Writing fast, secure and intuitive programme specifications at Inholland

In the Netherlands, universities of applied sciences are legally required to produce an OER (Onderwijs- en Examenregeling), which covers both the Programme Specification and the Academic Regulations, including legally sensitive exam regulations.

“Making the legally required parts of the OER accessible, easy to find and readable for both students and lecturers.” That was the reason, according to Sofie Odekerken, Manager of Legal Affairs for Inholland University of Applied Sciences, to digitise the writing process of these regulations in collaboration with Docfield.

Writing programme specifications and academic regulations takes a lot of time. People from various departments are involved, and collaboration between colleagues is not always smooth. In the past, multiple versions of the same document were sometimes emailed around, which led to unnoticed errors. Each of these factors created risks that could cause delays and mistakes.

Better collaboration

Sofie: “Inholland used to work with OIA, the Education Information Application. That system was at the end of its lifecycle, and it would often crash – usually right before the summer holidays. The result was stress and frustrated colleagues. That’s why we went looking for a new application. We chose to work with Docfield (formerly OER-write), a Dutch-developed solution that makes information for students and staff better aligned with their needs. On top of that, Docfield has improved the writing process, saves time, and enables smoother collaboration.”

A specific set of regulations for every programme

Inholland started with pilots across several programmes. In the new system, the institutional framework can be integrated with the programme-specific section into one complete set of programme specifications and academic regulations. Each programme therefore has its own version, in which programme-specific details can be entered directly into the relevant article.

Sofie: “This means students, lecturers, and other users can find relevant information more quickly. With the switch to Docfield, we deliberately chose to structure these regulations in line with how the legislator intended.”

Positive reactions

‍“Our colleagues are happy with Docfield. Writing programme specifications and regulations is now an accessible, intuitive process. The ability to co-write within the same document and to shape participation through Docfield is also highly appreciated.”

‍— Monique Bicknese, Secretary of the Executive Board and former Head of Legal Affairs at Inholland

Overcoming resistance to change

Sofie: “Docfield was a young start-up at the time. They have grown a lot since then, but the collaboration is still excellent. To be honest, there was some resistance to change within the university. Many colleagues prefer to stick to familiar routines, and they had to get used to the idea of working together in one document at the same time. That’s different from circulating Word documents. Fortunately, a few brave faculties were willing to get started with Docfield, and they have since become our ambassadors. Today, all programmes use the platform. We have a web lecture about Docfield and we provide training for writers and participatory bodies on how to use the system. It is so intuitive that one training is usually enough.”

Once colleagues start working with the system, they become enthusiastic. Sofie: “Most people are now used to it, and we hardly ever get questions anymore. I dare say this project has been a success. We still try to win over the few remaining sceptics. After all, the programmes themselves are in control. I can only keep stressing that working with Docfield reduces risks, increases clarity, and saves time. For me, this is an important improvement.”

Making participation easier

Monique Bicknese, Secretary of the Executive Board at Inholland and a corporate lawyer by training, is also very positive: “Our colleagues are happy with Docfield. Writing programme specifications and academic regulations is an accessible and intuitive process. The ability to collaborate within the same document and to facilitate participation via Docfield is very much valued.”

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