Six MSc courses only enrolled one or two freshmen. Why? And how are tutors going to manage these small audiences?A new course, Mathematics (Risk & Environmental Modelling), attracted only two students.
Still, Professor Roger Cooke is satisfied because his group Control, Risk, Optimization, Systems and Stochastics didn’t set up the new course until last spring. “The former Mathematics course was ‘Vanilla-flavoured’, with all sorts of mathematics things. Now we focus on our best side.”
In the short period since last spring, Cooke managed to recruit two Polish students by approaching mathematician friends in Poland. Because the five-year program for undergraduates is also a variation, MSc students will only receive private tuition if their schedules don’t fit the regular programme. Cooke: “Because they must do everything within two years and delay isn’t possible, private lectures are sometimes inevitable. It’s got nothing to do with language, because all our lectures for senior students are in English.”
That’s not entirely the case with the sole MSc student in Marine Technology. He’ll join lectures when they’re in English; otherwise, he’ll receive private tuition. “Actually, he’s in quite a luxurious position,” says Mrs. T.Eden, co-ordinator of the Marine Technology & Transportation Engineering course. For example, last year’s marine technology student had a private room at the faculty.
The attractiveness of Chemical Engineering increased enormously this year, expanding from three to fourteen freshmen. Mrs. A. O’Brien, MSc co-ordinator for Applied Sciences, isn’t surprised: When I began working here a year ago, I had to start somewhere with promoting the courses. Somewhere was Chemical Engineering. O’Brien put course information on various special websites for MSc course seekers and stayed in contact with students who requested information.
“Each course needs it’s own marketing strategy. On the websites I pointed out that it’s also possible to do a biochemical programme, instead of a chemical course. Students were attracted by this, so, in fact, only seven students applied to Chemical Engineering, the other seven do Biochemical Engineering.”
This year, O’Brien will try to make the same thing happen for MSc courses in Applied Sciences, Materials Science and Applied Physics. “The ideal situation is a large MSc class, like in chemical engineering. But because of low student numbers, other courses can be tailor-made. Although I ensure all learning material is available in English, I strongly oppose giving a student a book and telling him to come back if he has any questions, because then it’s also possible to do the MSc course from your home country,” O’Brien says.
Six MSc courses only enrolled one or two freshmen. Why? And how are tutors going to manage these small audiences?
A new course, Mathematics (Risk & Environmental Modelling), attracted only two students. Still, Professor Roger Cooke is satisfied because his group Control, Risk, Optimization, Systems and Stochastics didn’t set up the new course until last spring. “The former Mathematics course was ‘Vanilla-flavoured’, with all sorts of mathematics things. Now we focus on our best side.”
In the short period since last spring, Cooke managed to recruit two Polish students by approaching mathematician friends in Poland. Because the five-year program for undergraduates is also a variation, MSc students will only receive private tuition if their schedules don’t fit the regular programme. Cooke: “Because they must do everything within two years and delay isn’t possible, private lectures are sometimes inevitable. It’s got nothing to do with language, because all our lectures for senior students are in English.”
That’s not entirely the case with the sole MSc student in Marine Technology. He’ll join lectures when they’re in English; otherwise, he’ll receive private tuition. “Actually, he’s in quite a luxurious position,” says Mrs. T.Eden, co-ordinator of the Marine Technology & Transportation Engineering course. For example, last year’s marine technology student had a private room at the faculty.
The attractiveness of Chemical Engineering increased enormously this year, expanding from three to fourteen freshmen. Mrs. A. O’Brien, MSc co-ordinator for Applied Sciences, isn’t surprised: When I began working here a year ago, I had to start somewhere with promoting the courses. Somewhere was Chemical Engineering. O’Brien put course information on various special websites for MSc course seekers and stayed in contact with students who requested information.
“Each course needs it’s own marketing strategy. On the websites I pointed out that it’s also possible to do a biochemical programme, instead of a chemical course. Students were attracted by this, so, in fact, only seven students applied to Chemical Engineering, the other seven do Biochemical Engineering.”
This year, O’Brien will try to make the same thing happen for MSc courses in Applied Sciences, Materials Science and Applied Physics. “The ideal situation is a large MSc class, like in chemical engineering. But because of low student numbers, other courses can be tailor-made. Although I ensure all learning material is available in English, I strongly oppose giving a student a book and telling him to come back if he has any questions, because then it’s also possible to do the MSc course from your home country,” O’Brien says.
Comments are closed.