The Senior University Teaching Qualification (SUTQ) is a trajectory at Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) designed for experienced teachers who want to further develop their teaching and take on a broader role within their faculty or the university as a whole. Over a period of ten months, participants work on their own educational innovation project, linked to themes of their faculty or of the university as a whole.
The SUTQ is part of the broader teacher professionalisation offering of the Community for Learning & Innovation (CLI) and is delivered by Risbo. Throughout the trajectory, participants receive guidance from an experienced coach. In addition, they follow workshops, exchange experiences within a peer group, and learn from lecturers from other faculties. In this way, the SUTQ is not only about the development of a single project, but also about the further professional development of the lecturer.
In this article, SUTQ coordinators Sandra Lousberg and Katja Tas describe the design and core values of the trajectory and the development they see in participants. Pleunie van den Borne, member of the SUTQ sounding board group, explains what participants say the SUTQ brings them. In addition, SUTQ alumnus Maurice de Rochemont shares his experiences. He explains how the SUTQ helped him to further develop his educational innovation project around generative AI, to look more critically at its implementation, and ultimately to take on a broader role as AI Teaching Fellow.
A rich learning environment for senior teachers
Course coordinators Sandra Lousberg and Katja Tas, both educational advisers at Risbo, describe the SUTQ as “a rich learning environment in which teachers work on their own educational project, supported by workshops and other forms of guidance to get the project off the ground and move it forward.” The educational project is not only a final product, but above all a means for the teachers' own development.
From the sounding board group, Pleunie van den Borne has been involved with the SUTQ for many years. In the final interviews, she particularly sees how valuable it is for participants that they have time and space to work on their teaching. Whereas daily practice does not always allow for this, within the SUTQ they can, for example, develop a learning trajectory, further elaborate a curriculum or explore an educational innovation.
From ‘gut feeling’ to well‑founded educational choices
In the SUTQ, participants learn to design their educational project not on intuition, but based on educational principles and research. Katja emphasises that many academics have long approached their teaching mainly based on personal experience, while they work in a highly evidence‑based way in their research. The SUTQ aims to bring that same level of substantiation into educational decisions.
Differentiation and trends in educational innovation
The SUTQ was renewed in 2022. In this renewal, as Sandra stresses, the starting point was the development and growth of the teacher. The participant group is diverse: different faculties, varied disciplines and a wide range of experience and entry levels. That is why differentiation is a core principle. At several points in the programme, there is room for choice. Participants can, in line with their own interests, select workshops and choose an (educational) book to read. They apply the insights in their own practice and then share their experiences with other participants in the book club.
Sandra and Katja see clear trends reflected in the themes of the projects: AI in education, skills‑based education and impact‑driven education occur more and more often. The trajectory thus moves along with broader developments within EUR and in higher education.
Learning community and leadership role
An important aim of the SUTQ is that teachers become aware of their new, senior role and also dare to embrace it. Katja emphasises that as a senior teacher you should be able to take a leading role in your own team and dare to take the stage. For some people, it is very reassuring that they have the SUTQ, because it feels like a recognition that they are allowed to take on that role.
The learning community plays a major role in this. Participants work in peer groups with colleagues from other faculties, which means they question each other’s assumptions and see that things are sometimes done differently elsewhere. Katja hopes that the contacts that arise during the SUTQ will continue, and that teachers will keep finding each other easily as sparring partners even after the trajectory.
In the final interviews, Pleunie regularly hears how valuable participants find it to speak with colleagues from other faculties. A teacher from RSM, for example, will not automatically come into contact in daily work with someone from Erasmus MC, while such encounters show that teachers sometimes face similar questions and deal with them in very different ways within their own faculty. In this way, the SUTQ creates space for conversations that do not naturally arise in everyday teaching practice.
Maurice de Rochemont (RSM): AI as a driver of thesis motivation
Maurice de Rochemont, academic director at Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), illustrates how the SUTQ works in practice. After completing his PhD, he worked for several years outside the university. When he returned to campus, he first completed his University Teaching Qualification (UTQ) to lay the foundation for sound, didactically responsible teaching. He saw the SUTQ as a logical next step: he not only wanted to improve his own courses, but also wanted to learn how he could have more impact with educational innovation at faculty level. Maurice explains that if you want to achieve impact, the SUTQ can prepare you very well for what is needed to create more impact at faculty level, because you learn systematically and step by step how to approach that process. In his role as thesis supervisor, Maurice noticed that many students struggle with their thesis. They experience the process as demanding and often do not clearly see the practical or societal relevance of their research. The thesis then mainly feels like a 'paper end point' that is required for graduation.
He wanted to change that experience. His central question was whether AI can help students to better see what their thesis research can mean in practice and thereby increase their motivation. Based on this question, Maurice developed an intervention within the SUTQ in which thesis students use AI tools as sparring partners during their thesis trajectory. The responses showed that, after this exercise, students thought more concretely and positively about the value of their research. They saw more clearly how their thesis could contribute to solutions in society or in organisations and as a result felt noticeably more motivated.
What the SUTQ brought Maurice
For Maurice, the SUTQ was above all a broadening of his view on educational innovation. He now has a better understanding of everything that is involved in innovation, from privacy and IT security to coordination with educational leadership and funding streams.
Along the way, he built a network of coaches, educational experts and fellow teachers within EUR, which he still uses to test ideas and to develop plans around AI in education. He also grew in his role as supervisor: from mainly giving advice to working more in a coaching, question‑driven way with students and colleagues. For him, the SUTQ shows how you can not only improve your own teaching, but also systematically and step by step realise educational innovations that have real impact at faculty level. Maurice emphasises that the trajectory has given him a fantastic network and that the coaches he met were an enormous added value.
Poster fair
At the end of the SUTQ, a poster fair is organised in the Education Lab of the CLI. During this event, all participants present their project using a poster. In addition, through an interactive component, they enter into conversation with visitors to gather extra input and share new insights. The poster fair is open to everyone; all interested parties are very welcome. In two hours, you can become acquainted with inspiring ideas and discover what colleagues and other faculties are working on. One of the pillars of the SUTQ is learning with and from each other. This happens throughout the trajectory within the group of participants and in the peer group. During the poster fair, participants give their lessons learned and experiences back to the community, so that everyone can benefit from them.
The next poster fair will take place on Thursday 15 October in the Education Lab. You are very welcome between 15:00 and 17:00. Snacks and drinks will be provided. We hope to see you there!
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