Speech Parent Evening, 29 October 2013

Good evening and thank you for coming in such great numbers.
You have children, I have children. We all want our sons and daughters to look forward to a great future.
And that they will do well. We, as parents, work towards this goal, from the moment they go to primary
school and then to secondary school.
Those schools involved you in their education and choices. And then, I can remember it well, my oldest
daughter went to a university of applied sciences ten years ago. The message was clear: let go, they are
independent now and please do not get involved as parents in their studies.
I did not like the abrupt change, because you want to stay involved in your child's new social world. In fact,
we at Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen think parent involvement is absolutely necessary and
that your involvement is one of the most important factors in your child's study success.
To this end, Hanze UAS decided five years ago to organize this evening for all parents of first year students
each October. Our goal is to invite you into your son's and daughter's new world: the world of studying at a
university of applied sciences.
I want to start by asking you a question:
Who of you know which exams your son or daughter has to take in the upcoming period,
and which assignments they have to hand in and when? Do you know if they study for a meagre 6 or an 8?
Do you know if they study at all?
To us, the first exams period is an important measurement point. This works in two ways: first of all, students
who obtain an 8 or higher stand out: these are potential talents, students who want to stand head and
shoulders above the rest, they may even be our future Honours students.
Secondly, students who fail exams stand out, too. They may not have worked hard enough, or they still have to
adjust to the new way of studying. Luckily for the latter group it is not the end of the world: they can take a
resit later. Because we offer two opportunities for students to pass an exam for each subject, they have to pass
the second time.
The essence of my story tonight is: how can your son or daughter, you and we make sure together that we will
see each other again in 2017 at the graduation ceremony, and preferably with a substantial part of the student
body as graduates cum laude or Honours students?
First of all, you should know that studying at a university of applied sciences is very different from going to
secondary school. In principle, students are responsible for their study success. This means that students have
to plan and organise their studies themselves.
This will take some getting used to. Some students will have no problems with the switch, but other may
need a little more time. Therefore, the degree programmes have organized plenty of support and guidance in
the first year. Every class has their own Academic Counsellor, who your son and daughter can turn to with
any questions he or she may have.
The Academic Counsellor will also have regular meetings with your child about their study progress.
Particularly after disappointing results in the first block.
Another difference from secondary school is that the amount of course material that needs to be studied for an
exam is more sizeable. Experience has shown that if a students does not start studying right away at the
beginning of a block chances are that he or she will not pass the exams. We will do everything it takes to
make students understand this. We will do this by making demands, such as compulsory attendance at all
first-year subjects and the binding study advice.
Another difference from secondary school is that your child is trained here to do a profession.

And having a professional attitude is very much a part of this. And we confront them with this: you have to be
in time for work later on in life, you have to be able to collaborate and plan, you have to be able to give and
receive feedback and deal with each other and the facilities in a professional manner.
You should also know that students face many choices during their studies, which consists of four years.
And this certainly starts in the first year: you may even have already been confronted with it, because your son
or daughter has said to you: Mum, Dad, I don't know if this degree programme is right for me. What do you
do then? Stop your studies? Choose another degree programme? Or, you child may receive a negative binding
study advice from his or her Academic Counsellor in December. This is because we do not believe that he or
she will obtain enough credits in the first year, or because his or her motivation or commitment is not
sufficient.
And these are things that happen, and it is part and parcel of being 17 or 18 years old and discovering your
path and growing and being in the middle of personal growth, or just enjoying student life in Groningen too
much. Approximately 30% of students drops out of the first year each year for precisely these reasons. This
applies to all degree programmes at Hanze UAS and the national average is even higher.
Our advice in these cases is: have a serious conversation about this at home, and if things are really not
working out, terminate your enrolment directly after the Christmas holidays, so you will not lose any study
finance time. But fortunately, in most cases, your child says that he or she likes the degree programme, the
profession and expresses the need to not only study in the next four years, but also gain valuable experiences
in other fields. We offer those students plenty of opportunity to get the most out of themselves, to maximally
develop their talents, and to even excel.
We would love for you to stimulate that ambition.
Your son or daughter may be selected this spring for the Hanze Honours College of the institute, which starts
in year 2. Or, he or she may become a teaching assistant or join the board of our study association KIC, or
become a member of the participation council or obtain exceedingly high marks and graduates cum laude.
We also play an important part in all these choices, but your role is essential, too: being committed and being
a discussion partner for your son or daughter. We want to invite you into your child's new world tonight.
A world which trains your child for a profession in Communication, during which your son or daughter is
trained by lecturers, professionals who have studied in this field of interest, and often still work in the field.

Thank you for your attention.