Rotterdam, 31.10.2021

Petition to change the format of the Research Project exam

To whom it may concern, 

With this letter, we, the undersigned eligible students of Rotterdam School of Management, would like to draw your attention to the topic of the BT2103 Research Project exam, its current form, and the inconveniences that it poses to a substantial number of students. The following request was produced by numerous international students, deeply concerned about the return to their home countries for the upcoming winter break, which many nationalities associate with Christmas celebration deeply embedded in their culture.

Firstly, due to the exam taking place offline, the time available for travel will be limited to just the 23rd of December, making it impossible for many students to return home on time. This especially applies to students living outside of Europe, for whom it is necessary to take multiple flights (which are usually booked out around Christmas). Secondly,  the entire course is conducted online, with the exam being the only core component taking place on campus, which does not seem consistent. Moreover, besides for the Research Project exam, the majority of students will not have any offline classes and assessments after the 6th of December, since all the other courses such as Corporate Finance and Innovation Management and their corresponding exams will take place online as well. This means that the students will have to stay in Rotterdam until the 22nd of December solely because of one exam taking place offline. Taking your argument regarding the strong need for the offline educational activities into consideration, we would like to point out anew the aspect of the whole course being conducted online. In this instance, having solely an exam online, will not suffice in the slightest in remuneration for lack of offline workshops and lectures the second block in a row. 

Pertaining on the subject of Covid-19, carefully observing the current situation and following all the announcements issued by the Dutch government, we might sadly conclude the amount of cases is rapidly increasing every day heading closely to the apical endpoints since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, with the recent exacerbation of the regulations, the realistic possibility of carrying out the exam offline calls into question. Yet, to avoid the uncertainty and its consequences, we believe it would be wisely to act preemptively. 

In order to address this issue, we would like to make a formal request to make the Research Project exam accessible for students both offline and online. This would allow the students to have more accessible travel opportunities and decrease the level of stress that they are currently facing due to the aforementioned situation. We are aware of the fact that each course is different and cannot be compared to other ones, yet so far RSM has conducted all the first-year and second-year courses and exams for our class online without any major difficulties. This is why we, the second year IBA students, hope to be heard and helped in times when we really need your support.

Yours sincerely,

The group of IBA students signed below