Shaping 2030

Many of today’s challenges require an interdisciplinary approach to create the best possible solutions. To take our responsibility as a university to educate future generations, we should further enhance our teaching and learning approaches with state-of-the-art tools and technologies. The Shaping Expert Group Innovation of Education (SEG IoE) was active from 2020 to 2022 and focused on the learning experiences of our students.

FACILITATE AND STIMULATE

The main goal of the SEG IoE, was to facilitate and stimulate the development and diffusion of educational innovations among the broad community of academics at University of Twente – with a specific focus on those areas that are important for realizing University of Twente’s Shaping 2030 vision.

Cornelise Vreman – de Olde: “International prominence in the field of CBL and LLL is our long-term ambition. We want to be the university that shows that if you are looking for solutions, the UT is the innovative institution where we can make things happen. With room for everyone who wants to work, learn and develop in science and education but also anywhere else within our organization.”

FOCAL AREAS

The SEG-IoE was active in different domains of education. An important example is the advice on the definition of Challenge-Based Learning, involving programme directors, teaching fellows, students, and (vice-) deans. The SEG-IoE also provided input in the development of a Life-Long Learning proposition at UT. With the termination of the SEG-IoE activities, this advisory/ sounding board function has disappeared.

EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AT UT

There are many educational developments at the University of Twente, we embrace the idea of connecting our teachers and students so that they can co-operate in educational innovations. On the CELT website you can find inspiration with toolkits, courses, testimonials and more. And do you know our BMS Teaching Academy? The BMS Teaching Academy supports and facilitates educational innovations, talent development of teachers and students.

Documents

As the societal relevance of our research should be tangible, one could argue it is rather strange that often, we only have citizens take part in the latter stages of a research project. Early involvement and close collaboration in all stages of scientific education and research may well benefit the societal impact of our work.

Citizen science in itself is never a goal. The term citizen science refers to an equal basis for collaboration in tackling societal challenges using scientific methods. It is something that can evolve either bottom-up (from within society) or top-down (initiated by scientists). Citizen Science may be supportive as it forces new questions to be asked, new insights to be brought to the table and, at the same time, increases the self-learning ability of our society. Even in academic fields where you least expect it, the involvement of citizens can be of great value.

The Shaping Expert Group explored these different opportunities, to helps us bridge the gap between science and society.

RELEVANT LINKS

What steps do we need to take to be the university where everyone feels recognised and rewarded? What is the unique UT-way of working for staff and students that connect us all and give us wings to soar, that makes us proud to be part of the People-First University of Technology? 

Motivated by the principles and ambitions of Shaping 2030, The Shaping Expert Group Individuals and Teams support the University of Twente in developing its people-first strategy through continuous dialogue in flourishing inclusion and diversity in education, research, valorization, and leadership, on the road towards Open Science. 

In the past two years, our Shaping Expert Group Individuals & Teams on Recognition and Rewards organised round table discussions from which we were able to distil a lot of information on the current situation that already led to ideas for new policy-making, for instance, on talent management and a new form of annual talks. 

The work of the SEG individuals and Teams is done, but that doesn't mean we are ready. There is a Recognition & Rewards team in place to help UT becombing a place were everyone feels recgnised and rewarded. You can find more information about the follow-up on the topicpage Recognition and Rewards. 

RELEVANT EVENTS, LINKS, AND DOCUMENTS

The University of Twente strategy document Shaping2030 sets out many goals with respect to digitalisation at the University of Twente, such as strengthening digital skills across the organisation, designing digital education, digital mobility in terms of time and space, setting up a challenge platform and much more.

Digitalisation is an integral part of the university’s ecosystem. The coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated the importance of integrating digital resources into the work that we do. The shaping expert group on digitalisation consisted of a group of experts in the field of digitalisation. They worked together on how to accelerate and bolster our education and research, as well as the university’s operational ecosystem, through digitalisation.

DIGITISE, DIGITALISE AND DIGITALLY TRANSFORM

To help explain digitalisation, the Shaping Expert Group Digitalisation followed a classification by Reinitz:

• We digitise information. Digitisation is the transition from an analogue to a digital form. For example, we digitise courses by recording lectures and placing them online, by making digital variants of exams, etc.
• We digitalise operations. Digitalisation describes using digital technologies and information to transform individual institutional operations (such as payroll, procurement, research administration, and course delivery). The missing piece in digitalization, the thing that keeps it from being a digital transformation, is when the original operation is fundamentally changed in order to increase the effect, in whatever way, of digitalisation.
• We digitally transform (institutional) processes. Digital transformation takes place when we change existing processes (and thus ways of working) in order to attain a high degree of effectiveness of digitalisation. An example is changing a complete course setup to scale the number of online students while making use of digital technology.

Overall we state that digitalisation is the process of technologically-induced change by simultaneously aligning operations, strategy, business processes, and organizational and IT structures to technological advancements. We do not make a strict distinction between digitalization and digital transformation but assume that proper and effective digitalization simply implies digital transformation.

Digitalisation thus encompasses a "process of change by aligning many things to digital technological advancements." Such a process of change has a major impact that goes way beyond the application of digital technology. Effective digitalisation generally implies a change in our way of working, and with that the support needed by digital technology. At the same time, digital technology is also an enabler for new and better ways of working.

Source: Reinitz, Betsy. “Consider the Three Ds When Talking about Digital Transformation.

The Shaping Expert Group (SEG) Inclusion was established to support our organisation in achieving our Shaping2030 Inclusion goals, by making use of the expertise, energy, and intrinsic motivation of UT's community members. 

To achieve the goals and ambitions, the SEG organised a series of open dialogues, in round table meetings around the question: "What do you need to belong and develop to your full potential at UT?” They also gave presentations to many people from the UT community and interviewed quite a few people too.

A short overview of what has been accomplished:

• 9 round table meetings for international students and staff and for staff working on internationalisation
• 15 interviews with employees and students with a disability and with staff working on this theme.
• 19 interviews with first generation students
• 6 round table meetings for employees and students on belonging related to ethnicity
• 3 round table meetings for employees and students on belonging related to sexual orientation,  gender identity and gender expression
• 4 round table meetings for students on belonging related to religion and 1 round table meeting for employees on this theme
• 3 round table meetings for employees, PhD candidates and students on belonging related to women's equity
• More than 100 presentations to groups and individuals in service departments and faculties across UT

The SEG Inclusion's mandate finishes in December 2022. The report containing the results of the round tables and interviews, conclusions and recommendations for the UT organisation, can be found on the UT topic page Diversity, Equity and inclusion.

If you have any questions about the work or report of the SEG Inclusion, you can turn to former SEG lead Laura Vargas at l.d.vargas@utwente.nl.

Relevant links and documents

Sustainability is an essential part of the Shaping2030 strategy. In 2030, sustainability is a prerequisite for everything we do at the University of Twente: our research, our education, and the choices we make in how we run our own organisation. To do this, we need to change the way we work, think and do.

BOOSTING INITIATIVES

The Shaping Expert Group sustainability, brought al the initiatives that are en were starting up across the UT community together in an overview. To show the UT community, and the outside world, all the sustainable initiatives that are being realised. Second, the SEG initiated and supported new initiatives, to boost and suport the process towards becoming a sustainable organisation in 2030. The SEG worked together with the Green Hub, SEE Programme and other groups across the university.

RELEVANT LINKS AND INFORMATION