“We involve students in everything we do” Students should take charge of their careers, according to Vice Dean Jeroen Kuilman. A discussion about the quality of education, lecturing during corona, and studying abroad. “Of course, it’s also great to travel, to meet new people, and to party with them.”
Text: Jim Jansen Image: Bob Bronshoff
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here is a serene peace and quiet as we walk up Universiteitslaan at the end of May. On this sun-drenched day, the campus is deserted. The AH-To-Go is closed, the tables and chairs at Starbucks are covered with a thick layer of dust and students are few and far between. Due to corona, Vice Dean Jeroen Kuilman has also exchanged his office in the Koopmans building for a home office in Breda. He is visibly enjoying walking past the buildings again after an absence of eight weeks. “Hey, that’s new,” he says when he sees that the stairs along Universiteitslaan are painted in rainbow colors. Although he does his work somewhere else, part of what he does has remained the same, with corona as a major added dossier. “I try to keep mornings free for larger things that need my attention,” he says. “I read urgent e-mails, write documents, and from half past twelve meetings start via Skype and Zoom. The vast majority of my work con-
sists of talking. With people in education, other vice deans, students, professors, and many others with the ultimate goal of improving education.” Do you still have time to do research or to teach?
“In my current position, research time is scarce, and I teach very occasionally. I lecture on the subject of innovation management to people from the business world. And that gives me a lot of energy. It’s great to discuss topics that are close to your heart with students. When I started as a researcher, it was part of my job to teach courses; at the beginning, it was quite exciting. But soon I discovered a passion for education.” How does high-quality teaching work?
“One of the most important things is that, as a professor, you have to provide structure. Students want to know where they stand and what is expected of them. It is lethal to suddenly move the goalposts halfway through a course, for example by changing the set-up of the exam. You take them by the hand, from a to b. Compare it to taking people on a trip. It’s not smart to change the destination halfway through.”
6 | New Scientist | Tilburg School of Economics and Management
What have you learned from the corona crisis?
“Needless to say, we’ve come out of our existing ways of thinking. We have been talking for years about offering lectures online, but again and again this met with resistance. Students wanted it, but for lecturers the barrier was difficult to cross. Now we were forced to do it. This also applies to online exams. We’ve never had to do that before.” Do you think things have changed permanently because of the virus?
“I hope so. I also don’t think we should go back to the situation before 1 March 2020. We had lectures with five hundred students at a quarter to nine in the morning. Some got up early to travel from Zeeland or Limburg to Tilburg. Isn’t it better if lectures like that, with limited interaction between student and lecturer, take place online? On the other hand, of course, it’s good for them to be here occasionally, especially for smaller, more interactive gatherings. Because of corona, we view our forms of education differently and we are studying what we do and do not allow to take place on campus. Of course, the bond between students and between student and university remains extremely important.”
