Windesheim Honours College: A Top-Tier Institution With A Core Mission To Ensure The Excellent Quality Of Dutch Higher Education
By Dr. Lineke Stobbe,, Director
From Stevin, Snel, and Huygens in the 17th century to Lorentz, Kammerlingh Onnes, Buys Ballot, De Vries, de Sitter, and Oort in the 19th and 20th, the Netherlands has produced a distinguished array of eminent mathematicians, scientists, and medical researchers, including sixteen Nobel-prize winners and other internationally recognized figures. Students at Dutch universities are consistently pushed to challenge the status quo and think outside the box in their pursuit of knowledge.
The majority of today's international students interested in pursuing careers in scientific research, discovery, and innovation choose to study in the Netherlands. In the field of applied sciences, Windesheim Honours College is consistently ranked among the best three institutions in the Netherlands. Windesheim is well-known for its one-on-one teaching style, small class sizes, and collaborative spirit with the private, public, and NGO sectors.
In 2009, Windesheim Honours College was estab-lished as a game-changing endeavour in the Nether-lands' academic landscape as it was the first College for students who are both doers and thinkers hence combining academic and professional education in an unprecedented way. Windesheim Honours College, part of the Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, provides honours education; it is a full-time, four-year BBA degree programme that trains students to become excellent international project and change managers.
The four-year BBA programme in Global Project and Change Management focuses on achieving Sustainable Development Goals. Students are given the SDGs as a framework and are encouraged to develop their own missions based on the areas in which they are most interested in making contributions throughout the course of their four years.
Each assignment is designed to help students learn the skills and acquire the the-oretical grounding they will need to become effective project and change managers. Additionally, the institution aids its graduates in discovering their own strengths.
Windesheim Honors College encourages its students to broaden their perspectives and appreciate the diversity of human and non-human factors in this pursuit of sustain-able development. Students also begin working on projects and in teams from day one. This method, from the get-go, shows the effort to close the gap between research and practice.
Students have access to a wealth of educational opportunities, including classroom instruction, study and projects abroad, and independent research. This ensures that students leave the program with solid academic back-grounds as well as strong practical experience of working on a diversity of projects and with diverse stakeholders.
Students from all over the globe enrol in this course at Windesheim Honors College. In years 1 and 2 students work on local and regional projects and acquire academic and professional knowledge and skills. In years 3 and 4 the students work on projects and do their final research internships all around the world. The students also make use of Windesheim Applied Science University's study abroad opportunities to spend a semester abroad at a partner university.
It is well-established that excellent teachers are cru-cial for the effective transmission of information and the direction of students toward future achievements in the actual world. In this regard, Windesheim Honours College appoints faculty members with diverse experience and expertise to promote inter and transdisciplinarity in the curriculum.
The small scale of the classes ensures that the faculty is very approachable, sessions are interactive and students are guided towards more independence over their four years. Explaining more on this, the Director of Windesheim Honours College, Dr. Lineke Stobbe says, "First-year lectures provide students with more structure-based instruction, whereas senior-level lectures take on the role of coach or facilitator of the learning process.
Our faculty has a wide range of backgrounds and areas of expertise, and they are all great at assisting students in becoming excellent project and change managers. We also employ a well-trained staff of professional counsellors as part of our comprehensive Student Counselling Program.
Since Windesheim Honours College is an international in-stitution, we also value diversity and welcome those who can serve as role models for our students."
As Windesheim Honours College was founded as an inno-vative educational program, the institute wants to maintain its unique position in the market. "At the moment, we're reviewing the first- and second-year curricula with an eye toward making some modifications.
That progress is most noticeable in the shift toward interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary learning, which eliminates the compart-mentalization of knowledge that has long plagued the educational system. In this way, the group of educators and learners will have access to ideas and insights from a variety of sources. This is, therefore, the plan that we are implementing for the upcoming years," concludes Dr. Lineke Stobbe.
