Marca is a certified site-visitor for the NCHC and co-chair of the NCHC Research Committee. Her site-visiting experience goes back to 2001, when a group of 4, including Wolfensberger, established the Dutch Plusnetwerk (‘little sister’ of NCHC). Since then Wolfensberger has been asked for informal site-visits and advice on a regular basis. She has visited around 15 honors programs around the United States and 1 in Canada in order to get an international view on honors. She has visited several programs in Europe . She is invited regularly to give advice on talent development in higher eduction, to deliver key-notes or to collaborate in research teams. In 2015 for instance in China, Norway, Denmark and Germany.She was connected with the Danish and Bayern initiatives on honors around 2000-2004. Now she is one of the initiators to create an European Honors Network. More information via honorsineurope.comShe has been on several boards of site-visits and certification committees in the Netherlands.

In 2009 heb ik het voorrecht gehad de eerste onderzoeksgroep te mogen oprichten die onderzoek doet naar talentbevordering binnen het Hoger Onderwijs en samenleving. Ik heb een interdisciplinaire groep kunnen samenstellen. Het onderzoek richt zich op het hele Nederlandse Hoger Onderwijsveld en mbo binnen de Europese context. Onderzoek naar honours onderwijs en talentontwikkeliing kan je vertalen naar de spelers op het veld: docenten, studenten, beleidsmakers, politici, het werkveld. Co-creatie en onderzoek naar onderwijs rondom maatschappelijke uitdagingen interesseren me steeds meer. Vraagstukken rondom honors, gelijke kansen en inclusiviteit krijgen meer aandacht. In 2021 ontvangt het lectoraat voor de een derde keer een positieve evaluatie en beoordeling met een vierjarige verlenging. Tijd voor overdracht, afscheid en start bij Avans UAS._________________________________________Hanze University of Applied Sciences was the first higher education institution to appoint a professor in the field of excellence. Our research group conducts research on talent development in higher education and society. This research is translated to the relevant interest groups: teachers, students, policymakers and politicians, the professional field. We focus on the entire field of higher education within a European context. In 2021 we receive or the third time a positive evaluation and positive assessment with prolongation. After this accomplishment it was time to handover to give all parties including myself room for change. I want to focus on research on transdisciplinaire education.

Marca Wolfensberger co-designed the Honors Program in 1997. Since then, over 400 students have participated. Wolfensberger is one of the main educators of the program. She has been doing research on this theme for several years. The design of the honors program is such that academic knowledge, active learning, developing responsibility (leadership, initiative, ethical reflection), and communication skills are encouraged. An international academic experience should be part of the honors experience.NCHC site-visitor John Zubizaretta visited the program in 2005. The program is now interdisciplinary for the whole faculty of Geoscience. The program was also site-visited by the UU certification committee in 2015.Together with an honors team, Wolfensberger wrote a winning proposal for Ruim Baan voor Talent (Make Way for Talent) (2005). She was also involved in the second round of Sirius, for which Utrecht University wrote one of the winning proposals. On her wish list are research-based articles on honors. On her wish list for the Geographical honors are more activities executed by honors alumni and a stronger relation with secondary schools and master programs.

Doel van de jury is het identificeren van excellente basis- en middelbare onderwijsinstellingen. De jury is ingesteld door de minister van onderwijs. Dit mede ter voorbereiding op het toepassen van differentiatie door de Inspectie. Het jurywerk is een geweldig mooie klus geweest: het bezoeken van scholen een hoogtepunt. De uitreikingen met daarbij de Minister President Mark Rutte en Staatssecretaris Sander Dekker heb ik ervaren als bevestiging van het belangrijke en mooie werk dat gebeurt in het onderwijs /The objective of the jury is to identify excellent primary and secondary schools in the Netherlands. Documentatie te vinden op: http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/excellente-scholen

Het ministerie van OCW heeft het Platform Bèta Techniek gevraagd om de minister te adviseren over de aanvragen van de instellingen en zorg te dragen voor de begeleiding van de instellingen bij de uitvoering van het Sirius Programma. Het Sirius Programma richt zich op de volle breedte van het hoger onderwijs. De beoordelingscommissie bekijkt aanvragen voor de bachelor. Vanaf 2010 komt ook de master aan bod.______________________________________The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science requested the National Platform Science & Technology to advise on applications from institutions, and to supervise and assist institutions in the implementation of the Sirius Program. Marca is one of the five members of the National Assessment Committee for Sirius. This Committee assessed 37 institutional proposals on how to evoke excellence in Higher Education and prepared the advice for the Minister of Education. The Sirius Program extends across the entire spectrum of higher education. The assessment committee initially evaluated applications for bachelor degree programs, and since 2010 also for master degree programs.

Wolfensberger’s mission was to help develop honors programs throughout the University of Amsterdam. Within one year, seven Faculties started disciplinary honors programs. And on top of that, the University of Amsterdam decided to establish a university-wide interdisciplinary honors program. And Marca gave leaderships courses, relating ethical and personal questions to education.

Wolfensberger was a co-designer and a lecturer in this innovative program. Students integrated professional work experience in their academic study program. The business community and the Faculty of Geosciences jointly created new opportunities for students that were laid down in a formal contract between the student, the company and the Faculty. The lessons and evaluation of the ‘dual learning’ project were used in the design of the new professional master program. One of Wolfensberger’s goals with this form of education was to integrate to a greater extent business and academics.