Universities in the whole country received ACO-envelopes last week. Opening theirs gave the staff at the UT policy bureau reasons for a party; six of the seven applications were accepted. Health sciences, a management programme for health care, was the only UT-application to be given a negative advice. The showpiece of 'the UT goes medical' has to go back into hiding for the moment. This is not a completely definitive rejection, says staff member for policy Rob van Dijk, who can add three more notches to his belt, to bring his total to nine accepted applications. 'We will be discussing health sciences with the ACO. The arguments supporting their doubts are very general in nature and can be repaired very quickly in our opinion.' Van Dijk says that there is a theoretical possibility that the ACO will then change its advice. 'As far as I remember that happened at the University of Tilburg. A negative advice was, after discussion, changed to a positive one.'
It is also possible to be successful with a negative ACO-advice. It is the secretary of education who makes the final decision on the applications that the universities are making to the IBG. That decision is expected towards the end of April.
The three teacher training programmes, social studies, general economics and business economics will be placed with the faculty of Public Administration and Public Policy (BSK).
The three new programmes should help the UT make the target of the Institutional Plan, an increase in enrolment of 10 percent. This will be achieved, in as far as we can see that now, according to rector Van Vught, who calls getting three new programmes an achievement that has not been seen before. 'This is an unheard-of success.'
Van Dijk estimates that the influx of students because of the new programmes will be nearly four-hundred. To illustrate: the present influx of students at the UT is approximately 1,100 students.
'If we could have started all programmes, our assessments were that we would have had an influx of 450. Health sciences was thought to be the smallest of the four. The smallest psychology programme in the Netherlands takes in at least two-hundred students. Go figure.' The teacher training programmes have not been included in the influx assessments. 'Students choosing those are not really part ofthe new influx', Van Dijk says, 'Although officially they are real programmes, they can be seen as graduation programmes.' BSK graduates can become teachers of general economics or social studies. Students from Industrial Engineering and Management (TBK) can, after graduation, become teachers of general of business economics.
All programmes will be placed with existing faculties. Industrial design will become part of Civil Engineering (WB), Educational Science and Technology (TO) will probably take care of psychology, even though a strong contribution from Philosophy and Social Science (WMW) can be expected. Business sciences will become part of Technology and Management (T&M), with contributions from BSK, where, as said before, the teacher training programmes will find a place.
