Annual Report

With 4,462 employees, we provide 64 bachelor, 18 associate degree and 17 master programs, in full-time, part-time and work-study formats to more than 36,750 students from 120 countries. We also offer consultancy, professional training, post-graduate programs, and more than 300 courses and training programs for professionals from companies, institutions and organizations. 

We provide education that is connected to research and professional practice. Together with our partners in the field, our 50 research centers and about 7 centers of expertise work on practice-based research, innovation and knowledge valorization. Below are various key figures for 2022.

Number of enrolled students on 1 October 2022	36,768
Bachelor students	33,680
Associate degree students	1,366
Master students	1,722
Percentage satisfied students	68%
Number of HAN employees	4,462
Number of FTEs	3,458
Number of bachelor programs	64
Number of master programs	17
Number of associate degree programs	18
Number of research centers	50
Number of Centers of Expertise	7
Total revenue in millions	€ 420.60

After 2 years of a rapid succession of lockdowns, relaxations and new measures, the first months of 2022 saw the lifting of the corona measures then in place. This provided an opportunity to welcome our students and staff back to our campuses without restrictions. The 2022-2023 academic year began again in the traditional manner with a real introduction to both campuses and the opening of the academic year in the Eusebius Church. Both without restrictions and with loads of energy. At the beginning of 2022, we were shaken by the war in Ukraine. This war affected HAN students from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. We tried to support these students as best we could during this difficult time for them. The war also made us realize how dependent we are on scarce fossil fuels and how that affects our economy. 

After the adoption of the institutional plan “Charting our Course 2022-2028” in 2021, the year 2022 was largely devoted to its implementation. After the completion and approval of the plan “Towards the Realization of our Chartered Course 2022-2028”, the program organization was set up and we began work on the results to be achieved; the first steps in the form of concrete actions were taken. More than ever, the major societal developments we are facing and the great ambitions arising from our chartered course require focus and choices, and an approach based on clear frameworks and intended outcomes. 

Although the pandemic is over, it is not quite like "before". We are taking on board the lessons learned from the corona period: the use of blended learning, digital testing, and hybrid work, working partly at HAN and partly from home. 

Students, as well as staff, sometimes find it difficult to return to the HAN campus. And the many reports in the media about student wellbeing are reflected at HAN as well. As are reports on staff wellbeing and perceived workload. Student wellbeing requires more attention from lecturers, student support services and secondary support. As a result, the policy principles for student wellbeing were established in January 2022 in the form of the Wheel of Student Wellbeing. The HAN schools, policy department and services department will apply the principles to their own departments and explore where additional efforts are needed. 85% of our students feel safe to be themselves at HAN, according to the annual National Student Survey (NSE). This is a great result, but student wellbeing goes beyond that. The schools will therefore continue to focus on this issue in their 2023 annual plans. 

"From workload to job satisfaction" has been given explicit attention in our 2022 HR policy. This issue will continue to be addressed in 2023. In an effort to mitigate the effects of the corona crisis, the government has allocated additional funds through the National Education Program (NPO) since 2021 to provide additional support and guidance to students, provide catch-up education, and/or address internship shortages. The additional funding provides an opportunity to mitigate the impact of the corona pandemic as much as possible for the existing student population.  Section 4.3.2 details the progress of the "Plan Aanvullende Post (AP)-HAN" developed in 2021.  This plan details activities that will be carried out in the field of education on themes formulated by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. The effects of the pandemic are expected to last for several years, affecting not only current students, but also our future students. This is not currently included in the National Education Program, but it requires our attention. 

In Chapter 4 of the administrative report, we take a comprehensive look at our progress toward our goals and the results we achieved in 2022. We welcome the positive results of the 2022 education and research inspections. We also look back with satisfaction on the steps taken in various projects aimed at strengthening our foundation, such as the leadership development program, the work with results-oriented teams, the implementation of the Digitalization Agenda and the "HAN Open Up Digital Horizons" project, which aims to further develop the professionalism of lecturers, management and support staff so that they work thoughtfully and effectively on sustainable educational innovation with and through ICT. Good steps have also been taken in 2022 to strengthen the key areas. The key areas (Smart Region, Sustainable Energy & Environment and Fair Health – in other words: Smart, Green and Social) are important pillars of HAN's strategy.  Sustainability is also an important internal topic. This involves an intensive and reciprocal cooperation between research, education and business operations. To strengthen this theme, the development of a HAN-wide sustainability policy has begun. 

Our hands-on research has also received and will continue to receive ongoing attention. In 2022, we finalized the updated research center policy. We also appointed four new professors in 2022. HAN now has fifty research centers, creating a powerful research organization covering all HAN schools. 

The world around us is developing rapidly and also poses new or greater challenges. Based in part on the report "Risico- en Dreigingsbeeld Hoger Onderwijs" (Higher Education Risk and Threat Assessment), we have prioritized three issues for integral security: information security & privacy, knowledge security and social security. This prioritization is in line with the 2022 Higher Education and Science Administrative Agreement and the Netherlands Association of Universities of Applied Sciences' focus group on integral security. In this context, the Integrated Security Policy was further developed in 2022 and is expected to be adopted in 2023. And in all three priority themes, work was done in 2022 in the form of projects to further strengthening and development. 

In Chapter 9 of the administrative report, we look back at the implementation of the Quality Agreements in 2022. We also do this in the context of the period 2019 to 2021. The chapter on the Quality Agreements in the HAN 2021 Annual Report, together with a reflection from the Participation Council and a reflection from the Supervisory Board, formed the information that the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO) used to carry out an interim evaluation in the months of July and August on the progress of the Quality Agreements process within HAN in the period 2019-2021. In September 2022, the NVAO announced that it would give positive advice to the Minister of Education, Culture and Science.

HAN's financial position is healthy, both in relation to its own financial frameworks and in relation to the signaling limits used by the Education Inspectorate. Given its good liquidity and solvency position, HAN has for several years pursued a policy of drawing on reserves through a controlled loss-making operating budget for the benefit of education, research and the strengthening of the organization. Thus, the 2022 budget also targeted a negative result. However, HAN ended 2022 with a positive result of €4.8 million. This positive result can be partly explained by the fact that the budget underestimated the effect of the spillover from the corona measures and the related changes in work. As a result, costs were lower than expected (based on the pre-corona era) and revenues recovered faster than expected. In retrospect, the budget was also overly ambitious in part because it proved difficult to fill vacant positions in a timely manner. We also received additional funding in 2022. Additional funding from the new Administrative Agreement on Higher Education and Science, with increased funding for practice-based research and, from 2023, also for the education, healthcare and engineering sectors, where there are staff shortages. 

In 2023, the financial policy initiated will be continued, using the positive result of 2022 and drawing on reserves. The multi-year perspective takes into account the decrease in regular funding and the measures to be taken in this context. 

With regard to the additional financial resources (Adjusted Plan Quality Agreements (APK), National Education Program (NPO), additional funds for practice-based research and sectors with staff shortages), the internal accountability guidelines of the institution apply. This challenges all of us to keep an eye on the big picture, to reach good agreements on spending frameworks, and to always use substantive plans as a starting point when allocating additional resources internally. However, spending additional resources in a timely manner in an increasingly tight labor market is also a concern. 

2022 was a pivotal year for HAN, as we continued to work on the goals of the previous institutional plan and began on activities to formulate the new plan “Charting our Course” for the period 2022-2028. Together with students, the professional field and staff, we are building on what we already have, while also focusing on our new strategic goals. Together, we are building a world that is smarter, greener and more social.