SEPAM changes to CoSEM
Starting the academic year of 2017-2018 our master's programme Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management - SEPAM - will undergo a name change. The new name will be Complex Systems Engineering and Management - CoSEM. This name fits better with the actual content of the programme, as “complex” stands for the sociotechnical issues that are addressed. An added benefit is that EPA is no longer part of the abbreviation of CoSEM, as EPA is a TPM master programme in itself as well. The programme director of CoSEM will change as well, from Zofia Lukzso to Ivo Bouwmas. We would like to thank Zofia for her contribution to the programme in the past years and want to wish Ivo the best of luck for the years to come.
Changes to the graduation process
This year the master thesis process has been examined by the faculty. The objective was to improve this process, as well as reducing the number of theses that take a very long time to finish. Careful research has been done by the faculty to see where and how improvements could best be made, which led to some interesting propositions. For one, “thesis circles” will be introduced, bringing small groups of students with similar topics together so that common issues can be addressed. Another measure is to define a maximum amount of time that can be spent on the master thesis, to prevent students from struggling with the same subject for too long. A final proposition is to evaluate the master thesis process by using graduation surveys. Your opinion on these subjects is always welcome, so feel free to come to us with any questions or remarks.
Blended Learning
Some of you might have seen the Education survey on the coffeecup recycle bin at the Curius office, which says: ‘What do you think about blended learning?’ and mos t students go for ‘blended what?’ for their answer. This is a pity, because TPM is one of the leading faculties in this innovation in education. It means that there is an optimal mix of face-to-face education and online learning, causing more effective, more efficient and more varied education. The implementation of blended learning at TPM started at september 2013, when the new curriculum began, and a lot of students benefit from this!