Arrived in London on time, and took the ten-minute bus ride to Terminal 5 for the flight to Amsterdam. Hard to believe you can travel that far on a bus mostly under terminal buildings! In Terminal 5 had to go out through immigration and customs then back in again….too bad airports can’t sort this out. 
By the time I got to the gate, I had only a few minutes to talk with Kit and off to Amsterdam…sat next to Dutch couple who retired in the UK and moved to Thailand because it’s so much cheaper. They were vacationing in Australia when his mom died so they’ve just gotten off a 12 hour flight to her funeral. I was sleepy but feeling better than I imagined. After my “sign off” last night on the plane, I dozed in several twisted positions and awakened once feeling VERY sick….but fortunately it passed. I was glad I wasn’t at my seat when breakfast was served!
Arrive in Amsterdam and was able to get out to the street quickly. I looked to see if Marjon Turkesteen was there, then called, and she reminded me she’d said they couldn’t come to the train because it’s quite a ways….100km…and traffic is heavy. So I found the train station, bought a ticket and made my way….I couldn’t be sure which of 4 trains which arrived in sequence at the Spor (track) was the right one, but I banked on the fact that Dutch trains are usually on time, so I passed on the one at 11:15, the one at 11:20, and the one at 11:25 deciding that when they said 11:30, they MEANT 11:30. Getting on, I failed to find the first class coach…for which I had paid an extra $8 in hopes of wireless….but the 2nd class was fine. I knew I had an hour ride. I dozed, and was startled to waken at 12:31. I couldn’t be sure I had NOT passed the Ede-Wageningen stop…wouldn’t THAT have been frustrating…to travel 4500 miles only to miss the train stop! But apparently the delays in Utrecht…sitting on the track for 10 minutes had delayed the whole trip…so when I inquired I THINK they said mine was the next stop…..but then it was 12:50 and couldn’t IMAGINE a Dutch train 20 minutes late on an hour trip….but it was! Thank Goodness.
Marjon was there…Kees’ assistant. She drove a nifty fire-engine red Fiat 500! 6-speed. She’s headed to Aspen skiing this week of vacation….apparently everyone in Holland goes off for “winter games” this week….from Austria to Aspen! Met Kees Boele the president, whom I had met last week in D.C. It was good to see him…and he had a great lunch with soup and sandwiches and fruit for me…..needed since I’d skipped that breakfast on a squeamish stomach…I think it might have been the bit of chocolate I ate at 1am after the second movie I watched!
We discussed the basic facts of Christelijke Hogeschool Ede…Christian University of Applied Sciences. (C.H.E.) (4000 students, 25% part-time, 96% Christians (Evangelicals), with a faculty that is 100% Christian. This seems to reflect that it is relatively easier here in Europe to find qualified Christian faculty than in S.America or Africa. The Dutch government actually pays the CHE about 5000 Euros for each student there…quite a surprise compared to our supposedly “Christian” U.S. government’s unwillingness to directly subsidize the privates in our country. Students only pay about 1500 Euros for annual tuition. They hope to have 5000 in a few years and keep it there.
They have 6 divisions which are relatively autonomous…more like a university model “schools” it seems to me than a college “departments.” The big ones are Management, Journalism/Communication, Nursing. They also have 5 staff departments. The first 6 report to the President and the 5 staff departments report to his “vice-presidents.” Among the distinctives I picked up were Kess’ insistence that CHE offers the highest quality academics (consistent with reformed education the US among CCCU schools). Then they “add” the Christian element. This approach allows them to keep the Dutch government from complaining about that added Christian piece since it’s “above and beyond” the academics. Interestingly, each “school” is required to have an external advisory council of community members who give feedback and whose opinions MUST be taken into account by the school in their reports to the president. It's a healthy dose of engagement of the real world! Even more impressive, is that each school is responsible not only to mount an academic program, but because they are an institution of “applied sciences” each school must ALSO mount a “commercial” program! Yes, each one is expected to have a business arm that generates revenue…not to mention generates good PR and engagement of the community. Perhaps even MORE innovative is the “20 Year Coaching Program” that is promised to each of their 10-15 best graduates each year. These select grads are given a career coach from the appropriate real-world profession for 20 years, changing every 3 years. I’ve never heard of suc intensive commitment to grads. Their goal of course is to penetrate the society with effective leaders! We could afford to copy this commitment.
