'We have lunch meetings once in a while with the Faculty Board (FB) and a specific group of faculty colleagues. We do that to take the temperature, discuss work and exchange views. The other day we had such a lunch with the Junior Lecturers (JuDo's) of the faculty. Unfortunately, I was not there myself, but at that lunch we as a board realised once again how special that group of young professionals is. For four years, they stand beside us in front of the students and help deliver high-quality education.'
Better education with JuDo’s
'I can still remember when I was head of department and head of operations Bart van der Leijen came by to say that the FB had decided to invest in JuDo’s. We were getting money from the government to improve educational quality. I didn't really know what JuDo's were. My first reaction was: just give that money and I'll make sure our education improves. Well, that wasn't quite the intention, the money was for hiring JuDo's. Luckily, because since then I've been completely converted.'
'We were able to hire two and a half JuDo's, after which we added another one and a half from our own funds. We immediately noticed how much better our teaching became and how pleasant it is for teachers to have someone beside them. Especially in very large courses where there is a lot of interaction with students, the added value of JuDo's was enormous. Until then, teachers did everything themselves. This kind of support was really an eye-opener for us. It was a bit forced at first, but after that we were blazingly enthusiastic about the whole concept of JuDo's in the classroom.'
A vulnerable group
'Most JuDos come in on four-year contracts and cannot get permanent appointments: that is national policy. These temporary contracts give room for manoeuvre for departments, but also pose a danger. After all, because the JuDos are a kind of flexible shell, this group of staff is also vulnerable, especially in light of the announced budget cuts. Still, I would caution departments not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. It is a relatively easy cutback not to replace departing JuDo's, because you don't have to fire anyone.'
'Such an obvious austerity measure ignores the important contribution JuDo's make to education and reducing our workload. JuDos spend 80 per cent of their time teaching. That is much more than most of us. Because they are often recent graduates, they know very well what students like and don't like-how best to approach them. And because students are more likely to approach a JuDo than a professor, Judos are often also a mouthpiece for students. All these unique qualities of JuDo's we should cherish.'
Educational innovation often comes from JuDo’s
'Often JuDos are ambitious student alumni with a heart for education, and bring a lot of innovation to teaching. Especially if JuDos are given room to think along with the academic staff, they regularly come up with refreshing ideas. You could also ask a JuDo to only check or supervise exams. But that is not the idea of this position, and in my view a missed opportunity. A JuDo is really meant to take teaching to a higher level and ensure that you offer more activating and innovative teaching in our curricula.'
'At the Institute for Environmental Issues (IVM), JuDo's were given space to professionalise. Not only were JuDo's given time to complete their Basic Teaching Qualification (BKO), they were also given space to develop their own projects. Projects that we don't get to do as academic staff. When I was at IVM, Rosa Pols was a JuDo there. She developed an entire module on how to increase students' employability. Employability is an Achilles heel of many of our programmes. In the National Student Survey (NSE), we always scored very badly on it. Students did not feel they were adequately prepared for the labour market. But then again, what teacher is going to pick up on that? So that is precisely something that a JuDo can do very well, because they can integrate employability in small pieces all over the course. Rosa ended up developing an entire employability module that is also used in several courses.'
'Another good example is Ana Clara Cassanti, who was presented with the Innovation Award just last Thursday at the Education Afternoon. She set up a concept for Mixed Classroom. It was her idea and she then developed it. That shows us that educational innovation very often comes precisely from JuDo's. Of course, our academic staff are also very innovative in education, but JuDo's in particular have added value as innovators because they are so intensively involved across an entire programme.'
Number of JuDo's up sharply
'That's also what I mean by the child in the bathwater. We have to make cuts from the content. As portfolio holder for education, I stand for quality education. JuDos play a very important role in that. We have measured it regularly, and everyone is very happy with the arrival of JuDo's.'
'We as Beta faculty have invested 11.5 million euros in additional JuDo's since 2019. That's on top of what departments have funded themselves. That investment has generated about 34 extra places. That is a substantial group that is very important to us. That big investment is a very successful one as far as I'm concerned, also because it has reduced the workload.'
'But we also do notice that JuDo's have concerns. Because they are always on temporary contracts, we cannot offer them much in the way of future prospects at university. However, my experience is that actually all the JuDos I have seen leave have all ended up very well. I can understand that, because you gain enormously valuable work experience right after graduation in an academic environment where you are challenged and given great responsibilities.'
Future prospects
'It is up to us to give JuDo's future prospects, and to work on their employability. Fortunately, there are many different opportunities. JuDos are often the better students and therefore often good Phd students. As a lecturer, you also spend a lot of time with a JuDo, so you know what kind of meat you have in the tub. With their teaching experience and training, they could also very well work in secondary education, where they are crying out for talent from a science background. We therefore also want to investigate to what extent there is interest in that among the current JuDo's.'
'Another option, of course, is for them to leave university and teaching altogether. Often JuDo's have the choice to do a professionalisation programme. Then you are partially released to develop yourself. But there are also JuDo's who are mainly in front of the classroom and do not have enough time to develop themselves. As good employers, we as faculty decided to offer only that first variant. That is the policy we are developing now and what we intend to introduce soon.'
'For us, it is important to continue to value JuDo's contribution to our university at all times. Especially in these times of austerity, we will have to innovate and we need the JuDo's very much for that.'