Graduates' Stories of Perseverance Inspire at "Special" 2020 Summer Graduation Ceremony

https://www.wittenborg.eu/be-ready-when-normality-returns-wittenborg-president-tells-july-2020-graduates.htm

Wittenborg's 2020 Summer Graduation Ceremony on Friday was one for the history books – part virtual and part socially distant, but no less celebratory in nature. It was held at Wittenborg's main campus in Apeldoorn and was marked by inspiring stories of perseverance and graduates overcoming many difficulties, including one Chinese student who had to complete her final thesis in locked-down Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first detected.

A total of 44 students from all over the world graduated this summer, of which almost half were master's degree students. Due to COVID-19 situation, it was initially thought that an in-person ceremony would not be possible. However, some graduates made a touching appeal to the university's management, who took the necessary steps to make the venue as safe as possible for students and staff.

This resulted in about 60% of graduates opting to attend in person while others followed online. Appropriate social distancing was observed and attendees were required to wear masks. This year, graduates' guests were not allowed to attend in person, but could follow online in unrestricted numbers. While some academic supervisors introduced their students virtually, others congratulated them in person. From 1 July, physical classes at universities are allowed again in the Netherlands. 

Wittenborg Sports Lecturer, Bas Schreurs, on the Future of the Sports Industry Post COVID-19

https://www.wittenborg.eu/hello-fc-twente-skybox.htm

What a treat! Wittenborg students doing an IBA in Sports Business Management recently got a surprise when their online lecture was delivered from the stadium of Dutch premier league football club, FC Twente. Module lecturer, Bas Schreurs, happens to be the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) manager for the club and spoke to students from the stadium's E-Sports Box. In an interview he also shared his thoughts on the impact of COVID-19 on the billion-dollar sports industry and events like the 2020 Olympics and football World Cup.

Hi Bas, how did students like their unique "classroom"?

"The students found the location inspiring – the E-Sports skybox of a professional football organisation. The COVID-19 situation is having a huge impact on the sports business industry. It is, therefore, relevant in the module Strategic Changes in Sport Business Management and fits perfectly with Wittenborg's pillars of diversity, ethics and internationalisation."

In what ways did COVID-19 have an impact on the industry?

"Professional sport practice is often linked to spectators, sponsors and matches as an event. These regional, national and international sports events are the core of the business model of sports business organisations, because of the income generated from broadcasting rights, food and beverage sales, ticket sales, sponsors and merchandising revenues. The budget of professional sport businesses is primarily based on these incomes, in addition to the value of sports athletes.

Hamid Safaei Coaches Wittenborg Students on Job Seeking in Online Workshop

https://www.wittenborg.eu/exclusive-wittenborg-online-coaching-workshop-executive-coach-hamid-safaei.htm

Students of Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences have received an online coaching workshop from executive coach Hamid Safaei for tips on how to write a successful CV, cover letter and the dos and don’ts of job-seeking in the Netherlands. The 90-minute coaching session was both attention grabbing and dynamic with numerous students participating from all over the globe.

Hamid Safaei, international best-selling author of "First-Class Leadership and Your Journey to Fulfilment", is a certified executive coach and senior management consultant with over 15 years’ experience at large corporates, FMCGs, financials, Big-4, and SMEs. During his session with Wittenborg’s students, Safei covered all-round tips starting from how to shoot for the right job vacancies to how students can prepare for interviews and negotiate remuneration packages.

From the outside
Students should remain consistent in their identities, and this also applies to their digital profiles. Strategise social media profiles, like LinkedIn, and update them regularly. It is highly advisable that students remain consistent about who they are and who they want to become. Human resources officers will go the extra mile in checking digital profiles.

Curriculum Vitae
Structure your sentences, watch out for typos and grammatical errors, and always try to answer keywords in the job description. Mention things you have done that are relevant to the work being offered. It is okay if students have not had the experience, but you should show that you have the right talent or an affinity with the industry.