I met with Ton Veen in the school of Communication and Journalism (It began as a separate institution originally!), Hendrie van Maanen (Lecturer in Bus Admin), and Gertie Gijsbertsen-Blaauwendraad who is responsible for their extensive commitments to internationalization! I learned by the way that they have a fairly longstanding exchange with Messiah….one year sending 35 students there, and the next receiving 35 students from there. They also participate in the International Business Institute (begun I think by Bob Bartel at Wesmont….staffed by Paul Morgan and Ed Noell there!) After they each told me a bit about themselves and I told them about myself and my purpose to “Listen”, I asked a couple of questions to stimulate the conversation that went for a couple of hours. “What keeps you awake at night regarding your work at CHE?” “Tell me in one sentence what you’d like to see the CCCU do to help you with your work.”
What keeps them awake?....1. How to sharpen the criteria for student recruitment to focus faculty development and curriculum design. (Ton) 2. Improve the exchanges with students by expanding it beyond the business area to include Comm and Social Work areas. Problems with doing this seem to include the inevitable money problems….US tuition is higher than their so their students can’t participate as easily, and surprisingly, the perception that US institutions are bureaucratically cumbersome (my words not Hendrie’s) because of a relatively hierarchical organization structure…whereby decisions about exchanges must go up and down the administrative ladder. This again seems to confirm their relative autonomy in launching these from within a school. (Hendrie). 3. An increasing international focus at CHE….with Gertie’s coming 3 years ago….bolstered by the European Union’s commitment to operate with shared credit transfers (ECTS) and the Bologna approach. This has meant a growing need for English instruction as the language of choice for these intra-European exchanges. Gertie feels there are three elements to real internationalization: a) Regional focus, b) a Global attitude given the “flat world and digitalization” of “life” and c) a focus on Research in a kind of European internal “Marshall Plan” for the Union’s educational development to be the best educational center in the world! Big visions!
I also found that Gertie is one of the coordinators of the upcoming IAPCHE conference in April 20-23 in Biezenmortel, The Netherlands. This conference, entitled “Bridging the Gap: Connecting Christian Faith and professional practice in a pluralistic society” has a very substantial program and suggests that IAPCHE is VERY active and focusing on very practical topics. CCCU would be pleased to have accomplished half as much in such practical terms to aid in the conversation about inter-cultural education. I think there is much thought that needs to be given to how CCCU effort and that of IAPCHE can relate. IAPCHE comprises only a few institutions (15 Gertie thought?) but numerous individual members. It would seem redundant for CCCU to offer such conferences, but the areas of workshops, and audits, and shared faculty seem different enough to pursue.
What keeps them awake at night? Hendrie says the problem of how to “engage” 17-21 year olds in their education….sound familiar? Ton says “building cultural bridges” so students can escape their isolated “mind maps.” They must engage other cultures not just visit them. Hertie said she is worried about how to make international education truly consistent with the CHE triple goals of Relationships, Content, and Responsibility….especially this latter. Sending students on gas-guzzling planes may not be the way to help them learn this last.
When I asked if faculty really care about faith/learning integration, Ton responded emphatically “Yes!” But like in the US he named the same problems….existing faculty loads in teaching and admin.
Their “dream” help from CCCU would be: Ton: Options for enriching faculty in their disciplines and in pedagogy, connecting people through conferences and shared documents/syllabi…. (This has been tried but usually falters on the need to keep web sites updated with current material…can that be solved?) Hendrie: Shared courses with partners in exchange…creating shared modules online or via Skype. Hertie: Sharing on 3 levels, macro, students (Cross-cultural courses and exchange), and shared faculty workshops in a philosophy of Christian education that includes both skills and character. She was quite articulate about what I want to call the liberal arts focus…..and noteworthy point given that the CHE focus has been “applied sciences.”
I toured CHE with their facilities manager….the architecture speaks to their philosophy….LOTS and LOTS of project rooms….revealing that collaboration is a key focus…like in the business school model.
A wide open double gymnasium sized atrium/computer lab 
which may speak to their open mind to the real world. And even the they do NOT put all members of one department in the same location shows a cooperative spirit. 
After the tour, I got on the CHE wireless and soon Kees and I went out to dinner. Kees loves fine dining so he took me to an historic place in the neighboring town….the location where the Dutch first surrendered to the Nazis and then later where the Nazis surrendered to the Dutch on May 5t, 1945.
