Through strong connections with study associations, participatory bodies, and national politics, UReka strives to voice a well-informed, critical opinion on the policies presented by the executive board and initiates the change the student community of the UT desires to see. UReka sees the university as a platform for self-development and inspiration, where students should receive a world-class education from motivated professors in coherent modules, where internationalisation creates a new perspective and teaches all students what it means to be inclusive and live in a globalised world, learning from each other through face to face interaction.
Party Programme 2024
Vision
Education
Ensuring quality for all programmes
First and foremost, UReka aims to guarantee the quality of education. Each decision made by the University on a policy level will affect the overall quality of education, and UReka will take the educational perspective as a starting point in the conversation. These topics include digitalisation, assessment types, educational models and more. For example, UReka supports small-scale education to ensure that the focus remains on teaching with individual feedback rather than simply broadcasting knowledge. To ensure a high standard of education, it is of great importance that the Quality Assurance systems of all programmes are up to standard. To achieve this, the university should have a central overview of how each programme deals with this. As well as providing guidance on how to ensure this. This will enable programmes to learn from each other and guarantee a high quality of education for all students.
English level has to be up to par
Currently, the University of Twente has English requirements for students which are lower than other (4TU) universities in the Netherlands. To uphold the academic position and quality of education at the University of Twente, UReka believes that the entry requirements regarding the English level of all students need to be raised to an equal level to that of comparable universities in the Netherlands. In the past years, the faction of UReka has already worked on stimulating this initiative by sparking the conversation about keeping English levels to par with the language centre. Proposals to include academic English in a skills course or testing speaking abilities as an application requirement fall short in their implementation. UReka believes that stimulating the English level not only includes increasing the requirements for students as well as providing enough support from the university to improve the language skills of teachers.
Internationalisation & BSA
On a national level, there is a lot of discussion about including the Dutch language more in education at all Dutch universities. While it makes sense for some programs to consider a Dutch track, UReka wants to ensure that this is only implemented if proper resources are available. Additionally, English should continue to be the primary language for master’s programmes.
A second topic that has been discussed was lowering the BSA to a maximum of 30 EC’s. In the past, UReka wrote a letter to the Ministry of Education on behalf of the council explaining the position of the UT towards the BSA. UReka wants to continue representing the opinions of students from the UT in conversations with stakeholders to make sure that the quality of education can be preserved for the entire UT community, and to ensure that the decisions, which are made on a national level, are implemented in the best way possible for UT students.
Twente Education Model
The University of Twente has a unique education model, which focuses on student-driven learning as well as module and project based learning. This model was introduced in 2020-2021. As UReka we agree that it is time to reevaluate this model as certain aspects can be improved. For example, grades should be valid for a longer period in integrated or mixed modules to avoid students having to retake parts of the course, as this mitigates student delays. The evaluation should be led by the vice deans. Additionally, we also think that it is crucial to enable students to change their study program in the first months, to ease the transition a “doorstroommatrix” should be created, that shows students which study they can change to.
Life Long Learning (LLL)
Lifelong learning (LLL), a programme that seeks to educate people who are no longer students on topics that are relevant to their work, is one of the targets of shaping2030 and is considered the fourth key operation of the UT. The University intends to expand on its plans for LLL, using part of its existing capacity. We want to be certain that this is done in such a way that we can be sure that the initial quality of education provided to the students will not be harmed, while not interrupting both the teaching and learning processes.
Student-Wellbeing
Accessibility of mental health facilities at the UT
Over the last years, it has become clear that the demand for mental health aid is very high all across the UT. Students, who reach out to the departments offering this mental health aid, are experiencing long waiting lists for an appointment with a professional. UReka has demanded that the Executive Board provides a plan on how to deal with the long waiting lists, which are partially caused by no-shows, and will push for the prioritization of students’ mental wellbeing at every step of the way. Next to that, UReka will keep stressing the importance of having enough student psychologists on campus even though budget cuts have to be made at the UT.
