Another academic year has passed. Was it just another one? God knows, it was not!
And despite all the hassle, it was an interesting and exciting year, a year full of surprises, changes, new learning experiences and first time evers.
It clearly was a year of low enrollment with totals of 29 & 69 students – a miracle when borders were closed, and all universities cancelled their programs. A miracle indeed, as nobody really saw the program happening last year around this time! Thanks to a wonderful collaboration between all participating actors, we could realize what no one thought would ever be possible: we made something out of this exceptional situation! Our students know what flexibility means, they are aware of the risks of traveling during crisis times, flights and trains being randomly cancelled, borders being closed within days and new and different measures being imposed in no time at all. This was experiential learning at its best...
Even if Summer brought us back on track with an intensive program of 29 students, minor limitations continued to be observed with the necessary seriousness: mask wearing during the circulation within the Château and adapted lunch service were respected to the point that we did not have a class of 25 students in a regular setting, but used the Grand Hall as the classroom and served lunches in Charles the Bold & Ekkie Stiller, thus going back to the old Arbed times when exactly these two rooms served as banquet rooms. Well, who said first-time ever? It became clear that a good vaccination strategy helps a lot to work with more serenity, not having to worry about quarantining students, canceling planned trips and tours and going remote.
Of course, again rising numbers and an unfriendly Delta variant reinforce the title question. But we look at it with optimism and look forward to over 100 students arriving on August 20th, curious, full of energy and interested in discovering Europe, Luxembourg, MUDEC and a new curriculum.
Altogether, on both sides of the ocean, we have work hard to have a critical look at the existing structure and pull the necessary screws to make this program even more appealing to our students.
It is important to allow students to graduate on time and even early. Therefore, every single credit must count. The creation of cohorts allows students of more specific majors to make their way to MUDEC. The Architecture program has been a pioneer, followed by the Student-Teachers, Digital Innovation and now Kinesiology.
For the first time in Fall, a group of Kinesiology students will have classes at LUNEX. Our U.S.-based Faculty member, Dr. Eric Brooks, accepted to teach one of his MUDEC classes at LUNEX, thus mixing our students with a group of local students. Diversity at its best! A huge thank you goes to the KNH department and Dr. Brooks for having accepted this challenge.
We have created a completely new course regrouping existing parts of our program into one 3-credit course. LUX 101 includes the study tour component, has an ITS-oriented class dimension and allows students to have a number of interesting activities which allow them to interact with locals, see the diversity of our small country, experience the multi-cultural environment they live in by participating in concerts, exhibits, sports events...
And of course, we will continue to develop alternative housing opportunities for our students, allowing them to choose between a great family experience, a community experience with peers, or a more individualized living situation preparing them for a future job abroad, far away from home.
Our batteries are recharging over Summer – even if Summer has not (yet) arrived in Luxembourg and it is freezing cold and wet. We look forward to an exciting ELL camp in two weeks and to August 20th when our students arrive. What’s next? Well, let’s see what 2022 has reserved for us 😊