What an amazing feeling to eat in the same space and to see photos on the walls of those historic events. There are many Europeans (Kees among them) who feel a continuing deep sense of gratitude for what Americans did for their nation. We had a 5 course meal invented by the chef and served course by course over 4 hours….we did not even know what was coming next…but his Michelin star paid off! Have you ever had Lentil soup in a shot glass topped with creamed parmesan froth? It looked like a lentil and cheese cappuccino!!! Have you ever had samosas with mango dip? Have you ever had French black footed chicken breast….the tenderness of the meat was like nothing I’ve ever tasted. The warm chocolate cake with yogurt Ice cream and orange slices followed by rich robust dark coffee….oh la la! But the best part is that each course was SMALL and spaced out as they were I left without feeling “stuffed!” Now that’s the way to eat! Walking through the town as the sun set along the pedestrian only cobblestone streets I could almost hear the echoes of tank treads and the reverberations of cannon fire.
Kees shared his priorities with me…..including his major concern to create the appropriate systems in administration to handle the rapid growth from 2000 to 4000. While I said there is perhaps not much CCCU can do to help him with this, he said perhaps a conference or “audit team” that gave best practice advice would be helpful. He also suggested CCCU needed a European office, but we discussed that given the misperception that might give in favor of the northern hemisphere vs. southern needs, perhaps it would be better just to move the annual President’s Forum to an overseas location every other year….OR add an overseas President’s Forum annually. What do you think Paul? These overseas versions of the President’s Forum could focus on THEIR issues, and we could learn a lot! Consider the creative ideas I heard just today? The commercial revenue requirement of each school, the 20 year coaching commitment to their best students, and here’s one! Kees has hired an outside consultant to give him 50 days of time each year to sit in on his cabinet level meetings to assess the deeper agenda in discussions and ferret out those matters. At $2500/day for this service he has obviously made a huge commitment…but he says it pays off enormously! Whew! Even on a $45m budget that’s not chicken feed….but may prove that good advice can make a big difference!
We walked around the town one more time in the dark of street lamps and echoey cobblestone! While I am sure his wife Cora would have enjoyed spending the evening with him, I was most grateful for the gift of the evening!
By the time I got to the gate, I had only a few minutes to talk with Kit and off to Amsterdam…sat next to Dutch couple who retired in the UK and moved to Thailand because it’s so much cheaper. They were vacationing in Australia when his mom died so they’ve just gotten off a 12 hour flight to her funeral. I was sleepy but feeling better than I imagined. After my “sign off” last night on the plane, I dozed in several twisted positions and awakened once feeling VERY sick….but fortunately it passed. I was glad I wasn’t at my seat when breakfast was served!Arrive in Amsterdam and was able to get out to the street quickly. I looked to see if Marjon Turkesteen was there, then called, and she reminded me she’d said they couldn’t come to the train because it’s quite a ways….100km…and traffic is heavy. So I found the train station, bought a ticket and made my way….I couldn’t be sure which of 4 trains which arrived in sequence at the Spor (track) was the right one, but I banked on the fact that Dutch trains are usually on time, so I passed on the one at 11:15, the one at 11:20, and the one at 11:25 deciding that when they said 11:30, they MEANT 11:30. Getting on, I failed to find the first class coach…for which I had paid an extra $8 in hopes of wireless….but the 2nd class was fine. I knew I had an hour ride. I dozed, and was startled to waken at 12:31. I couldn’t be sure I had NOT passed the Ede-Wageningen stop…wouldn’t THAT have been frustrating…to travel 4500 miles only to miss the train stop! But apparently the delays in Utrecht…sitting on the track for 10 minutes had delayed the whole trip…so when I inquired I THINK they said mine was the next stop…..but then it was 12:50 and couldn’t IMAGINE a Dutch train 20 minutes late on an hour trip….but it was! Thank Goodness.
