived on campus.  European students were forced to find housing off campus.

From the conversations and the tour, though this is the first college for us to visit, I do see many similarities between US and European institutions.  Faculty seem similar.  Some of the same struggles with female dominated programs exist in US colleges.  The facilities, for the most part, are similar to ours.

However, colleges in The Netherlands (and I assume in other places) do have some significant aspects that do not exist here.  There is very little recruiting of students.  Students get to decide where they go.  We did not talk about how students make the choices of colleges but I was told later in the week that most decisions are based on attending the college closest to home.

Funding is another significant difference.  Students are not denied access to a college education because of money.  I do not recall anyone asking questions about student loans in The Netherlands but as I reflect, I wish that had occurred to me.  Money is the one of the most significant roadblocks to higher education in the US.

Classroom space that was in the main building we spent much of our time.  In addition to student meeting space there were classrooms, a cafeteria, and even a book store for students. The book store only had a limited selection of Utrecht University items.  There were two different shirts to choose from and one sweat shirt.  This is very different than any US colleges!

The classroom, as you can see, is very large.  Similar to US colleges, only a small number of courses are taught in this space.

This picture is from the Utretcht library.  The windows have bamboo shoots on them.  I did not hear an explanation but it looked nice.  All the walls in the library were painted black. We were told that is conducive to studying.  We enjoyed the campus.  Students were seen studying in groups or studying alone throughout the library.  Again, another element I would expect to see on US colleges.

June 3 Orientation Day

June 3, 2012

Today is Orientation Day for the study abroad group at noon.  Renie and I slept until 9:00 and wanted to spend a little time wandering and figuring out the twisting streets, canals, and bridges of Amsterdam.  We bought Metro tickets that in Amsterdam are good all day.  Orientation is scheduled to last two hours and we want to see the city as much as possible since museums will likely be closed after our visits tomorrow. 

We rode the metro to the museum district and hopped off for about 20 minutes just looking at buildings.  Since it was after 11:00 we boarded the metro to return to the hotel for orientation.  I am shocked by the number of college-aged backpackers that are on the metros.  Though there are plenty that speak English there are many others whose first language is not English.  Amsterdam, more than Paris, seemed full of travelers.  We passed the flower market where we plan to return to find some 'customs safe' bulbs.

Back in the hotel we the cohort was gathered in the lobby awaiting preparation of our meeting room and lunch on the second floor.  Finally, lunch of cold cut sandwiches similar to our class weekends was ready.  We were introduced to Ingleborg who will be leading us this week.  We also went around the room and went over our hand out which were on the schools we would be visiting this week, the city of Ghent, the city of Amsterdam, Belgium, and The Netherlands.  My hand out was on University of Kent, Brussels and by the time we got to my school we were almost out of time in the room.  However, I was quickly able to touch on the major points in my narrative of Kent-Brussels.

One of the funniest things from the Orientation was the review of Ghent, Belgium.  Ingleborg happens to be from Ghent and she was unsure where many of the points in the hand out came from.  I am sure that was a challenging city to present upon with a long-time resident in the room.

After orientation we had three hours free to tour prior to a dinner canal cruise of Amsterdam.  Since my college mascot is 'The Bulldogs' I wanted a picture beside The Bulldog Coffee shop.  Coffee shops in Amsterdam are quite different than your local Starbucks...no, we did not go inside.

Ralph came with us to tour the Heineken Experience 'Museum'.  It was interesting and told of how the beer is brewed and the history of the company.  The tour ended in a bar and included two free mugs of Heineken.

The day concluded with a canal tour of Amsterdam.  Though I was not able or even trying to hear the tour it was a nice relaxing end.  Renie and I sat with Ken and Annie and ate the food that was brought to us...."Chicken or Fish?"  Once the canal tour concluded we were too exhausted to do anything.  Sherif was leading a 'tour' through the Red Light District but Renie and I had some apple pie and coffee in a shop near our hotel.

Arrival in Amsterdam

Saturday, June 2, 2012

For the past five days Renie and I have been traveling in Paris and arrived in Amsterdam via train yesterday.  Our trip so far has been incredible.  We have tried new foods and been to many museums in Paris.  Versailles was a favorite and we randomly ran into a family we knew from our years in Kentucky.  We have walked around Paris and have become adept at using the Metro.  One of the highlights of the trip was getting to meet up with Guillaume Gaud who spent two summers with my family as a high school junior and senior in the early 90's.  Guillaume is now a banker in Paris and being show the city with him and having dinner in his flat were both great starting points as we prepare for my week of classes.

