Breakfast with the rector
'Professors without English skills should quit teaching masters'
In the internationalisation of the UT there will be no difference between Dutch and international students,' was the message of the rector to those attending the Breakfast with the Rector last week. But his ideas elicited critical reactions from the visitors. International students need more attention and facilities. English signs on campus, and proper religious facilities.
Professor van Vught furthermore said that the UT master's courses will be in English and professors who did not master that language well enough after some courses would be taken off teaching masters.
The rector felt on steady ground when addressing the international students enjoying their free breakfast. Van Vught had been an international student himself, studying at MIT. 'The International Office there was my centre of the universe,' he told his audience. 'I want the international students at the UT feel as welcome as I felt at MIT. Therefore we don't make any distinction between Dutch and international students in the UT internationalisation philosophy.'
'On the contrary, I think that the foreign students need more attention,' added the host of the Breakfast, Willem Bonekamp from
AEGEE. And indeed, the first reaction from an African TO master's student confirmed that. 'If the UT wants to be an international university, I think that the signs on campus should not only be in Dutch. I have yearned for them since I arrived here in 1996.'
One Dutch visitor wondered whether the Dutch language could be abandoned completely at the UT. Van Vught answered that the master's courses at the UT will be in English, but that the bachelor's courses would remain to be taught in Dutch.
Several people got anxious about that idea and raised their hands to ask for the microphone. 'What about the language skills of the professors?' someone asked. 'With some teachers they are abominable.' The rector recognised this and proposed English courses to improve it. 'And when they still don't speak English well enough after that, they will have to quit teaching master's courses.'
Mr. Jan Nelissen from the TO master's programme brought up some extenuating circumstances. 'Our experience in teaching foreign students is that they understand Dutch-English better than Oxford-English,' he said.
And still there was more. The president of the Indonesian Moslems in Enschede Association, Hadi Susanto, pledged for more special facilities for foreign students as well, hinting at the absence of an Islamic praying facility. Van Vught agreed, but pointed subtly at the costs involved. 'And like many others, we don't have too much money.' He referred to the possibility of facility-sharing with theITC, which does have an Islamic prayer room.
'But moslems pray five times a day. Would we have to ride our bicycles to the ITC five times per day?' an Indonesian student softly protested. 'Emotional facilities' was the solution Mr. Nelissen brought here. 'In TO we have an atmosphere that respects prayer and we don't schedule lectures on Friday,' he announced proudly. 'And that works.'
The final question caused some discomfort with the rector, as a student from Indonesia doubted the correctness of the decision of the UT to award an honorary degree to the Indonesian President Wahid. 'All students want him to resign,' he added. The audience applauded enthusiastically to the unexpected question. Van Vught hastened to say that Wahid was awarded the degree because of his impressive scholarship. 'I am indeed less impressed with his political moves, but his political career is not related to the offer.' But no answer could have made up for the applause.