Marjon was there…Kees’ assistant. She drove a nifty fire-engine red Fiat 500! 6-speed. She’s headed to Aspen skiing this week of vacation….apparently everyone in Holland goes off for “winter games” this week….from Austria to Aspen! Met Kees Boele the president, whom I had met last week in D.C. It was good to see him…and he had a great lunch with soup and sandwiches and fruit for me…..needed since I’d skipped that breakfast on a squeamish stomach…I think it might have been the bit of chocolate I ate at 1am after the second movie I watched!We discussed the basic facts of Christelijke Hogeschool Ede…Christian University of Applied Sciences. (C.H.E.) (4000 students, 25% part-time, 96% Christians (Evangelicals), with a faculty that is 100% Christian. This seems to reflect that it is relatively easier here in Europe to find qualified Christian faculty than in S.America or Africa. The Dutch government actually pays the CHE about 5000 Euros for each student there…quite a surprise compared to our supposedly “Christian” U.S. government’s unwillingness to directly subsidize the privates in our country. Students only pay about 1500 Euros for annual tuition. They hope to have 5000 in a few years and keep it there.
They have 6 divisions which are relatively autonomous…more like a university model “schools” it seems to me than a college “departments.” The big ones are Management, Journalism/Communication, Nursing. They also have 5 staff departments. The first 6 report to the President and the 5 staff departments report to his “vice-presidents.” Among the distinctives I picked up were Kess’ insistence that CHE offers the highest quality academics (consistent with reformed education the US among CCCU schools). Then they “add” the Christian element. This approach allows them to keep the Dutch government from complaining about that added Christian piece since it’s “above and beyond” the academics. Interestingly, each “school” is required to have an external advisory council of community members who give feedback and whose opinions MUST be taken into account by the school in their reports to the president. It's a healthy dose of engagement of the real world! Even more impressive, is that each school is responsible not only to mount an academic program, but because they are an institution of “applied sciences” each school must ALSO mount a “commercial” program! Yes, each one is expected to have a business arm that generates revenue…not to mention generates good PR and engagement of the community. Perhaps even MORE innovative is the “20 Year Coaching Program” that is promised to each of their 10-15 best graduates each year. These select grads are given a career coach from the appropriate real-world profession for 20 years, changing every 3 years. I’ve never heard of suc intensive commitment to grads. Their goal of course is to penetrate the society with effective leaders! We could afford to copy this commitment.
I met with Ton Veen in the school of Communication and Journalism (It began as a separate institution originally!), Hendrie van Maanen (Lecturer in Bus Admin), and Gertie Gijsbertsen-Blaauwendraad who is responsible for their extensive commitments to internationalization! I learned by the way that they have a fairly longstanding exchange with Messiah….one year sending 35 students there, and the next receiving 35 students from there. They also participate in the International Business Institute (begun I think by Bob Bartel at Wesmont….staffed by Paul Morgan and Ed Noell there!) After they each told me a bit about themselves and I told them about myself and my purpose to “Listen”, I asked a couple of questions to stimulate the conversation that went for a couple of hours. “What keeps you awake at night regarding your work at CHE?” “Tell me in one sentence what you’d like to see the CCCU do to help you with your work.”
What keeps them awake?....1. How to sharpen the criteria for student recruitment to focus faculty development and curriculum design. (Ton) 2. Improve the exchanges with students by expanding it beyond the business area to include Comm and Social Work areas. Problems with doing this seem to include the inevitable money problems….US tuition is higher than their so their students can’t participate as easily, and surprisingly, the perception that US institutions are bureaucratically cumbersome (my words not Hendrie’s) because of a relatively hierarchical organization structure…whereby decisions about exchanges must go up and down the administrative ladder. This again seems to confirm their relative autonomy in launching these from within a school. (Hendrie). 3. An increasing international focus at CHE….with Gertie’s coming 3 years ago….bolstered by the European Union’s commitment to operate with shared credit transfers (ECTS) and the Bologna approach. This has meant a growing need for English instruction as the language of choice for these intra-European exchanges. Gertie feels there are three elements to real internationalization: a) Regional focus, b) a Global attitude given the “flat world and digitalization” of “life” and c) a focus on Research in a kind of European internal “Marshall Plan” for the Union’s educational development to be the best educational center in the world! Big visions!
