{"id":9864,"date":"2013-05-15T08:47:40","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T08:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress72\/?p=23741"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:31","slug":"internationalizing-the-university-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2013\/05\/15\/internationalizing-the-university-council\/","title":{"rendered":"Internationalizing the University Council"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week, students are able to vote<\/a> on their representatives for the University Council.\u00a0 IBA-student Stefan Nicolai and IBEB-student Dumitru Ojog were the first internationals ever to act as Student Representatives on the Council. \u00a0<\/p>\n

According to both students, their participation in the council has brought some changes. Both were involved in actions against Albron, and unlike before, all UC meetings with the student representatives are now conducted in English, and meeting records are translated. The meetings with the executive board of the university are still conducted in Dutch, but even though the international representatives are provided with a translator, it\u2019s not always easy. Dumitru: \u201cSometimes it\u2019s hard to focus when someone\u2019s whispering in your ear for three hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Improving internationalization<\/b><\/p>\n

Both students joined the Council to improve life for fellow international students on the campus. Dumitru: \u201cwe were able to push for some improvements, but there is still much work to be done in making the university bilingual.\u201d It is one of the slogans for Stefan\u2019s election campaign this year. Last year, he received 160 votes. He attributes this to having a lot of trust from the international community at the university.\u00a0 Stefan: \u201cSometimes students or student organizations will come to me with an issue. I can bring it to the UC. \u201c<\/p>\n

New experience<\/b><\/p>\n

The representatives describe their experience as very positive. Stefan: \u201cI really like that the UC takes the time to discuss things. There is a lot of debate. One of the strongest points of this Dutch \u2018poldermodel\u2019 is that everyone gets something that they want \u2013 nobody really loses out.\u201d For Dumitru, it is an experience he will not forget. \u201cSince I got on the Council and saw how everything works, I\u2019m thinking someday I might get involved in politics in my homeland Moldova.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students in decision-making EUR<\/b><\/p>\n

Through voting, students get to choose who represents them on the Council (http:\/\/www.eur.nl\/english\/eur\/organisation\/university\/council\/). The twelve student representatives partake in the decision-making on certain matters, such as the EUR\u2019s Strategic Plan. In a certain number of other areas, the Council has an advisory function.\u00a0 AT<\/p>\n

Students can vote<\/a> in the University Council elections until wednesday<\/i><\/p>\n\n\t

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