First Wittenborg Students to Graduate Virtually as Part of "Hybrid" Ceremony

https://www.wittenborg.eu/wuas-2020-summer-graduation-ceremony-be-live-streamed-10-july.htm

For the first time in its history Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences will live-stream its Summer Graduation Ceremony on Friday, 10 July, in addition to hosting a small, intimate gathering of graduates and essential staff at its main campus in Apeldoorn. It will also be the first time that a group of students will graduate virtually – mainly those who either find themselves outside the Netherlands or cannot attend the ceremony in person for other reasons.

Initially it was thought that this year's ceremony would be cancelled after the COVID-19 pandemic reached the Netherlands in March and all education was hastily moved online. However, from 1 July the Dutch government has relaxed several restrictions, which include allowing all institutions of higher education to offer physical classes again.

Wittenborg's Communications & Events Coordinator, Nadia Zaman, said it has now settled on a hybrid version of the ceremony. About 60% of graduates will attend a low-key ceremony next Friday while the rest will graduate online. No guests are allowed and only staff members who are essential to the ceremony will be present. Some academic supervisors who will introduce the graduates will also do it virtually.

High Number of Chinese PhD and Bachelor's Students Stay in the Netherlands after Graduating - CBS Report

https://www.wittenborg.eu/many-chinese-alumni-employed-dutch-he-sector.htm

Over 60% of Chinese bachelor's and around half of Chinese master's degree graduates still live in the Netherlands 3 years after receiving their diplomas, a new report by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) states. And around 43% of Chinese PhD graduates are still in the Netherlands 10 years after the end of their PhD contracts. This is around 10 percentage points higher than the stay rate of the average international PhD student in the Netherlands, the quarterly Internationalisation Monitor, commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has found.  

While the bulk of Chinese who currently reside in the Netherlands work in the Accommodation and Food Industry (43% in 2018), higher education is also one of the most popular sectors for Chinese people working in the country.  

"This is to a large extent driven by the number of Chinese PhDs employed by Dutch universities. In 2018, there were around 400 Chinese PhDs in the Netherlands, around one-tenth of all international PhDs working at Dutch universities that year. Chinese people working in higher education are relatively young (the average age is 31), and men are often overrepresented in technical universities."

Wittenborg In Line with Minister's Call to Adopt "Hybrid" Education Model after Summer

Dutch universities are expected to re-open en masse after the summer holiday as the government announced a further ease in restrictions this week. The Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Ingrid van Engelshoven, has called on the higher education sector to adopt a "hybrid" model, by providing online as well as class-based education – in line with a plan announced by Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences two weeks ago. Van Engelshoven emphasised the importance of face-to-face education, especially for first-year students.

The Executive at Wittenborg released a plan detailing its return to class-based education in August after moving online in March due to COVID-19. All lessons will be run on location and students are required to attend with laptops or tablets, and students who cannot attend will be able to follow online using Moodle and Teams. Wittenborg invest heavily in online databases of journals and books, and successfully extending its ICT infrastructure to facilitate online delivery. "These investments will help make our education provision in the future even better," Wittenborg President Peter Birdsall said. He emphasised, though, that Wittenborg has no plans to become a fully online university of applied sciences.

Online Education Assessment

Wittenborg also sent out a survey to students to assess their experience of remote learning the past quarter. Results are expected soon. 

Wittenborg events supported by relentlessly dedicated students

Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences organises numerous activities and events for its students, staff and faculty members consistently throughout the academic year. When it comes to events management, there is a lot to prepare and sometimes it's easy to overlook what pressure goes on behind the scenes. There are weeks or sometimes months of planning to be able to deliver a successful event. The preparation part takes a lot of dedication and patience. A lot of events that Wittenborg has delivered to its stakeholders have been supported by students relentlessly devoting their time as event volunteers during the whole process. Today, we hear from some of these wonderful students about the motivation behind their contribution to Wittenborg events and activities.

Cynthia Andrea: 'A great lesson for the time I start applying for jobs'

Cynthia (Columbia) studies IBA in Economics and Management. Her parents taught her that making people around her happy is a source of positivity in life. Cynthia grew up with this habit and it is now part of her life values. Participating in Wittenborg events has not only brought joy to herself and her surroundings, by interacting with a lot of people in events she is now able to accept differences and develop a nice degree of tolerance. Meeting people also expands her network and raises her self-confidence and public speaking skills. ‘It's a great lesson that will bring me benefits for the time I start applying for jobs’ she explained.

