Phases of engagement

The More Than A Degree program can be divided into four phases. The Student Union has different roles regarding stimulation and facilitation of engagement in all phases. By going through the phases, students learn and obtain many different competencies for their personal development. When participating in engagement, the role of a student can grow by doing bigger engagement activities and finally becoming an ambassador of engagement.

Phase 0. Being not (yet) active

Phase zero is the phase where students are not yet participating in engagement. In this phase, it is important that students realise the importance and added value of becoming active, so students will become interested in becoming active and in the end participate in engagement.

Because there are many ways in which students can become active, the Student Union wants to navigate students through the ways of becoming an active student and stimulate them to become more active. Moreover, for students who are interested in developing themselves (but are not necessarily active already), the Students Union facilitates activities to obtain skills and competencies that can contribute to achieving more than a degree. Examples are the Kroegcollege and Why Start?.

Phase 1. Small engagement

This phase is seen as the basis for every student concerning the development of competencies outside the curriculum. In this phase, you as a student are working on voluntary work for a student association, foundation, your own organisation or initiative. You can be a member of an association, but this is not necessary. The competencies that you may develop in this phase are social skills, networking skills, involvement, organisational awareness, and assertiveness cooperation, result orientation, liability, and flexibility.

Within this phase, the main focus is on first and second-year students, as they are less known with the value of engagement and personal development.

Phase 2. Big engagement

Students can make the decision to join a large committee for on average over 8 hours per week or a full-time or part-time board. A good orientation possibility for big engagement is the More Than A Degree-Info Market. Added to the competencies of small engagement you gain with big engagement vision leadership, management, delegation, and decisiveness.

The Student Union offers opportunities and workshops for active students in full-time or part-time boards or committees to stimulate the competence development of students in these committees or boards. These facilitating opportunities are offered within the portfolio Personal Development of the Student Union. Examples are the Board Improvement Program and the Board Minor, and we are also involved in making policy of FOBOS and full- and part-time engagement recognition.

Phase 3. engagement ambassador

After you have gained experience in the various phases, you will gradually enter the fourth phase of the More Than A Degree-program. As an engagement ambassador you can be part of a supervisory board, advisory board or various other advising, reviewing and coaching functions in the student life. Students are not only focused on their own development, but also on improving a student organisation or helping other students in their development. A primary competence that you develop in this phase is coaching.

Also, engagement alumni are part of this phase. These are students who moved to other parts of The Netherlands or graduated and were very active within the student life of the UT. In addition, they still want to motivate other students and help them in their development.