University College Roosevelt (UCR), formerly known as Roosevelt Academy, is a small, selective, honors undergraduate liberal arts college located in Middelburg in the Netherlands and the sole university in Zeeland. It offers a residential setting, and is an international honors college of Utrecht University.

University College Roosevelt

History

Founder Professor Hans Adriaansens, unhappy with what he saw as the undemanding, large-scale climate of university education in the Netherlands, started developing the idea of a small scale and academically intensive undergraduate college in the Netherlands. This resulted in University College Utrecht in 1998. In 2003, facing local opposition to the opening of a new such university in Middelburg, Adriaansens formulated a compelling argument to convince the locals of their destiny. He tried to persuade them by using the following argument: In 1575, William of Orange was about to found the first university in the Netherlands. Given the choice between the cities of Leiden and Middelburg, he founded the University of Leiden. Centuries later, Middelburg was to get its university in the form of the Roosevelt Academy, which finally opened in 2004. Like its counterpart in Utrecht, the college is based on some ground principles of the Liberal Arts education Hans Adriaansens experienced during his brief time as a visiting professor at Smith College during the 1980-1981 academic year. The Roosevelt Academy was officially founded on January the 23rd, 2004 and the first students enrolled in August of that year after Queen Beatrix performed the official opening of the university.[1] On February 5, 2013 Roosevelt Academy changed its name to University College Roosevelt, to present itself explicitly as a university college.

Traditions at UCR include the Convocation held every year in Middelburg's New Church. Weather permitting, the procession of Notables and professors can be seen walking from the Stadhuis to Middelburg's New Church where the official ceremonies are held. There is also the Dies Natalis, the celebration of the founding of the college, which takes place every five years, as well as IntRoweek at the beginning of every semester to welcome new students, Culture Week, and a yearly Christmas Gala.

Organization and financing

University College Roosevelt, or UCR, is an international Honors college of Utrecht University, offers a Liberal Arts and Science program. In 2005, the Dutch government (which funds all higher education) ceased financial support for the academy, to which it had given close to a million euros the previous year. This amounted to 20% of the university's operating budget. The government thought the academy's independent construction might create a precedent. In 2007, an agreement was made that allows the academy to be financially independent, and self-sufficient. The academy is now financed in part by the Middelburg municipality.

Academics

Students in the college enroll in a wide variety of courses across three different discipline areas: Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences and Science. Some of these courses include PreMed, Law, History and Performing Arts. After three years of successful study at UCR, students are awarded an Utrecht University Honors BA or BSc degree.

De NVAO (Dutch-Flemish Accreditation Organization) has given University College Roosevelt "excellence" status. NVAO chairman Karl Dittrich stated during the opening of the academic year in Middelburg (September 2009) that a "Liberal Arts and Sciences degree is an example to the Netherlands and other countries."

Admissions

The university admits 200 students each academic year from about 400 applications received. Approximately half of the students come from the Netherlands while the others hail from all over the world. Tuition fees are set slightly higher than regular public universities in the Netherlands.

Rankings

In 2008, the influential magazine Elsevier ranked UCR as the top liberal arts college in the Netherlands, for the third time in four years; the academy received high marks for the quality of the education and the mentoring of the students.

University College Roosevelt knows graduation percentages which are very high in comparison to regular Dutch universities. 82% of its students graduate (with a national average of 46) and 93% of its students graduate within the 3 years (national average of 28).

In 2011, the Keuzegids Onderwijs 2011, ranked UCR as the number one University College in The Netherlands with an 8.4.In 2012 however, it fell to second place, with a 7.8, with University College Maastricht in first place with an 8.6 

Exchange programs

Students may study abroad during their fourth or fifth semester. Students earn credits towards their UCR degree while at a wide variety of universities around the world. Options include locations through the Utrecht University exchange network. UCR also has direct exchange agreements with the Honors Program at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, USA, Bard College in New York, USA, and with Glendon College in Toronto, Canada.

Campus

Middelburg City Hall

Academic buildings[edit]

The University College Roosevelt campus is located near the market square in Middelburg. This includes the medieval city hall, which was built in 1452 and now serves as the academy's main building. The city, which owns the building, began renting the old, Gothic part of the building to the university college in 2006.

The newer, non-gothic section of the city hall is known as Franklin Hall and was rented to the academy from its beginning.[8] Other university buildings include Theodore and Eleanor. These buildings house classrooms, computer labs, and faculty and administrative offices.

Next to these, the Common House Elliott, in the former post office of Middelburg, is a building that contains classrooms, a study area, a bar with a lounge area and a basement bar for parties. Elliott is completely run by students, organized in the Common House Elliott Foundation.

Residence halls

Almost all students live in one of the residential halls, Bagijnhof, Roggeveenhof, Koestraat or Bachtensteene, all within Middelburg. These halls house between 100-200 students each and are spread throughout the city. Others live on small campus locations housing between 1 and 16 students at Zusterstraat, Hof van Sint Pieter or Zuidsingel

Library, bookstore and journal

UCR's official academic bookstore is De Drukkery, located on the market square. Students have full access to the Zeeland Library (the largest library in the province) and can use the digital library of Utrecht University.

University College Roosevelt publishes an annual academic journal, Ad Astra (to the stars), that publishes noteworthy student essays and papers.