TU Delft is happily counting more and more international students among its numbers each year, but the integration of Dutch and international students is still lagging behind.
If the TU really wants to become a leading international university, a lot still needs to be done, according to the findings of a report recently published by the student political party Oras.
While they may not be able to back up their claims with hard facts, they say their own experiences and interviews with others is proof enough. The conclusion: students at TU Delft do not live and work in an international community. In actual fact, the Dutch students at TU Delft have little or nothing to do with the TU’s international students . let alone having friends among the internationals. TU Delft is simply not a real international university, despite the fact that there is so much international research being conducted here and that the numbers of international students continues to increase each year.
Tina Sol (21, mathematics) and Laura Smits (22, architecture) represent Oras in the TU’s student council. Last January, they and their fellow council members flew to Canada and the United States to see how some of the universities there dealt with internationalization and to see what TU Delft could learn from this. They visited five universities – three in Canada, and two in the US . and recently published their findings in a report: ‘Internationalization at DUT . Educating the engineer of the future!’
“The TU’s International Office advised us to go to Canada,” Smits says. “Canada’s a country that has great difficulties attracting international students. While international students naturally flock to the US to study, Canada has always been a less popular destination. Consequently, institutions in Canada devote a lot more time and energy to ensuring that international students have positive experiences. We were therefore curious to see how such a country arranges things for internationals. Because we were so close to the border, we also decided to visit universities in the US.”
Living room
Many things are indeed better arranged overseas than in Delft. Queens University in Kingston, Canada, is one example. Sol: “Queens University has an International Center, which is an open, accessible place that has a sort of living room atmosphere. International students could study there, but there was also a kitchen where they could prepare meals. The university’s international office was located there and Canadian students who were interested in studying abroad could get information there as well. In short, the International Center offered international students a real central meeting place. And by doing this, Queen’s University is far ahead of any Dutch universities that I know of.”
Or in any case ahead of TU Delft. Smits: “At TU Delft, all the money and efforts are devoted to the basic things, like well-functioning enrollment procedures and housing. The TU’s International Office has not yet gotten around to all the other things.” But it’s not a question of unwillingness, the students add. “They realize that more is needed,” Smits says, “but they just don’t have the extra personnel and means required for this.” Oras says that this is a task for the TU’s Executive Board: “The board can decide to devote more money to this.”
Sol also says the university must actively try to change the mentality of the TU’s Dutch students: “By making them aware that they have much to learn from their international classmates, and that TU Delft offers them an international environment they can greatly benefit from.”
Oras also recommends that more Dutch students go abroad to study. “If you’ve studied abroad, you’re more open to international classmates,” Sol believes. Oras proposes that TU Delft make this part of its policy: every year a certain percentage of students should study abroad. “Also BSc students,” Smits says. “At the moment, Dutch BSc students have little to do with international students, because very few international students are enrolled in BSc degree programs. On the MSc level however the Dutch students enter another world: the education is in English and half of the group . certainly in a few years . consists of foreigners.” Smits and Sol argue that if Dutch undergraduates had an international experience of studying abroad during their BSc degree, they’d be better able to contribute to TU Delft’s international character.
Oras also recommends that TU Delft instructors follow special courses designed to improve their relations with international students. “We were told that in the US and Canada these courses are very helpful,” Sol says. “These types of trainings would improve our teachers’ abilities to lead mixed groups of Dutch and international students. And that has an effect on the attitudes of the students.”
Oras presented its recommendations to Paul Rullman, a member of the TU’s Executive Board. “Initially, he reacted positively,” Smits says. “But we’re still waiting to see what the board ultimately decides to do with our recommendations.”
If you are an international or Dutch student and would like to comment on this article for publication on our ‘Opinion’ page, please send your reactions to: d.mcmullin@tudelft.nl.
How can TU Delft become a real international university?
Oras offered 17 recommendations, including:
Give all international students an email buddy to maintain contact with before arriving in Holland;
Establish an International Student Center, where the TU’s International Office would be located, and where students can study and hang out;
Organize courses for faculty staff about cross-cultural differences;
Encourage mixed Dutch/international student project groups;
Provide housing for international students on campus;
Let international students live together; give Dutch students the option to live among international students;
Establish that a certain percentage of BSc and MSc students go abroad to study each year.
