Facility management students at the University of Professional Education in the Hague are organising a study trip to the UK as part of an International Semester.

The University recognises the increasingly international character of business and says it is "of great importance that future managers are able to adjust the facility processes to their customers on a national as well as an international level." The diminishing importabnce of borders, new communication techniques and changes in the market mean new opportunities and challenges for facility management with new customers who require a different kind of service.

The International Semester takes place in the third year of the Facility Management course and is aimed at students who want to become familiar with international developments.


International Semester students

The semester is also interesting for foreign students at universities that have an 'exchange-agreement' with the Facility Management department. For these students the semester will mainly be an introduction to the field of facility management. For other students the semester will be the next step in their education. This academic year six students from abroad will be attending the International Semester – they will come from Liberia, Germany, Sierra Leone, Scotland and Finland.

The International Semester, delivered in English, owes its international character particularly to the fact that lecturers from abroad will give lessons at the Department of Facility Management on their professional field. Students will gain an insight into national FM developments.

An important part of the International Semester is the Study Project United Kingdom or SPUK. At the end of the semester, all students who attend will go on a study-tour to the United Kingdom (3 – 9 June 2001) together with two lecturers from the Facility Management department. Preceding this trip, groups of students will visit five Dutch companies.

During their visits, the students will have a look at the way facility management is organised in these companies. The emphasis is on the tactical as well as strategic level. Five similar companies will be visited in London by all students who will be studying the differences and similarities between facility management in Dutch and English companies.

The International Semester group is looking for companies that are willing to sponsor the students. For more information visit their website which is under development at www.spuk.f2s.com or e-mail spuk@student.sem.hhs.nl

Richard Byatt