I also found that Gertie is one of the coordinators of the upcoming IAPCHE conference in April 20-23 in Biezenmortel, The Netherlands. This conference, entitled “Bridging the Gap: Connecting Christian Faith and professional practice in a pluralistic society” has a very substantial program and suggests that IAPCHE is VERY active and focusing on very practical topics. CCCU would be pleased to have accomplished half as much in such practical terms to aid in the conversation about inter-cultural education. I think there is much thought that needs to be given to how CCCU effort and that of IAPCHE can relate. IAPCHE comprises only a few institutions (15 Gertie thought?) but numerous individual members. It would seem redundant for CCCU to offer such conferences, but the areas of workshops, and audits, and shared faculty seem different enough to pursue.
What keeps them awake at night? Hendrie says the problem of how to “engage” 17-21 year olds in their education….sound familiar? Ton says “building cultural bridges” so students can escape their isolated “mind maps.” They must engage other cultures not just visit them. Hertie said she is worried about how to make international education truly consistent with the CHE triple goals of Relationships, Content, and Responsibility….especially this latter. Sending students on gas-guzzling planes may not be the way to help them learn this last.
When I asked if faculty really care about faith/learning integration, Ton responded emphatically “Yes!” But like in the US he named the same problems….existing faculty loads in teaching and admin.
Their “dream” help from CCCU would be: Ton: Options for enriching faculty in their disciplines and in pedagogy, connecting people through conferences and shared documents/syllabi…. (This has been tried but usually falters on the need to keep web sites updated with current material…can that be solved?) Hendrie: Shared courses with partners in exchange…creating shared modules online or via Skype. Hertie: Sharing on 3 levels, macro, students (Cross-cultural courses and exchange), and shared faculty workshops in a philosophy of Christian education that includes both skills and character. She was quite articulate about what I want to call the liberal arts focus…..and noteworthy point given that the CHE focus has been “applied sciences.”
I toured CHE with their facilities manager….the architecture speaks to their philosophy….LOTS and LOTS of project rooms….revealing that collaboration is a key focus…like in the business school model.
A wide open double gymnasium sized atrium/computer lab 
which may speak to their open mind to the real world. And even the they do NOT put all members of one department in the same location shows a cooperative spirit. 
After the tour, I got on the CHE wireless and soon Kees and I went out to dinner. Kees loves fine dining so he took me to an historic place in the neighboring town….the location where the Dutch first surrendered to the Nazis and then later where the Nazis surrendered to the Dutch on May 5t, 1945.
What an amazing feeling to eat in the same space and to see photos on the walls of those historic events. There are many Europeans (Kees among them) who feel a continuing deep sense of gratitude for what Americans did for their nation. We had a 5 course meal invented by the chef and served course by course over 4 hours….we did not even know what was coming next…but his Michelin star paid off! Have you ever had Lentil soup in a shot glass topped with creamed parmesan froth? It looked like a lentil and cheese cappuccino!!! Have you ever had samosas with mango dip? Have you ever had French black footed chicken breast….the tenderness of the meat was like nothing I’ve ever tasted. The warm chocolate cake with yogurt Ice cream and orange slices followed by rich robust dark coffee….oh la la! But the best part is that each course was SMALL and spaced out as they were I left without feeling “stuffed!” Now that’s the way to eat! Walking through the town as the sun set along the pedestrian only cobblestone streets I could almost hear the echoes of tank treads and the reverberations of cannon fire.
Kees shared his priorities with me…..including his major concern to create the appropriate systems in administration to handle the rapid growth from 2000 to 4000. While I said there is perhaps not much CCCU can do to help him with this, he said perhaps a conference or “audit team” that gave best practice advice would be helpful. He also suggested CCCU needed a European office, but we discussed that given the misperception that might give in favor of the northern hemisphere vs. southern needs, perhaps it would be better just to move the annual President’s Forum to an overseas location every other year….OR add an overseas President’s Forum annually. What do you think Paul? These overseas versions of the President’s Forum could focus on THEIR issues, and we could learn a lot! Consider the creative ideas I heard just today? The commercial revenue requirement of each school, the 20 year coaching commitment to their best students, and here’s one! Kees has hired an outside consultant to give him 50 days of time each year to sit in on his cabinet level meetings to assess the deeper agenda in discussions and ferret out those matters. At $2500/day for this service he has obviously made a huge commitment…but he says it pays off enormously! Whew! Even on a $45m budget that’s not chicken feed….but may prove that good advice can make a big difference!
We walked around the town one more time in the dark of street lamps and echoey cobblestone! While I am sure his wife Cora would have enjoyed spending the evening with him, I was most grateful for the gift of the evening!
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