Currently, the student psychologists are the most used facility. UReka notices that students sometimes ask for help only when they need it urgently, and not as a precaution, to take care of themselves. However, the UT has several lower-threshold facilities than the student psychologists to support struggling students. Unfortunately, many students might not be familiar with these low-threshold facilities, which is a major concern for UReka. UReka will keep urging the Executive Board to communicate clearly which mental health aid facilities the UT offers and how students can reach them. An example of this is a flowchart, which the Executive Board made after the last student well-being initiative was brought forward by UReka. To communicate the flowchart and other mental health initiatives clearly, a plan should be made on how to reach more students regarding student wellbeing.
Stimulating social safety
UReka recognizes social safety as a crucial component in enhancing student wellbeing. We value the various effective initiatives that have collaborated with the University of Twente, such as the Confidential Contact Persons (CCP), Amnesty UTwente, and the ‘Look After Your Friend’ training from the Student Union. Encouraging the use of CCPs within associations is important, as students may find it easier to approach a CCP than a study advisor. UReka aims to further integrate these initiatives systematically and raise their awareness among both students and staff. Additionally, we believe that incorporating social safety education into skills courses across all studies will increase awareness and competency within the student population, thereby improving social safety overall.
UT vision on student wellbeing and actions towards it
The UT has presented its vision on student wellbeing. Various initiatives have been developed in order to provide students with suitable assistance for their physical and mental wellbeing. However, continuous and unified actions are required in order to deal with the current student wellbeing crisis. Students and employees of the University must be adequately informed on how to access the available wellbeing facilities. Monitoring the vision realization is necessary to ensure its proper execution. UReka wants to motivate the Executive board to take centralized action that will guarantee spreading awareness about said facilities. This includes wide-spread promotional campaigns of available workshops and trainings. UReka also aims to bring its own initiatives and engage in wellbeing work groups of the UT to solve the current wellbeing situation. UReka also recognizes the need for support of students involved in wellbeing initiatives. Students who assist their peers, such as Confidential Contact Persons and those who completed the Look After Your Friend Training, may run into challenging circumstances for which they require support or direction. According to UReka, the UT should be aware of this and take proactive steps to provide assistance, such as designating a SACC contact person for these students.
Financial well-being
Students can have a hard time tying their ends together. UReka understands that gaining income next to a full time study can be very hard on your mental well being, especially with current-day high prices. A newly developing political situation might also add a lot of financial stress to students in the near future. UReka wants to advocate to the UT for more financial guidance for students. Of course it is not possible to provide financial funds to all these students, but providing help in terms of financial education is also a valuable way of helping these students.
Housing & Facilities
Comfortable housing and ensuring accommodation
For students moving to the university it is important to have a place where they can feel at home. The people you as a student share a house with can be a big influence on your comfort during your time here. That is why we think it is important that students retain the choice who they decide to live with (cooptation). Still, students should also be given a fair chance for housing and we want to make sure that the UT keeps working on its communication and transparency on how the housing system works.
The UT is one of the few universities that is doing well with the student housing shortage, but it is still important that the UT takes an active role and responsibility towards the need for accommodation of students. And while the UT does not have the power to regulate student housing in the city, they can influence the actions of the municipality in its housing policy. We as UReka believe the UT has a moral responsibility to monitor the need for student housing and make plans to address future changes in student numbers.
Sports and culture facilities
The thriving community of Sports and Culture associations is unique for our campus. Students should continue to have access to the facilities. However, current facilities are designed for 8.000 students, instead of the 12.000 we have now. Associations are forced to have waiting lists or cancel practices and rehearsals for their members. Therefore, investments in the facilities are needed and should be stimulated at a central level.
Due to budget constraints, the plans for expansion are unfortunately no longer continued since they expect the student number to decline. UReka advocated that there should be a temporary increase in capacity since sports associations have to deal with waiting lists now. Therefore they have rented facilities outside of the UT to tackle the biggest bottleneck. As UReka we find it important to keep raising awareness for these sports facilities.
Homebase study facilities as the norm
The UT should ensure that there are enough study spaces for students. This year, UReka successfully advocated for extending the Bastille’s opening hours during high-peak moments like exam periods. Apart from that, the UT should raise awareness about the less busy study places so students are better spread out. And focus on turning current study facilities into Homebases, such as the ones on the second floor of Carré. Which are a great example of high quality study spaces where students from different disciplines can come together to meet and work on their studies.
