Lecture. Photo Guy Ackermans The Portfolio Analysis task force is charged with critically reviewing all 21 Wageningen bachelor programmes. ‘We aim to design a strategy for each individual bachelor programme.
This is the third portfolio analysis since 2020. The first was mainly an internal qualitative investigation, while the second analysis, conducted in 2023, consisted of a quantitative investigation conducted by the education consultancy agency NIDAP at the behest of WUR. Ten Caat: ‘There is a lot of data: the number of incoming students, market share, demographic developments and more. We gathered all the data so that it may be analysed coherently. That provided us with a clear picture of which programmes are more successful and which require improvement.’
Based on the quantitative analysis, NIDAP also provided recommendations for each programme, Ten Caat explains. ‘For example, to fortify or dismantle a programme. However, as NIDAP bases its recommendations solely on data and is not able to assess how unique a programme is or how valuable to our profile, we want the final step to be in our own hands.’ The new task force is to develop a strategy for each programme based on the aforementioned qualitative and quantitative analyses.
New programmes
In addition to analysing the existing programmes, the task force will also focus on possible gaps in the range of programmes. Previous portfolio analyses led to the idea for the new bachelor programme Data Science for Global Challenges. ‘That is another reason to take a critical look at our range of programmes’, says Ten Caat.
While other universities announced at the end of 2024 that budget cuts would lead to cancelling some programmes, this is not the goal here, Ten Caat underscores. ‘We don’t want to say: if the influx is lower than X, we will cancel the programme. A low influx may lead to measures, which could include additional investments or, for example, a name change. In some cases, the conclusion may be that it is better to merge two programmes because the quality of education could be affected by the low influx. These decisions have a considerable impact, and we want to consider them diligently.’
A group of ‘critical friends’ will assist the internal task force, says Ten Caat. ‘For example, board members or former board members and deans of other universities and colleges with a solid view of the domain.’
The portfolio analysis is to be finalised this summer.
