FRONT FORUM 1: Tilburg Educational Profile (TEP)

Last Monday our first Front Forum evening of this academic year took place. These evenings are meant to gather input from the students so that Front and the University know what they think is important. The theme of the last Front Forum was the Tilburg Education Profile (TEP). The university asked students what they think ‘character building’ is and how they would like to see this reflected in their studies. A number of propositions were used to gauge how they give shape to character in their student days. After an extensive and instructive presentation by Vincent Wiegerinck, the students were able to discuss the different propositions in small groups. Thanks to this evening, we were able to get a better idea of what students need and what they consider important, which showed that the freedom to organise your day as it suits you is very important in order to be able to develop your character in this way (e.g. being able to attend lectures at a different time). The students also indicated that they consider it important to be able to develop their passion, sport or social skills in cooperation with others (within an association for example).  In addition, non-study related themes were also discussed. For example, most of the students present thought it was important to get in touch with other people through a part-time job, but living together with several housemates was also considered important for character development. Finally, the students thought that not only the cooperation and interaction with others outside your study programme was important, but also a critical, curious and (pro)active attitude within your study programme.