The High Interest Group Student Teams (HiGST), whose members include Isabelle Reymen (scientific director of innoSpace), Carlo van de Weijer (director of EAISI) and dean Philip de Goey (Mechanical Engineering), drafted a vision document outlining the future of TU/e’s student teams. The group is chaired by former Human Recourses director Nicole van der Wolk. The document was presented to the University Council on Monday afternoon.

According to the HiGST, TU/e’s student teams realize the university’s educational vision 2030. The university counted 52 active student teams in September, it says in the document, with a total membership of 578 students. Of these teams, 18 were accredited. A new setup has been developed for these student teams with a focus on supervision, accommodation – at TU/e innovation Space – and financing. The teams’ autonomy must be maintained, and they are required to be compatible with Challenge-Based Learning, the new approach to teaching and learning that TU/e will continue to implement over the coming years.

Champions League

During a trial period, the teams will need to prove themselves worthy of inclusion in the group of ‘Impact Makers.’ This group, a kind of Champions League for student teams, was initially supposed to be made up of no more than ten teams, but vice-president Nicole Ummelen said during Monday’s University Council meeting that this exact number of ten student teams doesn’t need to be strictly adhered to. Room will be made available to accommodate Impact Makers at innoSpace, where the teams will also have support and access to all necessary facilities. An annual budget will be allocated to innoSpace for that purpose.

A ‘Committee Means Student teams’ will determine the amount of financial support allocated to an Impact Maker. These financial means include sponsoring, loans, guarantees, and having access to the services of the Equipment and Prototype Center. Importantly, fulltime members of these teams can also apply for a grant, which will probably correspond to half of the current grant amount allocated to student board members. This amounts to roughly 2000 euros, which largely covers tuition fees.

This financial means committee will meet twice a year and has access to a budget of its own. In addition, the committee can play an intermediary role in forging contacts between the teams and departments and/or support services. The committee is composed of the deans of the Bachelor College and the Graduate School, representatives of research institutes EIRES, EAISI and EHCI, one or several department deans, as well as staff members from The Gate, the CEC and innoSpace. Boris Zwaan, member of student faction Groep-één, asked during Monday’s University Council meeting to add a student member – a former student team member perhaps – to this committee. Vice-president Ummelen granted his request.

Three types of teams

The drafters of the document claim that they aim to strengthen the supervision and the position of the student teams with this new approach. The ultimate goal is to also help the teams where possible as they venture outside the university and enter the market with their product or service.

A distinction will be made between three types of teams. As stated, Impact Makers are teams with a clear ambition and mission that may or may not have originated in the Trial Teams group. The latter group consists of students who found each other during the further development of an idea. An idea might have emerged from a course, the Honors Program, the annual TU/e Contest, an individual initiative, or from a spin-off of an existing student team. These students can submit a request for official recognition as a student team. If selected, they will be given an official status as a Trial Team for a six-month period, and granted access to a workplace at innoSpace. During this phase, support will remain limited.

Promotion to the status of Impact Maker is possible when a team meets the criteria that were defined for this status. This means, among other things, that a team needs to be working on ‘cutting-edge technology,’ or on the design of new concepts. The teams need to present a clear vision that complies with the UN’s sustainability goals and the university’s values, as outlined in the TU/e Value Statement. In addition, such a team needs to be composed mainly of TU/e students – however, students from elsewhere are also welcome to join – and it is required to make a contribution to the TU/e community through exchange of knowledge and expertise with other teams. The group needs to have an interdisciplinary makeup, and is required to have strong potential PR value for the university.

After that, some teams will enter the third and final phase; these are teams that have outgrown the university, which is why an attempt will be made to turn them into companies or start-ups. These so-called Next-Level-teams will receive help from innoSpace with forging contacts with networks in which university alumni play an important role. The Gate, the joint platform initiated by TU/e and Brainport Development for companies in the early stages of development, can provide support for start-ups.

Recognition

From now on, students will receive a certificate as recognition of their student team membership. However, students can also gain credits with student team membership, and fulltime members will be entitled to a grant. The HiGST estimates that some 81 fulltime members are currently entitled to such a grant.

During Monday’s University Council meeting, Zwaan argued on behalf of the council that part-timers – who contribute significantly to a student team as well, he said – should also be entitled to a pro rata grant. If not, many part-timers might decide to drop out, Zwaan fears, or the number of full-timers will grow exponentially. Zwaan believes that this policy is also more closely in line with TU/e’s Student Financial Support Fund, which decides on the allocation of board grants to student board members. Vice-president Ummelen refused to commit herself with regard to this issue, and said that she wanted to debate the matter early next year when the Executive Board plans to further discuss the financial details of the plan with the University Council. However, four possible options pertaining to this matter were already included in the vision document.