Groepsfoto USR/USC
Groepsfoto USR/USC

USC Column November 2023

This month's University Student Council column is written by Felicia Slettenhaar and Tom Steenblok. They have been officially installed since the beginning of September and explain how the first two months were.

Official installation

On 4 September, we were officially installed as the new USC. This was not done with a hammer or an oath, as you might expect. No, we were expected at Heyendaal House on that sunny Monday morning, after which we were installed with the entire USC in a beautiful yet stuffy room by the official secretariat with the words: 'Then I hereby install the University Student Council.'

What followed was a short meeting with the brand-new USC. Like last year, there are 14 of us, with eight elected seats and six nominated dome seats. Furthermore, changes are all around. Three parties have joined: Green+, Knokpartij and ISEC, and AKKUraatd has halved to two seats after years of SGP-like seat retention. A better result than its longstanding rival: student party asap was unfortunately unable to compete in the elections due to the lack of a new board and thus did not return to the USC. In the midst of this storm of change, the political commissioners of the domes stand as a rock. 

Everything was new 

By now, we have been at it for almost two months. It was a hectic start to the year, in which we were immediately plunged into the first meeting cycle alongside our studies. We spent a lot of time reading up on procedures, policy documents and important topics that came up urgently in between and which we wanted to do something with. Everything was new. It took some time to figure out exactly what our role was, but we survived this period. We have already been able to ask some critical questions and give unsolicited advice to the Executive Board on topics such as housing for internationals and social safety on our campus.

We have also met and made contact with a whole range of people and departments within the RU, all of which contribute a bit to current and future education and life on campus. Think Academic Affairs, the Teaching and Learning Centre, the Student Fund, the Programme Council on Sustainability, the faculties' councils and so on. Together with student input and these contacts, we aim to put more topics on the university's agenda in the coming year. We have already sent three memoranda, for instance, in which we draw attention to improving payment for students who are active alongside their studies. We as USC can also arrange matters outside the official cycle together with our contacts. For example, we hope to push biodiversity and sustainability much more because it affects us all.

If you would like to know more about the USC and what we all do, or if you have ideas/comments on bigger issues within the university that are playing out within your student body: follow us on Instagram or send an email at USR [at] ru.nl (USR[at]ru[dot]nl)!

On behalf of the entire USC,

Felicia Slettenhaar 
Tom Steenblok

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