Tineke van der Leer Heads into Retirement

https://www.wittenborg.eu/saying-goodbye-long-serving-member-staff-tineke-van-der-leer.htm

Tineke van der Leer is now entering the retirement phase of her professional career after working with Wittenborg for the past 8 years. In her position as the Student Registry Administrator, she has been influential in the student journey of a large number of WUAS students. She will be greatly missed by colleagues and students who have had the good fortune of interacting with her. We caught up with her to talk about her experience working at Wittenborg and what she is looking forward to in this new chapter.

What were your different roles during your time at Wittenborg?

I joined Wittenborg at a time when the organisation was in a phase of accelerated growth, so all staff members had quite a lot of responsibilities at the time. I started out as office manager helping the management with housing contracts, making invigilator schedules for exam periods, as well as anything else that needed to be done. When the number of staff started growing, responsibilities were shared with the new team members and I became more involved with students joining the university. While I have had the same job title all the time, my job description changed over the years in line with the university’s growth.

What have you become more proficient at during your time at Wittenborg?

Each student is so different, they come from different countries and backgrounds, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach to interacting with them. Within the bounds of my position’s responsibilities, I had to learn how to tailor my approach to each individual student.

Volunteering is nothing new for some Wittenborg students

https://www.wittenborg.eu/workout-session-refugees-apeldoorn.htm

Amidst the warm summer afternoon, four young adults, three of whom are from Wittenborg, prepared for a workout session with refugees at the spacious backyard of the former UMW building on Christiaan Geurtsweg in Apeldoorn.

Joint Voluntary Work between Wittenborg, Network Skill-Ability and COA

The workout session was jointly organised by Wittenborg’s Communications and Events Coordinator Nadia Zaman, and Jasmijn Lagerweij from the Youth Volunteer Network Skill-Ability and COA (Centraal Orgaan opvang Asielzoekers - a central body for the reception of asylum seekers). Network Skill-Ability organisation is a youth volunteer group initiated by Lagerweij and fellow colleague Mirjam Buurkes, to introduce young people between the ages of 15 to 30 to volunteering work in Apeldoorn by using their skills and talents. A master’s student in Amsterdam, Lagerweij hopes to connect Wittenborg students with refugees and others who have settled in Apeldoorn. After helping a Syrian girl to learn Dutch, Lagerweij felt like she could do more. That’s why she started Skill-Ability in September 2019 and she connects with organisations, schools and social businesses in order to incorporate youth volunteering in the daily life of Apeldoorn. “Especially in this time of crisis, people need social interaction or a helping hand more than we think,” quoted Lagerweij.

New Students Enthusiastic after Wittenborg Virtual Meet and Greet Event.

https://www.wittenborg.eu/wittenborgs-virtual-meet-greet-new-students-under-travel-restrictions.htm

Last week, Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences organised a virtual meet and greet with eight master's students and four bachelor's students from Iran, Tanzania, Nigeria and India, currently still in their home countries due to COVID-19-related travel  restrictions. This unique meet and greet involves several Wittenborg current students and staff members, who inform new students about Wittenborg’s study system and its online implementation during the pandemic.

Travel plans were the main topic of discussion at the event as many countries, including the Netherlands have now gradually started lifting their travel restrictions.  Everyone remains optimistic and confident that they will be able to start classes in late August.

Wittenborg is preparing to move all classes into school locations from autumn onwards with regards to the government guidelines about the number of students in each class session. However, Wittenborg will also continue to support all students online as needed for those who cannot attend classes on location due to travel restrictions or individual health concerns.

The twelve new students were very enthusiastic throughout the discussion. Questions and answers about life as International students, the Dutch language and sporting activities were raised and the chat room continued to be busy for hours after the virtual meet and greet event officially ended.

WUP 23/6/2020
by Sylvia Effendi
©Wittenborg University Press

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