As from the next academic year, student association board members or students in participation councils will be able to get a supplementary grant after all. These grants were originally supposed to be scrapped after the summer, but the Executive Board has now decided to earmark extra funds for this.
The university is hoping that the reintroduction of these grants will ensure that membership of committees and participation councils will remain open to all students. Being on committees and councils often means that students lag behind in their studies. This in turn causes financial problems for students, especially those who are less well off. The aim of the supplementary grants is to help these students out financially.
Last year 304 students received a supplementary grant in connection with their membership of a student association committee. Another 178 students received a grant for individual committee membership, such as being on a participation council.
All these grants add up to a total of € 902,000 a year. About € 126,000 of this is spent on supplementary grants.