Flexible use of lecture rooms
Study places to work with your project group and studying together are scarce as students crowd the available facilities. Therefore, we want the UT to open up smaller lecture halls for students when not used for lectures. In this way it will be easier for students to work together with their project groups. In the past UReka has already brought up this option to the University, but the policy for empty lecture rooms was not developed. We will continue looking into possibilities of providing lecture room spaces for students group work.
Campus
The campus is a base for student driven innovation
UReka strives for students to actively work on campus. One of the unique selling points of our University is the campus and the possibility for students to develop themselves in a designated space. Working on campus and being there allows students to inspire each other with their innovative ideas and is also beneficial to their social development. Moreover, project work, student activism, and student entrepreneurship thrive through creative collaboration on campus. We support initiatives that pull students towards actively participating in student life on and around campus.
Students should be better involved with public spaces on campus
UReka will work towards getting the University to involve the student perspective in maintaining and upgrading the campus, to create an environment where everyone can thrive. Each year the University develops new points of improvement to enhance the look and feel of the campus, but new additions to our campus are often carried out with little input from students. This not only leads to possible dissatisfaction among those who spend most of their study life on the campus, it is also a missed opportunity to not use the experience, inspiration, and creativity of students, for example in art works, infrastructure, and facilities. Therefore, UReka encourages the UT to take a bottom-up approach in implementing changes to ensure that students’ voices are heard. On matters such as safety, the UT should seek an alignment with the opinions of the students.
The campus is both a place for celebration and concentration
We see events on campus as a highly beneficial addition to the vibrant atmosphere of the University, especially those organised by and/or for students. UReka encourages that these events and new initiatives are organised. However, we also see that the timing of these events does not always benefit the studying schedule; for example, loud events should not take place during exam weeks. We want to push the University to consider the timing of external events, in every instance whilst still maintaining the possibility to host them. This will hopefully ensure that one of the strengths of our beautiful campus environment does not become a weakness.
Digitalisation & AI
Embracing the digital transformation of higher education
The UT is currently lagging behind in efforts to embrace blended learning, digitalisation, IT resources, and new approaches to teaching and learning that are fueled by emerging technologies. Improving our efforts in this regard is essential to staying up-to-date and ensuring a continuous educational quality. To maintain our people-first-university approach, it is crucial to monitor developments and remain critical while still being daring enough to reinvent ourselves in an ever digitalising world. This will help us ensure that we keep the best interests of our students and staff in mind at all times. Seeing that also the awareness of dangers from the Internet has been dropping, with many falling for the LISA phishing mail, creating more awareness for the dangers and unintended consequences of the new technologies, AI, and the internet is key.
Increasing student input on digitalisation
At the University different digital solutions are part of students’ day life and impact the way we work and study. We therefore think that it is crucial to ensure that, if new changes in the IT and software are made by the UT, a broad range of students are consulted and included in the decision-making process. An example is ChatGPT, where UReka believes that student input and perspective should be one of the starting points for creating a policy that underlies a transparent developing process. It can also be applied to more direct digital problems where student voices must be heard and acted upon, such as the new Osiris website or the issue of double room bookings where teachers and students book the room in parallel resulting in students not being able to meet on campus.
Facilities for hybrid & online lectures should be aligned with demand
We want to facilitate an overall effective provision of online and hybrid lectures, but only when they are necessary. This requires both a general technology proficiency of staff members, as well as fitting support staff, facilities, and equipment. We expect that recording equipment is provided and maintained in all lecture halls and that the provision of lecture recordings will be streamlined. Specifically we envision sufficient facilities and assistance provided on campus, such as Light Boards inside of proper ‘recording rooms’ allowing lectures to create online content as an additional tool. We deem the provision of general workshops on how to design such online content as very crucial and suggest that such opportunities are provided to staff to make effective use of the aforementioned facilities.
UT in the digital domain
Students at the University rely on different online facilities such as the online library. We want to make sure that these facilities are maintained and made readily available to all students at the University. Furthermore, we also think that it is crucial to evaluate current access to databases for online papers. We believe that the access is currently too limited for the wide range of research and graduation projects carried out at the UT. We, therefore, deem it crucial to encourage the University to enhance the current digital facilities by, for example, expanding the existing online library.
