Samenvatting

In the light of global trends, such as increasing technological innovations and the increasing number of Coronavirus cases, along with the continuous growth of access to higher education, the importance of communities within universities and students’ integration is becoming unquestionable. This goes hand in hand with the shift from an offline education to online education, a trend which is accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. This study aims to gain insights into the community building process within Saxion University of Applied Sciences and its effect on the integration of Saxion’s students. These insights are relevant to the education sector to be able to create tailored communities for the students’ needs.
Literature research was conducted to gain a thorough understanding of community building processes and students’ integration concepts. First, a literature review was carried out by making use of several search methods. Based on the literature review, “students’ integration” and “community building” were chosen as core concepts. The literature revealed that the students’ integration is categorized into academic integration and social integration, while the communities can be divided into “learning communities” and “communities of practice”. These outcomes helped in creating an operationalization of the concepts. The student chose to conduct a single case study and learn from the experts inside the university. The experts taking part in the study included researchers, academic staff, representatives of different communities, but also a group of students. There were mixed opinions on the researched topic.
The results showed that different communities are activating within Saxion Univerisity of Applied Sciences. The research also revealed that Saxion’s ESS department is undertaking activities to support these communities; however, some other support activities are needed. Moreover, the study showed that the activities undertaken by the ESS department have a positive impact on the students’ integration, while the missing activities and communities have a negative effect. Furthermore, the research revealed different solutions for the management problem.
The most suitable piece of advice consists of an online community platform. This platform created different opportunities for Saxion’s students to integrate academically and socially in an interactive way.