DATA COLLECTED WITH THE INTERVIEW WITH MARJAN

Dear Francesco,

Here are the answers to your questions.

Kind regards,
Marjan

 With the evaluation method it takes too much time to analyse. Are there any other
operational tasks involved in the buddy program that make it too long to finish? I am not
sure what you mean by “it takes too much time to analyse”. For the moment, I receive the
evaluations from the students and I check if everything is ok for the student. If not, I share
their concerns with the buddy (only if the student agrees with this) and after the buddy has
informed me of their side of things, I get back in touch with the student. Usually, that is
enough to clarify things.
 Are there any other operational tasks involved in the buddy program that make it too long to
finish? That depends on your view of what it too long for a task. For example, if there are
more buddy applications than we have buddy places, I need to select from all the motivation
letters and that takes time but I don’t see how that time can be shortened. Of course I can put
the deadline forward so I have more time for selection but for me, that has not been a
problem yet.

All I can say is that handling everything operational with the buddy programme might be too much for one
person who already has a lot of other tasks, but that is a different story and not what you are asking.
I make sure everything within the buddy programme is done in time, at least I never heard complaints that
certain things take too long. If you have, let me know what tasks so I can give you more information.

Kind regards,

Dear Francesco,

I’ve got an urgent task from my teamleader this morning, so I have very little time to answer your question.
I don’t think there is a problem within the programme besides the things I mentioned in the online meeting
I had with the project group some time ago.
It would be ok to do the evaluation via a survey, but I will still have to analyse the results. Students can
make remarks about the buddy programme so I would have to read all those anyway, regardless if it is sent
via e-mail or a survey.

Good luck with your presentation, kind regards

Marjan
1. How does the system work and what's the process for becoming a buddy?
Can you tell us how many people are part of the program?
That is different per semester, it depends on the number of exchange students coming.
2. What makes each student different when they get their buddies?
Not sure I understand the question.
3. Are there any specific criteria for selecting buddies?
They need to be available on certain dates and need to have a good motivation letter.
4. When it comes to finding the right buddy match, what's the most important factor, and
how do you go about finding the right match?
We try and match students with a buddy who does the same programme but that is not
always possible. Also, we ask selected buddies if they are interested in connecting with
students from certain universities or countries. We try to have males and females within each
buddy team. Furthermore, if possible, we try to have two (if there are two coming) students
from the same university allocated to the same buddy team.
5. After the semester-end evaluations, do the results impact what the buddies receive in
terms of benefits and opportunities (e.g., cv boosts, AV-points, priority for exchange
programs, etc.)?
Yes, if an evaluation of a exchange student of their buddy is not good, we first check with the
buddy to see what they say about this. Our experience is that a bad evaluation mostly is due
to miscommunication. If the students wants a meeting with us and the buddy together, we
will set this up but that almost never happens. If it is clear that a buddy really did not fulfill
the requirements, they do not receive the benefits.
6. How do you keep in track if buddies are doing their roles or not?
We ask them to submit a summary after three weeks and do spot checks. Also, during
introduction we ask students to come to us during the semester if they have a problem with
their buddy. Unfortunately, that is hardly ever done and we usually become aware of
problems when students return the evaluation.
7. We'd love to know more about the perks and advantages as buddies.
Buddies used to have an advantage with selection for their own study abroad but since the
selection process has changed now, they don’t get this anymore. The only thing they receive
is a certificate and/or AV-points. And of couse as wel always say: the most important thing is
you can gain from this programme is the experience!
8. Schedule and structure of Buddy program meetings
We schedule two buddy team meetings after buddy selection is done.
9. The frequency of Buddy program meetings and their structure. How often do they meet,
and how do they stay in touch?
Mostly this question is answered via the link I gave to the buddy programme page on the
portal. Besides that, we ask buddies to meet their students in the first week to explain certain
things and check up on them regularly. Sometimes the connection is so good that buddies and
students become friends and see each other often, sometimes a student made friends within
the exchange programme or simply is not really interested in more contact with the buddy.
10. We'd be truly grateful if we could get our hands on the semester-end evaluation survey,
since we are aiming to turn them to the solid number form in a structured format.
I assume you mean the evaluation we send to students to evaluate their buddy? If so, I can
forward that e-mail to you. I am not sure I understand the aim you speak of.