Nsm

Introduction

The University of Nijmegen is one of the nine Dutch universities. It has a catholic background and was established in 1923. The university has a total staff of 3,800 and has more than 13,000 students in eight faculties and 45 study programs. 900 of the student body are foreigners and 330 of the staff are foreign staff members. The University of Nijmegen encourages its students to spend parts of their studies abroad. It has more than 200 Socrates agreements and about 80 bilateral agreements with other universities abroad. Furthermore, the university invites visiting lectures to teach in Nijmegen. The University of Nijmegen is highly accessible to foreign students and staff, thanks to the development of English programs and courses, as well as its English library and computer facilities. The university is one of the first Dutch universities to introduce the Bachelor/Master structure.

The Nijmegen School of Management, Business, Government and Environment (NSM) enroll 2,470 students, of which 120 are foreign. There are seven general disciplines, such as Business Administration, Economics, Public Administration, Political Sciences, Environmental Policy Science, Human Geography, and Spatial Planning. The NSM and its staff of 225 are well known for their educational innovations. Since its establishment in 1988 it has applied small scale and student activating teaching methods. `Quality comes first!` is the faculty’s slogan. Besides that, the programs strive for a combination of scientific training and broad ethical, cultural, and social education. In today’s internationalized world, the NSM offers twelve programs and 45 programs in English for exchange students as well as a Bachelor and Master’s in Business Administration. Other Master programs in English are being developed.

In the strategic planning, the KUN chooses to be a student-oriented, research university, belonging to the top 4 of Dutch universities. Quality is more important than quantity. Students are educated as researchers, they do not only learn the academic skills, but also learn to acquire an inquisitive attitude. The university wishes not only to play an important role on the Dutch market, but also on the European market by offering high quality education. The strategy therefore should be focused on research and should have an international orientation.

In the beginning of year 2001 the �Nijmegen Business School’ was renamed into the �Nijmegen School of Management’. The introduction of the English-taught Bachelor program �Business Administration’ had happened already one year before. The Master program �International Management’ was introduced even before that. However, the new Bachelor program was the start of internationalizing the faculty. Both mentioned programs are open for Dutch students as well as international students. After a starting period of about two years, in which only a limited number of international students participated in the programs, the faculty is concerned about attracting more and more international students. For this purpose the �Nijmegen School of Management’ (NSM) addressed us, students that are directly involved in the program since its beginning, to do research on the internationalization of the faculty.

The central question of our research project is the following:

• What influence does the internationalization of higher education have on the organizational and educational structure and policy of the Nijmegen School of Management?

Related sub-questions are:

• What role does the Bologna Declaration play in the NSM’s internationalization process?

• What strategy, mission, and goals does the NSM have concerning internationalization?

• What is the current organizational structure of the NSM concerning internationalization?

• What role does leadership play in the process of internationalization?

• What should the organizational structure of an international oriented faculty look like?

• What marketing policies does the NSM use in order to promote its English program?

The strengths and weaknesses analysis (SW analysis) will focus on marketing activities as well as international strategies of the NSM. In order to able to answer the listed questions we have conducted several interviews with administrative members of the faculty, the International Office, and teaching staff. Furthermore, we studied the Policy Plan (beleidsplan) of the faculty, made use of theoretical literature, such as articles and books, and unsuccessfully contacted the University of Wageningen and the University of Maastricht.

Abstract

This paper deals with the influence internationalization of higher education has on the organizational structure and policies of the Nijmegen School of Management. As an introduction to this paper, a quick overview will be given of the diversification process in higher education in general. In order to deal with this subject, historical backgrounds of major importance, such as the Bologna Declaration and the “Wet Modernisering Universitaire Bestuursstructuur” and the implementation of the Bachelor/ Master structure will be described. After an overview of this has been given, the focus will shift to the internal processes at the Nijmegen School of Management. Mission and goals of the faculty will be included, as well as its organizational structure and marketing activities. Theories about these subjects will be provided to make a link to the empirical findings. The report will end with a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the NSM, seen from different perspectives, finally resulting in conclusions and recommendations.

Chapter 1: Diversification in Higher Education

In the past years, major shifts have occurred in the educational sector. Important issues are the massification of education and the change to the situation in which the educational institutions are steered by the market rather than by the government.

Although universities have always competed for students, in recent years the higher education is seen as a market,