While they may not be able to back up their claims with hard facts, they say their own experiences and interviews with others is proof enough. The conclusion: students at TU Delft do not live and work in an international community. In actual fact, the Dutch students at TU Delft have little or nothing to do with the TU’s international students . let alone having friends among the internationals. TU Delft is simply not a real international university, despite the fact that there is so much international research being conducted here and that the numbers of international students continues to increase each year.
Tina Sol (21, mathematics) and Laura Smits (22, architecture) represent Oras in the TU’s student council. Last January, they and their fellow council members flew to Canada and the United States to see how some of the universities there dealt with internationalization and to see what TU Delft could learn from this. They visited five universities – three in Canada, and two in the US . and recently published their findings in a report: ‘Internationalization at DUT . Educating the engineer of the future!’
“The TU’s International Office advised us to go to Canada,” Smits says. “Canada’s a country that has great difficulties attracting international students. While international students naturally flock to the US to study, Canada has always been a less popular destination. Consequently, institutions in Canada devote a lot more time and energy to ensuring that international students have positive experiences. We were therefore curious to see how such a country arranges things for internationals. Because we were so close to the border, we also decided to visit universities in the US.”
Living room
Many things are indeed better arranged overseas than in Delft. Queens University in Kingston, Canada, is one example. Sol: “Queens University has an International Center, which is an open, accessible place that has a sort of living room atmosphere. International students could study there, but there was also a kitchen where they could prepare meals. The university’s international office was located there and Canadian students who were interested in studying abroad could get information there as well. In short, the International Center offered international students a real central meeting place. And by doing this, Queen’s University is far ahead of any Dutch universities that I know of.”
Or in any case ahead of TU Delft. Smits: “At TU Delft, all the money and efforts are devoted to the basic things, like well-functioning enrollment procedures and housing. The TU’s International Office has not yet gotten around to all the other things.” But it’s not a question of unwillingness, the students add. “They realize that more is needed,” Smits says, “but they just don’t have the extra personnel and means required for this.” Oras says that this is a task for the TU’s Executive Board: “The board can decide to devote more money to this.”
Sol also says the university must actively try to change the mentality of the TU’s Dutch students: “By making them aware that they have much to learn from their international classmates, and that TU Delft offers them an international environment they can greatly benefit from.”
Oras also recommends that more Dutch students go abroad to study. “If you’ve studied abroad, you’re more open to international classmates,” Sol believes. Oras proposes that TU Delft make this part of its policy: every year a certain percentage of students should study abroad. “Also BSc students,” Smits says. “At the moment, Dutch BSc students have little to do with international students, because very few international students are enrolled in BSc degree programs. On the MSc level however the Dutch students enter another world: the education is in English and half of the group . certainly in a few years . consists of foreigners.” Smits and Sol argue that if Dutch undergraduates had an international experience of studying abroad during their BSc degree, they’d be better able to contribute to TU Delft’s international character.
Oras also recommends that TU Delft instructors follow special courses designed to improve their relations with international students. “We were told that in the US and Canada these courses are very helpful,” Sol says. “These types of trainings would improve our teachers’ abilities to lead mixed groups of Dutch and international students. And that has an effect on the attitudes of the students.”
Oras presented its recommendations to Paul Rullman, a member of the TU’s Executive Board. “Initially, he reacted positively,” Smits says. “But we’re still waiting to see what the board ultimately decides to do with our recommendations.”
If you are an international or Dutch student and would like to comment on this article for publication on our ‘Opinion’ page, please send your reactions to: d.mcmullin@tudelft.nl.
How can TU Delft become a real international university?
Oras offered 17 recommendations, including:
Give all international students an email buddy to maintain contact with before arriving in Holland;
Establish an International Student Center, where the TU’s International Office would be located, and where students can study and hang out;
Organize courses for faculty staff about cross-cultural differences;
Encourage mixed Dutch/international student project groups;
Provide housing for international students on campus;
Let international students live together; give Dutch students the option to live among international students;
Establish that a certain percentage of BSc and MSc students go abroad to study each year.
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