Like every academic year, UCR welcomed many new faces this August. This year however, instead of just welcoming new students, it also welcomed a new Dean. Professor Bert van den Brink already introduced himself to the students last semester when he hosted the Elliott Pub Quiz, however now that he is here, Tabula Rasa’s Aimah Moiz wondered what his expectations were of UCR before coming here and how his ideas have changed since then.
Professor van den Brink is a professor of political and social philosophy. He studied theology at Nijmegen, however after two years ‘God died’ for him. He felt that “theology minus God is philosophy”, thus proceeded to Utrecht University for his further studies, spending some time in Frankfurt am Main during the course of his degree. After finishing his PhD he completed a few post-doctorates at Tilburg University after which he worked at Utrecht University researching on pluralism and democracy. Van den Brink also started discussing the issues of multiculturalism before it became a very popular topic of debate.
He was also the Director of Studies of the department of Philosophy, Artificial Intelligence and Applied Ethics, for six and a half years and then the Vice Dean of Utrecht’s University’s faculty of humanities, a huge faculty consisting of 50 programs.
Upon his inclusion in university governance Van den Brink really tried to bring a stronger sense of community and togetherness in the teaching programs. However, he found that quite difficult to achieve in a big university where people are working on projects that often span over three or four different departments. Frequently, this leads to the instructors and professors representing themselves rather than the institution, making it difficult to create the sense of community. Therefore, Van den Brink wished to opt for a position in the more structured university colleges, given the chance.
One of the merits of university colleges, aside from their clear structure, is their clear goal to teach. Students also have more clarity regarding what is expected of them. Furthermore, the smaller faculty allows for better recognition, which makes it easier for the students to build relations with their professors and in turn, this can help students make better life choices.
Van den Brink also believes that caring for the students, while providing high level, intensive liberal arts and science education, is really the strength of UCR. “In larger universities, if someone decides to skip a semester, it is quite likely that no one will notice. At university colleges that is inconceivable, which is a good thing. We have high expectations of our students; therefore they should have high expectations of us. This means that if someone is unwell due to personal reasons or because of their study does not suit them, then we should know about it and help them reach a decision, which could be deciding that this may not be the right track or the right college for them.”
Van den Brink is also very impressed with the UCR faculty and staff. He feels they all are very dedicated about providing an excellent Liberal Arts and Sciences education. While there are differences of opinion on how this may be achieved, he is very pleased to see their enthusiasm and hard work.
However, Van den Brink was surprised to find out that the three pillars upon which the UCR community rests – the faculty, students and the staff – are far less integrated than he expected them to be. This is something that he wishes to improve by introducing the Public Sphere, a place where we as ‘citizens of the college’ can discuss and reflect the college’s problems and strengths.
He feels that such discussions at UCR are quite common, especially due to outside-the-classroom interaction at social events where the faculty and staff can partake with the students, such as the King of the Channel event. However, those discussions are neither planned nor are they publicly shared. Therefore, they may not be able to make an impact, which is why he feels the need to organize a formal meta-discourse and is very pleased at the positive feedback from the student representatives and heads of Departments.
Van den Brink feels there are quite some challenges for university colleges. Higher education is getting less public funding and becoming more expensive. This is what led to the decision to reposition UCR (you can read all about this reposition in our online magazine!). However, the document sent out to the students is incomplete, as it does not mention a new strategic vision for the future of the college, which is something that Van den Brink intends to draw over the course of this academic year, after seeking input from all in the college.
From what he hears from the students, Van den Brink agrees that the facilities can be much better. The facilities department is already working on replacing Workspaces with something more modern and wishes to look into using ICT means to help students prepare better for their courses. Van den Brink believes that Utrecht University, having a lot of expertise in this department, may be able to help. However, he clarifies that given UCR’s goal of offering a Liberal Arts and Sciences education, certain other popular ICT means, such as massive online open courses (MOOCs), are not something UCR wishes to work with.
Van den Brink really wishes to decrease the number of students in the classroom; unfortunately the next academic year (2017-2018) courses will have a maximum of 28 students due to the repositioning. However, he aspires to achieve this goal once UCR has a better financial position, because with a smaller number of students one could have an even stronger ‘master-apprentice relationship’, learning from instructors first hand, what it is like to research in the academic world.
UCR is one of the oldest university colleges in the Netherlands, and it is also most independent of its mother university, which gives it the freedom to set its own agenda. However, this also makes it vulnerable owing to its distance from the larger research centers. Nonetheless, university colleges in the United States often are also geographically isolated. They are away from the big cities, because it is seen as necessary to retreat from the ‘big life’ in order to learn to study at an academic level. Van den Brink feels that this should unashamedly belong to the narrative of UCR. “This is what we are in this lovely little town with its great history and beautiful buildings. This is a place where you can come to really focus on your studies. One semester, 15 weeks at a time, to give it your all.”
Van den Brink finally suggests that UCR should be putting higher stress on interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and thematic working. “We should seek for forms in our education that can help us to continue with our mission and not rest with what we have achieved, but find even better new ways to ensure that we are not just one of the oldest university colleges, but also one of the most forward looking.”
Aimah Moiz, Class of 2017, is Physics and Computer Science major from Karachi, Pakistan.
