Overwhelming interest in online Open Day
The first fully online Open Day attracted a record total of more than five and a half thousand prospective students. No queues outside university halls this time around, as all the buildings remained closed. However, as the digital doors opened, interest was so high that the purpose-built online platform nearly crashed. Fortunately, a quick server capacity increase resolved the problem and the day passed off without any major hiccups.
The students showed understanding for the initial teething troubles. Despite the hitch in the morning, the reactions were mainly positive. Most of them were happy that they received information without delay. " Of course, all understandable :)) Thank you for the feedback, I'm already attending the presentations and I just wanted you to know, that I am already impressed by how it is all arranged and managed!”, one visitor wrote.
The new online Open Day platform had already opened on Tuesday. This allowed the students to have a look around, get some information about the programmes of their choice and create a personal 'itinerary' for the day. They could select a range of interactive events such as live presentations and Q&As about study programmes and student life in Maastricht. The answers were given by students and staff, with technical support from external parties. The platform will remain open this week and so more feedback is expected to trickle in, as a survey will be sent out on Tuesday.
The online Open Day in pictures
Studying in times of COVID-19: face masks and social distancing.
Photographs by our social media reporters Jasper Kijk in de Vegte and Victor Ghiulai
A clear blue sky above a deserted Tapijn barracks.
Answering online visitor questions at the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience.
This is what the online Open Day platform looks like. The numbers shown are from Saturday 16:00.
Final preparations at the Faculty of Law ahead of a live Q&A session.
Technical support for the live registration and broadcasting on the platform by Houben Souren Media Techniek.
Unsually a hive of activity on an Open Day, the Law Faculty building remained eerily quiet during the online event.
When it comes to areas of interest, Health attracted the most visitors, as in previous, offline, editions. It is followed by Business & Economics, and Social Sciences and Humanities. The most popular programmes were Medicine, International Business, Psychology, Biomedical Sciences and Health Sciences.
All in all, the online Open Day organisers can be satisfied, because the whole set-up – designed and implemented by the Events team and the Faculties' recruiters - was user-friendly and worked well.
The next Bachelor’s Open Day is scheduled for 6 February 2021.
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