Susan te Pas appointed new Dean of University College Utrecht as of 1 January 2021

With effect from 1 January 2021, the Executive Board of Utrecht University has appointed Prof Susan te Pas as the new Dean of University College Utrecht. She will succeed Prof James Kennedy.

Susan te Pas is currently Professor of Cognitive Psychology of Higher Education of Utrecht University. Previously she held positions as Vice Dean of Undergraduate and Graduate Education at the faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences and as interim director of the strategic theme Dynamics of youth of Utrecht University. The Executive Board of Utrecht University is delighted that Susan te Pas will become Dean of University College Utrecht. Rector Henk Kummeling: “Susan is someone with solid managerial experience and an international en multidisciplinary perspective. Moreover, she has great expertise and passion for education. We think she is the perfect candidate to strengthen the connection of the University College with the other faculties of Utrecht University and - together with the staff of the College - to let the college flourish.”

Susan te Pas’ research covers a wide range of topics. She has a keen interest in educational management, in the effects and effectiveness of selection processes in higher education and in facilitating professional development of teachers in higher education. She has supervised the Educational Leadership Programme at Eindhoven University of Technology and has held appointments in Oxford and Nijmegen before becoming an assistant professor at Utrecht University in 2001. In 2011 she became the first Teaching Fellow of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Utrecht University. In 2019 she became a member of the Educational Council of the Netherlands.

University College Utrecht

In 1998, Utrecht University became the first university in the Netherlands to have a university college. Several other universities copied Utrecht's example in subsequent years and established their own colleges. University College Utrecht is a selective Honours College for academic education in liberal arts & sciences with a very high level of study success. University College Utrecht offers a challenging, small-scale English-language Bachelor’s programme taught at a high level to talented students. The students form an international community with more than seventy different nationalities, who study and live on the College campus.