Switch-program needs to facilitate the switch to another study program. Only a fraction of the students that quit by the 1st of March, switch to a new study program. Switch-program manager Riejet Nijdam is not surprised by this. ‘You need to be persistent.’
On average thirty percent of the students in the first year quits. The majority quits before the 1st of March. Last school year there were 1910 students who stopped in their first year. Quitting on time offers the possibility to switch to another study program in that same schoolyear. However, only a small minority takes this step. Of the 1910 students as of last year there were only 135 students that took this step. Everyone thinks this number is too low; it has got to be able to go up. The Switch program should be able to manage this.
Riejet Nijdam has been program manager since the 1st of September. She has erected the ‘Switch team’, existing of ‘Switch-coaches’ from every division as well as a large group of stakeholders. That team is already busy collecting information. Nijdam: ‘We know way too little about the students that quit. When students come forward to their student career counsellor about their doubt and whether it is possible to switch study programs, the Switch-coach will get to work. One that wants to switch needs to be ‘really persistent’. ‘You will be standing in front of a lot of thresholds. Psychological ones, but also thresholds that we as education providers raise. We want to map all those thresholds. Something that you notice is that this subject touches a great lot of internal processes.
It is about student career counselling and the role of the Study Success Centre. Are our systems arranged for switchers too? What about the study programs? How about juridical and financially? Also we should not forget: how do we deal with the BSA (binding study recommendation)?’ Switching should not be a problem. Indeed, according to the OER (Education and Examination Regulations) the propaedeutic phase is actually meant for orientation, selection and reference. Nijdam: ‘Selecting, that is what we are good at, but there is no real broader orientation. It does happen that a student who doubts their choice of study program briefly attends a lecture of another study program, but those are great exceptions. It just is not ‘in our DNA’. Orientation and good guidance for switchers should become part of the way we work.’ (MH)
