Student Counselling at Utrecht University

Abstract

The enormous increase in the number of students at Dutch universities in the sixties and seventies made it impossible for professors to deal with the many different questions students confronted them with. New professionals, student counsellors/psychologists and student advisers entered the universities. Three levels of counselling can be distinguished: 1) counselling by professors (for problems linked with the course of study); 2) counselling by student advisers in the faculty or department (for problems concerning study planning); 3) counselling by student counsellors/psychologists (for other - e.g., personal problems). This article focuses on the activities of the student counsellors/psychologists. Measures taken by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in the past ten years to cut down expenses created a severe deterioration of the students' situation (e.g., the limitation of the right to a grant from a period of six years in 1990 to a period of four years in 1996, the lowering of the donation part of the grant, and a restriction of the duration of the studies). As a consequence students feel they are under great pressure. Students therefore need to be well informed about rules and regulations. Counsellors try to limit "drop-out" rate as much as possible. Maintaining a high standard of facilities at Utrecht University (such as student counselling, a broad range of student societies and adequate information service) will be the challenge for the future.