OPEN UNIVERSITY (NETHERLANDS)

The Dutch 'Open Universiteit (Nederland)' is a university or institution for distance learning for higher education at higher and university level. This means that students do not take part in colleges but study at home.

Contents

Introduction

Aims

Organisation

Governance

Departments & faculties

Study centers

Furthermore

Open University (United Kingdom)

Study programmes

Students

Teaching methods

Degrees offered

Bachelor's

Master's

See also

External links

Introduction

The Open Universiteit (Nederland) (''or Open University (Netherlands'')) was founded in 1984. It welcomed its first students in September 1984. The Open Universiteit is an independent government-funded institute for distance learning at university level.
The administration is based at Heerlen, in the province of Limburg, in the very south of The Netherlands. Furthermore the Open Universiteit has 12 study centres and 3 support centres in the Netherlands, 6 study centres in (Flanders) in Belgium and 1 study centre in the Netherlands Antilles.
19,013 students are enrolled (in 2003) at a Dutch study centre or support centre, including 710 students who live in other parts of the world, and 1,991 students are enrolled (in 2003) at a Belgian study centre. Since the Open Universiteit was founded over 250.000 students have studied its courses.

Aims

The Dutch government's purpose in founding the Open Universiteit Nederland was to make higher education accessible to anyone with the necessary aptitudes and interests, regardless of formal qualifications.
The Open Universiteit identifies four further aims:

★ to create a cost-effective form of higher education,

★ to encourage innovation in Dutch higher education, in terms of both curriculum and teaching methods,

★ to reduce the teacher shortage in Dutch primary and secondary schools, and

★ to be a recognized player in (commercial) distance and e-learning training programmes and consultancy.

Organisation

Governance

Chairman of the Open Universiteit is Theo Bovens, he is a former alderman (''wethouder'' in Dutch) of Maastricht. Theo Bovens succeeded Thijs Wöltgens who retired.

Departments & faculties

The Open Universiteit is divided into four departments. The Educational department develops and provides educational materials and conducts educational programmes. It consists of six faculties, grouped according to their general focus:

★ School of Management,

★ School of Cultural Studies,

★ School of Informatics,

★ School of Natural Sciences,

★ School of Psychology,

★ School of Law.
Furthermore, the university has a School of Education and an Educational Technology Expertise Centre, which assists the faculties in developing courses and programmes and develops innovative teaching methods for distance education and higher education in general.
Each faculty - except for the School of Education - is headed by a dean of studies, who supervises teams of subject specialists and educational technologists engaged in developing courses and programmes. This often takes place in co-operation with specialists from other educational institutes or from trade and industry.
The other two departments are the department of Business Services and the department of Support Services, which provides operational services, ranging from staff administration to the distribution of course materials.

Study centers

===Netherlands===

★ Alkmaar

★ Amsterdam

★ Breda

★ The Hague/Den Haag

★ Eindhoven (at TU/e)

★ Emmen, support centre

★ Enschede

★ Groningen

★ Heerlen, also main office

★ 's-Hertogenbosch , closed per 2005 (?)

★ Leeuwarden, support centre

★ Maastricht

★ Nijmegen (at RU (formerly KUN))

★ Rotterdam

★ Utrecht

★ Vlissingen, support centre

★ Zwolle
===Flanders/(nl: Vlaanderen) (Belgium)===

★ Antwerp/Antwerpen (at UA)

★ Brussels/Brussel (at VUB)

★ Diepenbeek (at Limburgs Universitair Centrum)

★ Gent (at UGent)

★ Kortrijk (at K.U.Leuven-Kortrijk)

★ Louvain/Leuven (at K.U.Leuven)

Furthermore

★ University of the Netherlands Antilles (nl: Universiteit van de Nederlandse Antillen) (UNA) - Willemstad-Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles).

★ Paramaribo (Suriname)

Open University (United Kingdom)

The Open University, based in the United Kingdom has got dependances/support centres outside Great-Brittain. So it has got for foreign students in Western-Europe possibilities (amongst others) in:

★ The Hague/Den Haag (Netherlands)

★ Brussels/Brussel (Belgium)

Study programmes

The Open Universiteit offers three types of study programmes:
1) Bachelor and Master degree programmes.
The Open Universiteit offers fully accredited Bachelor or Master degree programmes in Law, Economics, Business and Public administration, Engineering, Environmental science, Cultural studies and Psychology. The university converted its programmes to the Bachelor-Master structure in September 2002.
2) Short programmes.
Students can also follow short programmes. These include short vocational training courses, postgraduate courses and short undergraduate programmes, which are developed in co-operation with universities of professional education, academic universities, professional bodies or commercial companies.
3) Courses.
Besides these academic programmes, students can choose from over 300 modular courses. This modular course system implies that student can enrol either for full-length degree programmes or choose to study one of over 400 individual courses.
4) Languages.
Most course-material is in the Dutch language, due to internationalisation more and more material is also available in the English language.
5) Examinations.
Examinations are in general in the Dutch language and have to be taken at one of the Open Universiteit-locations: the study centres or support centres in the Netherlands or Flanders (Belgium) or Netherlands Antilles. For individuals there are possiblities to have -under strict supervision conditions- their exams taken on alternative locations, such as: (Netherlands) Embassees, Prisons, Ships etc.

Students

People from all walks of life and all ages take advantage of the Open Universiteit. There are no entry requirements other than the ability to study at an appropriate level.
The Open Universiteit is especially popular with those who cannot physically attend a traditional university (because they are disabled, abroad, in prison, or serving in the armed forces), or who wish to study a first (or additional) degree while holding down a full time job, whether to progress their career or allow them to change their career. About 70% of the students remain in paid employment throughout their studies.
An average of 24.000 students per year are enrolled. Beginning 2004 the 250.000nd student (since 1984) was welcomed and in February 2005 a student startted the one million course (1.000.000 courses have been handed out since 1984).

Teaching methods

The Open Universiteit uses a variety of methods for distance learning, including written materials, the internet, and occasional evening seminars or day sessions.

Degrees offered

Below are some of the degrees offered by Open Universiteit.

Bachelor's

★ Bachelor of Science in management, organisation and government

Master's

★ Master of Science in Accounting and Finance

★ Master of Science in Active Learning

★ Master of Science in Business Processes and ICT

★ Master of Science in Dutch Law

★ Master of Science in Environment and Natural Sciences

★ Master of Science in General Cultural Sciences

★ Master of Science in Psychology

★ Master of Science in Public Management and Policy

★ Master of Science in Strategy and Organisation

★ Master of Science in Supply Chain Management

★ Master of Science in Technical Informatics

See also

★ Open University

External links

★ official website Open Universiteit Nederland (www.ou.nl)