What five things should be organised better at EUR next year? Students briefly got the opportunity to express their feelings about the poor level of English spoken by lecturers and the limited study areas in the Polak building.
#1 Variety in the Food Plaza
Strategic Management student Pieter Diekman (24) is irritated by the limited choice at the Food Plaza. “If you want a healthy dinner you can actually only get nasi. Everything else is just full of fat. There should be much more variety, with more vegetarian meals.” Bart Vroom (23), who is following the master degree in Accounting and Financial Management added: “There should be more diverse eating facilities. You can eat healthily in the Erasmus Paviljoen but it’s more expensive there too. I’d really like a canteen that always serves healthy meals and where you can enjoy eating an evening meal together.”
#2 More space and water in the Polak building
The Polak building was always certain to be among this top five. “There is never enough space to study in the Polak building,” explained Teresa Stacey (25). She is a Business Information Management student. “You need to wander around the entire campus to find a suitable place. What’s more, the toilet areas in the Polak building are dramatic. The taps are so bad it’s almost impossible to refill water bottles. And the toilets are usually filthy.”
#3 A ban on leaflets
Students have had enough of them: the student association leaflets around the campus. “It’s so irritating that you’re constantly bombarded by them”, said Econometrics and Economy Student, Hugo Galy (19). “You just want to walk somewhere and you’re stopped by someone about something you have no interest in. The university should ban handing out leaflets on campus next year.”
#4 Improved English
Although EUR is the most multi-cultural university in the Netherlands, many students have noticed that improvements could be made as far as English is concerned. Psychology student, Celine Rook (20), really gets annoyed about some of the Dutch guest lecturers at her lectures. “Their English is often not great. As far as I’m concerned, the university should only select guest speakers who can speak English well.” International Public Administration student, Juste Smitaite (25), is also irritated by the lecturers. “Dutch students often ask the lecturers a question in Dutch, and lecturers then answer in Dutch. They then don’t translate this for the English-speaking students. And they really should.”
#5 Improved information
Marieke van Harten (22) studies Pedagogical Sciences and is currently working on her thesis. “The information available about the thesis was actually really poor. For example, many students don’t yet really know how they should refer to a table. This was only explained to me this year, and it became apparent that I’d been doing this wrong for three years. The university should prepare us earlier for writing a scientific thesis. I think they should start with this in the first year.”
