{"id":98794,"date":"2019-05-16T12:02:10","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T10:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=98794"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:23:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:23:19","slug":"these-esl-stewards-cant-wait-to-help-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2019\/05\/16\/these-esl-stewards-cant-wait-to-help-you\/","title":{"rendered":"These ESL stewards can\u2019t wait to help you"},"content":{"rendered":"

You may have seen the desk behind the entrance of the Sanders Building. Five days a week, you\u2019ll find the Erasmus School of Law stewards \u2013 recognisable by their white uniform \u2013 here to help you. However, they don\u2019t always have enough to do. They hope to change that very soon.<\/p>\n

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The stewards can be found at the entrance of the Sandersbuilding and at the sixth floor.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLana van der Meer<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

The \u2018white brigade\u2019 can help you print or scan documents, get things ready in a lecture hall or assist during events, for example. They also issue passes and drops to staff from their office on the sixth floor. \u201cWe can do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

But there are some days when they don\u2019t have that many jobs. The stewards feel that the fact that they receive few requests for help is probably because staff don\u2019t know that they exist and what support they can provide.<\/p>\n

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Requests can be done at the steward office on the sixth floor.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLana van der Meer<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Jobs market<\/h2>

Since spring 2018, the stewards have been working in the law faculty, led by Reini van de Sandt. \u201cWe started with two stewards, and another two joined us this year,\u201d she says. The support task of the stewards was created in compliance with the Participation Act.<\/p>\n

Dean van der Duin was one of the two stewards who started last year: \u201cPieter-Bas and I came here via a jobs market organised by the UWV. I love the work here, and I\u2019ve already been able to develop myself in a short space of time.\u201d The other two stewards were put forward by the municipality (which is responsible for implementing the Participation Act).<\/p>\n

Favourite workplace<\/h2>

The stewards must be able to turn their hand to anything, but their jobs are usually geared to their qualities and personal interests. Pieter-Bas Graafland sits at the entrance to the ground floor. He\u2019s been working for nearly a year in the Sanders Building too. He previously studied to be a receptionist, so the desk is his favourite workplace.<\/p>\n

Three days a week, from 8.45 a.m. to 4.00 p.m., he\u2019ll be here to help people or tell them where to go. \u201cSometimes people just want a chat, and I\u2019m happy to oblige,\u201d he says. On the sixth floor, where he first manned the reception, it took him more time to move around in his wheelchair from the computers to the desk, and that wasn\u2019t convenient. He doesn\u2019t have that problem downstairs.<\/p>\n

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Pieter-Bas Graafland at his favorite workplace at the entrance.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLana van der Meer<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Stay busy<\/h2>

On a busy day, around twenty people will come to the desk to ask something, on a quiet day five. Pieter-Bas records what and when he\u2019s asked something so that it can be evaluated later. Usually he\u2019s asked where certain rooms or locations are, or where the lift is (right behind the desk). Reini: \u201cThe steward\u2019s desk downstairs is a pilot that we\u2019ve been running for a month. If it works, we may make it permanent.\u201d<\/p>\n

If there are enough jobs, everyone\u2019s busy for a couple of hours, but sometimes it gets more quiet. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a television or anything, so we just chat to each other or go for a walk over the campus. We\u2019d obviously like to have more to do,\u201d says Dean.<\/p>\n

Not cleaners<\/h2>

\u201cWe can\u2019t be used as cleaners, by the way. We can note down where or what needs cleaning, but we don\u2019t do it ourselves.\u201d Pieter-Bas emphasises: \u201cI obviously can\u2019t get down on my knees to scrub the floor.\u201d The stewards can be contacted by e-mail steward@eur.nl, but you can also talk to them when you see them. \u201cWe wear a white uniform, so you can recognise us by that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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