Dr. Lineke Stobbe has completed her MA in De-velopment Studies and her Ph.D. in Organisation and Management from Radboud University. She began her professional journey as Senior Lectur-er at VU University Amsterdam and then joined Windesheim UAS as the Senior Advisor in 2006. Currently, Dr. Lineke Stobbe is the Director of Windesheim Honours College.
The majority of today's international students interested in pursuing careers in scientific research, discovery, and innovation choose to study in the Netherlands. In the field of applied sciences, Windesheim Honours College is consistently ranked among the best three institutions in the Netherlands. Windesheim is well-known for its one-on-one teaching style, small class sizes, and collaborative spirit with the private, public, and NGO sectors.
In 2009, Windesheim Honours College was estab-lished as a game-changing endeavour in the Nether-lands' academic landscape as it was the first College for students who are both doers and thinkers hence combining academic and professional education in an unprecedented way. Windesheim Honours College, part of the Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, provides honours education; it is a full-time, four-year BBA degree programme that trains students to become excellent international project and change managers.
Working Towards Sustainable Development Goals
The four-year BBA programme in Global Project and Change Management focuses on achieving Sustainable Development Goals. Students are given the SDGs as a framework and are encouraged to develop their own missions based on the areas in which they are most interested in making contributions throughout the course of their four years.
Each assignment is designed to help students learn the skills and acquire the the-oretical grounding they will need to become effective project and change managers. Additionally, the institution aids its graduates in discovering their own strengths.
Windesheim Honors College encourages its students to broaden their perspectives and appreciate the diversity of human and non-human factors in this pursuit of sustain-able development. Students also begin working on projects and in teams from day one. This method, from the get-go, shows the effort to close the gap between research and practice.
Students have access to a wealth of educational opportunities, including classroom instruction, study and projects abroad, and independent research. This ensures that students leave the program with solid academic back-grounds as well as strong practical experience of working on a diversity of projects and with diverse stakeholders.
Innovative Courses Offered by Windesheim
Students from all over the globe enrol in this course at Windesheim Honors College. In years 1 and 2 students work on local and regional projects and acquire academic and professional knowledge and skills. In years 3 and 4 the students work on projects and do their final research internships all around the world. The students also make use of Windesheim Applied Science University's study abroad opportunities to spend a semester abroad at a partner university.
It is well-established that excellent teachers are cru-cial for the effective transmission of information and the direction of students toward future achievements in the actual world. In this regard, Windesheim Honours College appoints faculty members with diverse experience and expertise to promote inter and transdisciplinarity in the curriculum.
The small scale of the classes ensures that the faculty is very approachable, sessions are interactive and students are guided towards more independence over their four years. Explaining more on this, the Director of Windesheim Honours College, Dr. Lineke Stobbe says, "First-year lectures provide students with more structure-based instruction, whereas senior-level lectures take on the role of coach or facilitator of the learning process.
Our faculty has a wide range of backgrounds and areas of expertise, and they are all great at assisting students in becoming excellent project and change managers. We also employ a well-trained staff of professional counsellors as part of our comprehensive Student Counselling Program.
Since Windesheim Honours College is an international in-stitution, we also value diversity and welcome those who can serve as role models for our students."
Future Roadmap of The Institute
As Windesheim Honours College was founded as an inno-vative educational program, the institute wants to maintain its unique position in the market. "At the moment, we're reviewing the first- and second-year curricula with an eye toward making some modifications.
"Windesheim Honours College's four-year programme focuses on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals"
That progress is most noticeable in the shift toward interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary learning, which eliminates the compart-mentalization of knowledge that has long plagued the educational system. In this way, the group of educators and learners will have access to ideas and insights from a variety of sources. This is, therefore, the plan that we are implementing for the upcoming years," concludes Dr. Lineke Stobbe.
Dr. Lineke Stobbe, Director, Windesheim Honours College
Dr. Lineke Stobbe has completed her MA in De-velopment Studies and her Ph.D. in Organisation and Management from Radboud University. She began her professional journey as Senior Lectur-er at VU University Amsterdam and then joined Windesheim UAS as the Senior Advisor in 2006. Currently, Dr. Lineke Stobbe is the Director of Windesheim Honours College.