In september is de Universiteit Utrecht met de nieuwe studierichting Gametechnologie van start gegaan, speciaal gericht op de technologische achtergronden van games. Meer dan 110 studenten hebben zich aangemeld voor deze nieuwe opleiding

De maatschappij juridiseert in hoog tempo en heeft grote behoefte aan juristen met een gedegen kennis van het Nederlands positief recht. Daarnaast dienen juristen bestand te zijn tegen grote maatschappelijke druk en te beschikken over hoge ethische en morele standaards. Ook gezien de grote vertegenwoordiging van juristen in onder meer overheid en bestuur, mogen aan hun kennis en waardenpatroon hoge eisen worden gesteld. In groot contrast met deze maatschappelijke vraag, staat de steeds geringere aandacht in het juridisch onderwijs voor het geldende Nederlandse recht en voor na te streven hogere waarden. Door een krimpende eerste geldstroom en zeer beperkte mogelijkheden voor externe financiering, staan de kwaliteit van het onderwijs en daarmee van de juristen onder druk. Van Oostrom belicht deze twee tegengestelde tendensen, pleit voor een nieuwe koers en een radicale herijking van de na te streven waarden in het juridisch onderwijs, dit alles met verwijzing naar klassieke schrijvers, politici en wetenschappers. Varen tussen maatschappelijk Scylla en wetenschappelijk Charybdis mag niet uitmonden in het ten onder gaan van de juridische opleiding

In 2000 bestaat de studie Verplegingswetenschap in Utrecht tien jaar. Reden tot feestvieren. Want 'Utrecht' kreeg in 1999 een eigen opleiding en start een vernieuwd onderwijsprogramma. Mieke Grypdonck en Jaap van der Bijl vertellen hoe het nieuwe programma eruitziet en welke de onderzoekslijnen zijn van de divisie verplegingswetenschap van het Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht

The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Utrecht, established a new curriculum for teaching veterinary medicine in 1995 with the main objectives to improve the problem-solving and communication competences of the students and their scientific education. Because it is accepted that graduates cannot get a starting competence in all fields of the veterinary profession, a differentiation of education focused on animal species and life-long learning is emphasised. Major characteristics of this curriculum are a high degree of horizontal and vertical integration of the various disciplines, the preference for teaching in small working groups and the training for self-learning. This curriculum is described in some detail. Parasitology is not taught as a coherent subject but is integrated into various subjects, presented in an interdisciplinary approach. The number of contact hours is variable depending on optional courses and the differentiation tracks taken but it amounts for a minimum of approximately 90 contact hours for each student during the full curriculum. A major disadvantage of the curriculum is that examination of parasitology is within integrated subjects. Thus, students that perform poorly on parasitology may still pass. An advantage is the extended presence of parasitology in the last year of clinical training and the improved interdisciplinary interaction between parasitologists and clinicians. The curriculum has been changed again in 2001; study paths focused on animal species and other subjects start already in the first year, and approximately 25% of the first 4 years of the curriculum will be within these study paths

The Dutch Universities are at present confronted with a reduction of means and a still increasing number of students. In this situation the need for planning and planning instruments arises. This paper gives a brief description of the planning model now used within the University of Utrecht. This planning model has a marked preference for the teaching process and does not determine independently the need and the consequent resources required with regard to the other tasks of the University. To describe the teaching programmes the method of curriculum-outlines is developed. A curriculum-outline is a representation of a teaching programme or a part of it, which enables us both to compare the organisations of the teaching programmes of the various fields of study and to determine the teaching load of the academic staff. First this method is used to discuss the organisation of the teaching programmes on the university management level and between this university level and the faculty management level. Second this method is used for allocation of academic and non-academic staff. Some figures of the results of this method within the University of Utrecht are given. In the last section of this paper some future developments in the planning at the University of Utrecht are briefly discussed. Titel - Student satisfaction survey: the Utrecht University approach Tijdschrift - Tertiary education and management, Volume: 12, Issue: 4 (December 1, 2006), pp: 323-328 Auteurs - Möller, O. ISSN - 13583883 Full text - http://omega.library.uu.nl/cgi-bin/journal/springerft?doi=10.1007/s11233-006-9009-0 Abstract - Abstract Increasing attention on quality assurance, a decentralisation of responsibilities and need for quantitative data in accountability and decision support led to the development of a student satisfaction monitoring instrument at Utrecht University (UU). Initially marketing worked as a catalyst activity to prove the added value. At a later stage the instrument was brought under the responsibility of the Institutional Research department. The instrument is now supporting planning and control, institutional policy, quality assurance and marketing. In order to achieve optimal effects of the instrument, commitment from both the board of the university and the heads of department proved essential.

What strategies are feasible to enhance the competencies and motivation of teachers in university education on a large scale (empowerment)? This enhancement will be of decisive importance for the realisation and the quality of curriculum innovations. For this reason we analysed the process of innovation in Utrecht University (The Netherlands) in the past ten years: to what extent has the vision to enhance the competencies and the motivation of teachers indeed resulted in the realisation of this vision, in an actual enhancement of the competencies and motivation of the teachers and in successful innovations of curricula? Based on quality assessments by visitation and accreditation panels, and on evaluation data of student questionnaires through the years we analyse whether there is substantial evidence for an answer to this question...