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HAS University is fit & well and looking forward to the new academic year with confidence

At HAS University of Applied Sciences, the academic year 2020-2021 will start officially on 7 and 8 September. The start normally takes place at our two locations in 's-Hertogenbosch and Venlo, but this year, due to corona, the entire programme will be offered online. Despite this and other measures that are making the start of this academic year so different to other years, HAS University of Applied Sciences is fit & well and looking forward to the new academic year with confidence. We are also delighted to be able to see each other again in person, albeit to a limited extent.

Because at HAS University of Applied Sciences we depend on personal contact: this is the foundation of good education. Parts of a study programme can be provided easily online. But as a university of applied sciences, we also play a major role in the personal development of our students. This process requires students, lecturers and the stakeholders from the professional field to be able to meet each other in person. This is why HAS University of Applied Sciences is focusing this new academic year on providing a mix of physical and online education.

Increased number of registrations

This approach is a significant challenge, also in view of the fact that the number of new first-year students has increased compared to last year. On 28 August 2020, the joint total number of registrations for the two locations in 's-Hertogenbosch and Venlo was 1,234. This compares to a total number of registrations on 1 October 2019 of 1,048. The Venlo location has been operational since 2013 and is growing well. The number of international students has also risen by around 15% this year. Students come from 32 different countries, 1/3 of them are from Europe and 2/3 are from outside Europe. The final number of registrations will be known on 1 October 2020.

Rapid increase in online education

Online education has accelerated considerably as a result of corona. This has required a great deal of effort from our organisation and we are proud of what we have achieved together over the past few months. Corona has not affected the quality of our education, and students have not been delayed in their studies. The solid network that HAS University of Applied Sciences is part of has proved to be an important factor in preventing study delays. This has meant that 95% of the final-year in-company projects was able to go ahead as planned – albeit sometimes with a few changes.

Cooperation with the professional field is as important as ever

Our cooperation with the professional field will continue to be just as important in the coming year. Not only in our full-time study programmes, but also in the extensive range of courses we offer for professionals in the agrifood and living environment sectors. We also work closely with our external network in setting up and implementing research programmes, as well as on consultancy and product development programmes. In order to be able to serve the business market as well as possible, since 1 June 2020 the activities that previously came under HAS Training & Consultancy Foundation have been managed directly by HAS University of Applied Sciences.

Basic financial supervision

HAS University of Applied Sciences is also financially healthy. Mid-2020, the Dutch Education Inspectorate decided to remove the adjusted supervision measures and to put HAS University of Applied Sciences back under basic supervision. The Inspectorate concluded that HAS University of Applied Sciences is financially healthy again: there are no financial risks to the continuity of education in the short or medium term.

The future

Dick Pouwels, Chairman of the Board of Governors of HAS University of Applied Sciences: "The recent period has been intense. At the time, the Inspectorate was right to draw our attention to matters that were not in order. We have had constructive discussions with them about this. Based on an improvement plan, we set to work across the organisation and achieved a great deal in a relatively short period of time. This would not have been possible without the enormous commitment of our employees.”