A master programme at the same campus, with a similar name, strongly corresponding substance, which results in the same diploma (MSc), but which is a year shorter than the RUG programme. At FEB, the Hanze University of Applied Sciences’ plans to set up the master programme interdisciplinary business professional were met with anything but positivity last month.
‘We expect to lose many pre-master and master students, because students are being “lied to” and told that a one-year master at the Hanze has the same value as a two-year programme at the RUG’, says a staff member who wants to remain anonymous.
The programme is much too similar to the RUG master business administration, the FEB employees say. ‘In practice, these programmes will be shortened to MSc IBP and MSc BA, respectively. To students, that is an imperceptibly small difference’, an internal report claims.
Appeal
The faculty board contacted the legal department at the RUG to protest the applied sciences programme. But after talking to the Board of Directors, they decided to not pursue the matter.
‘Regardless of how we feel about it, it’s been decided, on a national level, that applied sciences universities are allowed to offer Master of Science programmes. I personally think it muddles things up, but it’s a direct result of national agreements. There’s no point in protesting them on a local level’, FEB manager Albert Boonstra responds.
According to Boonstra, the faculty has been in contact with the Hanze several times in the past months to discuss the matter. ‘We’ve reached no concrete agreements, but we do have the intention to clearly explain the differences between the programmes to prospective students’, he says.
Differences
Boonstra is not worried that the Hanze will deliberately keep the differences vague in an attempt to attract more students. ‘I do not get the impression that the Hanze is trying to steal students from us. They’ve certainly been open to talking about it. It’s in both the Hanze and the RUG’s best interest to communicate everything as clearly as possible towards future students.’
The faculty will emphasise the exact differences between an MSc at the University of Groningen and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences in their communication towards (foreign) students. ‘And these differences are considerable, when it comes to duration, but also concerning the level.’
The Hanze board could not be reached for comment.