Faculty of Arts

In 2018, the Faculty of Arts, in consultation with the Faculty Joint Assembly, chose to not only use faculty resources but also resources from the quality agreements (also known as study financing resources) to carry out the plans related to organisational change. In doing so, we wanted to accomplish three goals:

an attractive social profile for our students,
more efficient educational programming, and
reduced workloads.

One reason for this change of course was the recurring complaint from our students that the existing study programmes offered too little preparation for the job market. The perceived rigidity of the organisation and the workloads of lecturers were also reasons for change. That is why the faculty’s Executive Board decided to drastically change the educational programming and the division of tasks. The change of the educational organisation was divided into three sub-plans:

the introduction of profiling minors,
the modification of the faculty’s teaching staff allocation model, and
the establishment of three departments (instead of ten).

Below is an overview of the original multi-year estimate (drawn up in 2018) and the realisation from 2019 through 2021:

to period 12 (x €1,000)
Expenditures per theme	Budgeted 2019	Budgeted 2020	Budgeted 2021	Budgeted 2022	Budgeted 2023	Budgeted 2024*
1. More intensive and smaller-scale education	134	134	240	314	314
2. Increased and improved guidance of students	-	33	133	213	213
3. Study success including admission and advancement	-	-	100	141	180	-
4. Educational differentiation	-	-	100	141	180
5. Appropriate educational facilities of good quality	-	-	-	-	-
6. Continued professional development of lecturers	-	80	180	250	250
Total	134	247	753	1,059	1,137

In 2021, the original estimate was adjusted in the 2022 budget based on new proposals from the Faculty Joint Assembly. It was decided to allocate more resources to the theme of ‘More intensive, smaller-scale education’. This was done by deploying extra teaching staff to reduce the number of students per tutorial and by allocating more time to thesis supervision. Both actions aligned with the needs of our students and lecturers.

The financial scope to achieve this was created by using the temporary NPO resources for student assistance that were previously financed from the quality funds. When the temporary NPO resources expire, space will again be created in the budget for quality funding because this will increase in the coming years. Below is a breakdown by theme of where the resources have been used in recent years.

Notes on quality agreements expenditure per theme (2019 to 2021)

Although we had to deal with coronavirus measures over the past two years, the faculty was still able to achieve a large part of the planned goals, set them in motion or, in consultation with the Faculty Joint Assembly, deploy the resources differently.

As a result of the abrupt transition to online education, some resources could not be used as planned. After consultation with the Faculty Joint Assembly, the faculty used quality funds to support the lecturers in the transition to online teaching and to provide extra guidance to students. This resulted in:

the deployment of a supporting education officer for each department;
using student assistants to support education;
extra deployment of student assistance to guide international students.

Thema 1 Intensiever en kleinschalig onderwijs

Theme 1: More intensive and smaller-scale education
Theme 1: More intensive and smaller-scale education
to period 12 (x €1,000)	2019	2020	2021	total	2019	2020	2021	total
1. More intensive and smaller-scale education
Improving the staff-student ratio;	134	134	240	508	134	285	237	656
Minimum standard for hours per course	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Teaching and research assistant to support lecturers
and involve students more intensively in	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
science
	134	134	240	508	134	285	237	656

The purpose of using these resources was to reduce workloads and improve the quality of education.

Our faculty is characterised by its small-scale and intensive education in many study programmes. The relatively small number of students (in many of the study programmes) demands a lot from our lecturers. The small numbers lead to limited financing of education, which means that a lot of teaching falls on the shoulders of a small group of lecturers. This leads to high workloads for lecturers and less time for student guidance. That is why, since 2016, the quality funds have been used to improve the staff-student ratio. Additional teaching staffing was also allocated to each of the three departments in 2020 to reduce the increased workload resulting from the sudden transition to online education in connection with the coronavirus measures. This was possible because of the previously mentioned increase in quality funds by the Executive Board. The goal of setting a minimum standard for hours per course (component) was also achieved.

Theme 2 Increased and improved guidance of students

to period 12 (x €1,000)	Budgeted 2019	Budgeted 2020	Budgeted 2021	Budgeted total	Realised 2019	Realised 2020	Realised 2021	Realised total
2. Increased and improved guidance of students
Improving study performance and students’ well-being by optimising academic counselling		33	133	166	0	50	23	73
Guidance for international students		0	0	0	0	35	3	38
Reducing lecturers’ workloads		0	0	0	0	0	0	0
		33	133	166		85	26	111

To benefit our students’ well-being, some of the quality funds were used to improve mentoring and academic counselling. International students in particular turned out to need extra support as a result of online education. We therefore decided to employ extra student assistants under the supervision of a coordinator. In 2021, this was partly financed from other budgets, such as the incidental NPO resources. This will also be the case in 2022. Starting in 2023, there will again be sufficient financial scope to finance this from the resources for the quality agreements.

Theme 3: Study success

to period 12 (x €1,000)	Budgeted 2019	Budgeted 2020	Budgeted 2021	Budgeted total	Realised 2019	Realised 2020	Realised 2021	Realised total
3. Study success including admission and advancement
Appointing a separate admission officer and strengthening faculty Examining Board	-	-	100	100	-	80	101	181
Linking educational content to social themes in profiling minors	-	-		-	-	-	-	-

	-	-	100	100	-	80	101	181

The faculty used the quality funds to appoint two admission officers to improve the handling of the admission process for foreign students and to improve student communication. From 2022 onwards, one of the admission officers will be financed by other means; this will be made possible by additional structural resources.

