For the first time ever, there will be an official opening of the academic year for international students at the EUR.
This way, the university as a whole wants to welcome all new foreign students. The ‘international opening’ takes place on September the 22nd.
The extensive welcoming program will consist of two parts. The first part will be the official bit. Speakers will be the EUR’s Rector, Prof.dr. Steven Lamberts, former Finance Minister Dr. Steven van Eijck and head of the Center for Maritime Economics and Logistics Prof. dr. Hercules Haralambides.
They will introduce the university to the new students and among other things talk about their own foreign experiences and what it means to be abroad, far from home, both in terms of distance and culture, and what that does to you. In addition, two students will tell about their foreign experiences.
The second part will be the unofficial part. At the Etude Restaurant everyone will be invited to try very nice and typical Dutch dishes and snacks. There will be live music as well and last but certainly not least, there will be a DJ.
This full program must have something for everyone, which is precisely what the university hopes to achieve. The EUR has always lacked an official opening of the year for international students. The poor results of last year’s International Student Barometer (ISB) indicated that the EUR needs initiatives like this and international students are likely to feel more at home after an official welcome.
The EUR’s results in the ISB were not entirely bad, but compared with other universities, there is room for improvement. Consequently it was decided that a number of things must improve for the internationals. KL
