The number of students from abroad who manage to find their way to the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences is increasing annually. This means that the support we offer them must be coordinated accordingly. Within this University of Applied Sciences, the department of Education and Development, and the Centre of International Affairs (CoIA) have concentrated their knowledge and experiences in the project 'International Students In Action' to this end. Maarten van Os from Education and Development, Enny Kraaijveld and Ryan Gentle from CoIA are guiding this project.
Enny Kraaijveld: "Increasingly students realise the importance of an international experience. All Schools with this university of applied sciences have students abroad as part of their study programme by, for example, studying at one of our partner universities for a period of time, or by doing a (graduating) internship abroad. In addition, international students find their way to the
Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences more often. That’s a good development. Solid support is essential to the international students."
"At Education and Development we will focus on increasing the support that we also offer our Dutch students at this time, for example, the Student Counselling Service, Students in Action (Student aan Zet) and the further development of intercultural skills", according to Maarten van Os.
Ryan Gentle: "It is a delicate target group. It is necessary to offer support in the field of
integration in order to prevent drop-outs due to language delay or cultural differences."
The project got started on Wednesday 19 September with round table discussions for students who could exchange their initial experiences. In October round table discussions will continue to take place on a weekly basis.
Students who want more information or who want to participate can use a registration form to contact the project group.