Theme 4: Education differentiation

to period 12 (x €1,000)	Budgeted 2019	Budgeted 2020	Budgeted 2021	Budgeted total	Realised 2019	Realised 2020	Realised 2021	Realised total
4. Educational differentiation
New didactic educational concept: think tanks;	-	-	100	100	-	-	-	-
Introducing two-year teacher training Master’s programme; English-taught Bachelor’s programmes; room for electives in B3; developing interfaculty collaboration modules; developing interfaculty Master’s programmes	-	-	-	-	-	96	178	274
				-				-
	-	-	100	100	-	96	178	274

The change in the curricula will boost the quality of our education. In the Bachelor’s degree programmes, we offer interdisciplinary profiling minors that bridge the gap between academics and society. These help our students enter the job market with greater confidence. By organising these profiling minors with a clear link to the National Science Agenda and a concrete professional field, every Bachelor’s student has the opportunity to become acquainted with social issues to which a humanities scholar should be able to find an answer. The profiling minors are accompanied by a new educational concept in our faculty: the concluding think tank in which students get to work in concrete terms on an assignment, question or problem presented by a social partner.

In addition, four English-taught Bachelor’s degree programmes were started. They were pre-financed by the faculty. The teacher training Master’s programmes (eight different tracks) and interfaculty education have all been started; the Executive Board provided the (pre-)financing for these.
The faculty also decided to appoint an education officer and student assistants in each department to support lecturers in the transition to online education and guarantee the quality of education. As a result, expenditure in this area was higher than budgeted.

Theme 6: Continued professional development of lecturers

to period 12 (x €1,000)	Budgeted 2019	Budgeted 2020	Budgeted 2021	Budgeted total	Realised 2019	Realised 2020	Realised 2021	Realised total
6. Continued professional development of lecturers
ICT in Education booster; professionalisation with new modes of instruction; proeftuin experiments	-	80	180	260	-	89	91	180
Language learning


	-	80	180	260	-	89	91	180

The use of these resources enabled further professionalisation and support for lecturers in the field of ICT in education (ICTO) and contributed to the development of new methods for language learning. As a result of the coronavirus measures, there was an immediate demand for online education and increased use of digital assessment. The staffing level for ICTO support was increased to support the lecturers, among other things by appointing a digital assessment officer. The digital assessment officer is only partly financed by these resources.

Notes on the realisation process and stakeholder involvement

The release of the study financing resources in the context of the quality agreements was the starting point for intensive consultation with the participational bodies in our faculty. Before the summer of 2018, the faculty’s Executive Board made procedural agreements with the Faculty Joint Assembly about the discussion of the spending targets for 2019 and indicative estimates for the subsequent years.

To ensure good, timely coordination on the use of these resources, a Study Financing Committee was established. It consists of two members from the Faculty Student Council at the Faculty of Arts (FSRL), two members from the Representative Council at the Faculty of Arts (OCL), and the administrative director on behalf of the faculty’s Executive Board. The committee is supported by the Administrative Affairs Office.

The committee operates as follows:

At the beginning of the calendar year, the committee discusses proposals for spending the resources for the coming calendar year. This involves further concrete implementation of plans already included in the form of indicative estimates.
The faculty’s Executive Board then examines the financial feasibility of the proposals, after which choices are made in consultation with the committee.
The chosen proposals and their financial basis are discussed with the Faculty Joint Assembly before the summer holiday, in the presence of the newly chosen members of the FSRL. These members of the FSRL can then make informed and substantiated recommendations in the new academic year about the budget and specifically about the part of the budget that concerns the spending of the quality funds. In this way, both the ‘sitting’ and new FSRL members are involved in developing the plans and spending the resources.
The agreements made and proposals for expenditure are incorporated into the faculty budget for the following calendar year, in anticipation of the formal recommendation from the participational bodies.
In the autumn, the participational bodies (FSRL and OC) issue a formal recommendation about the faculty budget, specifically about the use of quality funds.
At the end of the calendar year, the expenditures, the realisation of the plans and the process of arriving at the plans are accounted for in the annual report.

Independent reflection from the participational bodies

Since September 2019, at the invitation of the administrative director, a delegation from the OCL and the FSRL have participated in a faculty committee that focuses on formulating plans for the use of the study financing resources. This committee meets three to four times per academic year. During these meetings, the administrative director outlines the current state of affairs and together we look ahead at requests and possibilities for the next spending period. These meetings take place in an open atmosphere and, in the opinion of both the OCL and the FSRL, both participational bodies are given sufficient opportunities for input.

Both the OCL and the FSRL have expressed desires for spending on several occasions. These requests were based on the contact of both groups with their constituencies, such as the programme committees, fellow students and fellow lecturers. Then, the administrative director investigated the financial feasibility of the proposals. When exploring the financial frameworks, it was always considered how a certain plan could best be realised: from the study financing resources or from another budget. For some proposals, such as those concerning the mental health of students or solutions to bottlenecks arising from hybrid or online education, it turned out that other resources were available and that the study financing resources did not have to be used.

Since the study financing resources are the result of the elimination of student grants, the faculty thought it was important that the input from the student body be given greater weight than that from the staff. The OCL endorses this approach. Because there has always been enough room for discussion between all those involved in the committee and because the OCL has been seriously involved in all phases of the creation of the plans, the process so far has developed to the full satisfaction of the OCL. The FSRL, in both its current and previous composition, is also very satisfied about how closely and seriously they are involved in the process.

Eleen van der Putten (FSRL chair)
Janine Berns (OCL chair)

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