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.