Because of its reliance on the coal industry in the first half of the century, the province of Limburg had tended to lag behind the rest of Flanders in economic stability and innovation. Finally, the region has designated education and technology as key new areas for development. Hasselt U was originally founded as Limburgs Universitair Centrum in 1971 in Diepenbeck, a small town outside Hasselt. The university’s focus was initially on undergraduate education in medicine and the sciences. In 2001, it added an applied economics curriculum and began to grant doctoral degrees in these three areas of study. Since then, the school has been expanding in some very unique ways.

Since its inception, Hasselt U has been working to level the playing field for young Limburgers, who are 30% less likely than their counterparts in Flanders to choose university education over regional colleges, according to Luc De Schepper, the university’s rector. De Schepper notes that in areas of education organised by Hasselt U, this under-participation has been steadily decreasing.

Hasselt U has also worked to establish relationships with students beyond its immediate locale. It boasts the highest rate of international student enrolment among Flemish universities, at nine percent.

And the university has been cultivating both national and international collaborations. In 2001, Hasselt University and neighbouring Maastricht University in the Netherlands (also in a province called Limburg) began a distinctive cross-border partnership – the first of its kind in Belgium.

The result is the transnational University Limburg (tUL) with specialisations in IT and biomedical sciences education. tUL was established through a formal treaty between the Netherlands and Flanders. It is essentially a separate university, though it does not have its own campus – classes are conducted both in Maastricht and Diepenbeck.

tUL relies on its two parent schools for administrative support, such as student registration and financial aid, but staff and students can access the resources of both universities, which can be very beneficial, for instance, when expensive technology is required for research.

Last year, tUL teamed up with the Catholic University of Leuven to form an innovative new law programme. “The education minister allowed us to start a new education in law, but he asked us to do something really new, not to just copy the faculty of law as you find it in Leuven, Brussels, Ghent and Antwerp,” says De Schepper.

The rector likes to refer to this new curriculum as a “reverse programme in law.” Typically, students learn Belgian and Flemish law in their first three to four years and then go on to study European law during their Master’s. But, as De Schepper points out, “The majority of our laws are a translation of European law.” The new programme, then, will take a reverse course: students will study European law first and later move on to Flemish and Belgian law.

While this progression may seem logical, De Schepper says it’s a challenge for faculty to make such a change. But pooling the three universities’ respective expertise could be advantageous in terms of making the project work and creating well-rounded students. Maastricht University’s law teachers are already well-known for their command of European law, for example. Another distinguishing feature of the new curriculum is its teaching philosophy. Courses will mainly be conducted in small groups of about 20 students, a technique that De Schepper says is quite uncommon among other Flemish law programmes.

If you build it, they will come

So far, this new way of approaching law school has been quite successful in attracting students. Enrolment has been nearly double the rate that officials expected. In the first year, 140 students were anticipated and 270 enrolled.

Hasselt U’s Diepenbeck campus – where the law programme is currently based – couldn’t accommodate both this influx of students and the need for small group space. As Flanders Today reported back in May, Hasselt’s Oude Gevangenis, or Old Prison, was recently purchased by the university. Fittingly, the old building in on the city’s ring road will be renovated to provide space for the new law programme.

The outer structure of the prison, which was built 170 years ago, will remain intact, but the interior will undergo a complete overhaul. Its large, central area will be renovated to include auditoria for groups of up to 300 students. The prison’s two wings, which are currently divided into cells, will become small classrooms. “Of course, those rooms are really too small,” notes De Schepper, “so a lot of the prison cells will be demolished.”

In addition, Hasselt U has plans for two brandnew buildings, one beside the old prison and one behind it. Construction has already started on the latter, which will provide urgently needed space for small-group work and law faculty offices as early as the end of 2010. The rectorate and other central administrative services will eventually be located in the building adjacent to the old prison. Both the revamped prison and administrative building should be completed by the end of 2012.

This university expansion to the centre of Hasselt is possible thanks to €30 million in funding from Limburg Sterk Merk, a foundation that supports economic development projects in the province of Limburg.

A separate but related development project by Flemish public transport company De Lijn and the city of Maastricht will greatly enhance the collaboration between the two universities. Plans are in the works for a high-speed, light-rail connection due to be completed in 2012, which will effectively cut travel time between the two cities in half.

Since students rely heavily on public transport, the light-rail will undoubtedly open up new educational possibilities, but everyone will benefit as the line will also be open to the public.

www.tul.edu