Tell us what you think!

At Tilburg University we value the opinions of our students about education and campus facilities. These opinions can be expressed in many different ways.

One obvious example is the student evaluations of our courses. Students in our various schools can also vote for the best lecturer and there are other distinctions for those who make a special contribution to our teaching. Twice a year, we receive the results of the International Student Barometer, which provides an accurate impression of what our international students think about the education and facilities we provide.

There are also more informal signals from students – both Dutch and international – which reach me in my capacity as Rector Magnificus. I’m happy to report that many of these are positive, but signals regarding matters which need attention or improvement are also welcome. These are things that we can turn to our advantage. After all, our ambition is to become better and better!

The National Student Survey (NSE) is also very important to us in this regard. This is a comprehensive national survey, conducted each year under the auspices of studychoice.nl, in which all of the country’s 650,000 or so students are invited to state their opinions about the educational programs at our universities and universities of applied sciences.

The NSE also forms the basis for publications such as the annual Elsevier survey and the guides for potential Bachelor’s and Master’s students. I need hardly tell you how important such publications are to the good name and reputation of our university.

The annual NSE survey is due to get under way once again from 1 February 2011. All students will receive an e-mail inviting them to take part. I trust that as many of our students as possible will respond!