Yesterday we took the fast train from Paris to Amsterdam.  The trip went quickly and we were greeted by for-pay toilettes at Central Station.  We stored our bags and found a map to wander towards the Anne Frank house.  This was an incredible eye-opening location for us to see.  The small house that nine people lived in for almost two years was amazing.  The journal recorded activities that Anne and her parents did to attempt to give her a real life.  The conclusion of the tour had short video vignettes where viewers had to make ethical decisions and this was also eye-opening.

Due to time constraints we wandered back to Central Station to catch the Metro to the office of another international friend, Constantijn Voogt.  Constantijn and his family came to the US during his (and mine) sixth grade year as part of a teacher swap.  Constantijn’s father, Jan, taught English at the local HS and the family from Tennessee they ‘swapped’ with came to Maasland.  

Constantijn and his wife Madeline have three kids and live just outside of Amsterdam.  Their two youngest children are the exact age of ours and we loved getting to be around children.  After arriving at their house we drove a few miles to the North Sea where we at in a restaurant on the beach.  We tried ‘bitter balls’ as an appetizer and found them to be similar to hush puppies but with a more liquid center.  For dinner I had a flat bread pizza with ham.  After dinner we returned to their house and had some good time catching up and just talking about similarities and differences in our lives.

This morning we woke at 7am with the alarm and went downstairs.  Constantijn’s wife had left for an-all day meeting with a civic organization that she volunteers with.   Constantijn drove us to The Hague and we had a traditional Dutch breakfast with coffee and a muffin.  We walked around the main square and Constantijn pointed out where parliament met, the US Embassy, and other important buildings.

After leaving The Hague we traveled about 20 minutes to Delft.  In Delft we walked through a market and found a great cheese shop.  Free samples were great and the most unusual was sheep cheese.  We bought several vacuum sealed cheeses that we are hopeful will make it through customs.  The market looked similar to flea markets in the US.  Many booths with junk they were attempting to unload.  At the end of the market we stopped in a café to eat a sandwich.  I had a ‘hamburger’ that tasted like it was steamed instead of grilled.  It was very good!

On the way back to Amsterdam we stopped by Maasland where Constantijn grew up.  While in the US Jan completed his dissertation (from Leiden) on the views of the Vietnam War by the citizens of Brownsville, TN.   We enjoyed visiting with Constantijn’s parents since I had not seen them in ten years.

 

Once we were dropped at the hotel we discovered that our room was not yet ready.  Since some of my classmates were in the lobby we went to the penthouse restaurant to have a drink while we waited.  Shortly after 5pm our room was finally ready.  We met many classmates for dinner and headed back to the room to settle down for the night.  Our class 'adventure' begins tomorrow with Orientation.

Whats new!

The past year has been fun and full for me and my family.  Last August I made a reference to moving to a new house and starting a EdD program.  We did move and I did start the doctoral program.  In addition to those busy things my son was diagnosed with a rare tumor condition that required two different procedures.  He is fine now but will have yearly appointments with the specialist for the next few years.

June has been a fun month for my wife and I.  As part of my EdD program we had the opportunity to travel abroad for one of our courses.  We spent five days touring four colleges and one high school in The Netherlands and Belgium.  The six days prior to class starting we spent touring Paris and arriving in Amsterdam to visit with a previous Dutch exchange student.

My last trip to Europe was the July shortly after graduating college in 1997.  I went with my sister and four of her friends.  On that trip we landed in London, spent some time in Paris, and traveled to the parents home of a former French exchange student in the French Riveria.  After a few days in Venice and the Itallian Riveria we returned to Paris to   We happened to be in Paris for Bastille Day and for the end of the Tour De France.

Though we were not in Europe for any events as signficant as those we had a great time together and with my classmates.  As part of my class, Comparative Higher Education, I was required to keep a blog....which I kept on paper.  Over the next few days I will type my blog here, add pictures, and share with my you what we did, where we went, and some of my major take-aways from the site visits.  This will include my thoughts and observations on similarities and differences on higher education in the US and abroad.

Since the 'full journal' is due mid-July I will post and likely edit as I figure out how to move pictures from the iPad.  The picture below was taken by the above mentioned French exchange student in Place de la Concorde.

Philip

p.s.  I have grilled a dozen times this past year...and even grilled chicken breasts on Fathers Day...but will re-start those posts in the future.