Moreover, we must also pay attention to the tools and software utilised within the courses. Thus, it is essential to remain up to date with state-of-the-art software licences in order to ensure students at the University of Twente have access to the latest tools and resources that can enhance their learning experience.
In parallel, we aim to improve the applications used throughout the University to ensure their relevance and smooth functionality in terms of user-friendliness, efficiency, and responsiveness.
The UT should incorporate AI into education
With the upcoming trends about Artificial Intelligence, it has quickly embedded itself into the day-to-day lives of many students. Not only is it in use now, but it will be an ever-growing topic in the future lives of students. Where in the current academic climate, use of AI is considered academic fraud, UReka believes that certain AI tools can enhance learning at the UT. Students’ curriculum should be altered to increase the importance of working- and dealing with AI. and teachers should be trained on how AI can be used effectively within education.
Activism
Activism is an essential part of our University
UReka values student activism as a way of shaping the UT according to students’ wishes and therefore believes it is an essential part of our University. Activism enables the personal development of students and helps to expand students’ social networks. Furthermore, UReka appreciates that activism teaches students soft skills that are less prominently incorporated in their studies. This stimulates students to be proactive in their life which has a beneficial impact on the future of every active student. UReka strives for a University that values and encourages activism accordingly and makes active students feel appreciated for their efforts. In light of a political situation in which study delay due to activism might discourage activism itself, UReka urges the University to be vocal at a national level regarding its vision on the importance of activism.
Activism supported and stimulated by University
UReka sees that the number of active students at the University has been decreasing over the past couple of years. Given this undesirable trend, UReka stresses the need for vision and policy to stimulate activism. UReka aims to lower the threshold of becoming an active student by emphasizing the need for communication from the University. This communication needs to create awareness about the different possibilities of becoming active next to your study.
When students want to organize something themselves, it can be a burden for them that they do not know what resources are available to them. UReka finds that the University should make enough spaces available to students to facilitate this extracurricular work, such as meeting rooms which you can book for committee meetings or having enough open working areas where you can confer about an event you are organizing. Additionally, UReka thinks that the University should work on making the resources to organize events easy to find and clearly accessible to all students. UReka works to create an understanding at the UT on the topic of study delay due to student activism. In the past, UReka has had conversations with the committee for personal circumstances to enhance this understanding. In the future, UReka will keep working towards this goal.
Rewarding student activism in (full-time) boards and beyond
UReka sees fair compensation for student efforts as vital to student activism at the UT. Therefore the university should increase the FOBOS program’s visibility and extend the range of activities eligible for FOBOS grants, while continuing to evaluate whether the amount of compensation suffices in an ever-changing study climate.
Within our growing university, study associations experience growth in members as well. Because of this study association boards notice an increase in required tasks requiring more manhours. With the current FOBOS policy only 5 board members are certain of full compensation for their efforts. In the case of an (often much needed) 6th board member, they may only receive part-time compensation despite working on the board full-time. UReka supports changing this policy to allow for a 6th board member to receive full compensation.
UReka will also advocate for a more personal approach with FOBOS grant distributions. Students are more than just numbers in a system, when looking at the eligibility for a student more than just the first date of registration and the UT should be looked at.
Sustainability
Sustainable Consumption on Campus
First and foremost, we advocate for making vegan and sustainable food options the standard on campus, implementing this change as soon as feasible. Prioritising plant-based and environmentally friendly choices can significantly reduce the environmental impact of the campus’s food consumption. Additionally, while crucial steps have already been taken in regard to minimising the use of single-use plastics, we also want to call on the university to refine waste separation both for the university itself and in collaboration with the student housing organisation on campus. This collaboration will further reduce the UT’s environmental footprint and foster a culture of sustainability within the community. By taking these actions, the UT aims to create a healthier, more sustainable campus environment.
Stimulate & Spread Awareness about Sustainability
In line with the UT’s focus on project-based learning, the UT should encourage projects that promote sustainable values and incentives. The sustainability-related courses taught at the UT should align with the sustainable development goals and clearly define how they fit in the sustainable development goals to students, in order to further curate an understanding of them and what they mean in practice. Though elaborate monitoring of the university’s footprint and sustainable affairs is performed by the SEE, we feel this information is still very inaccessible to most students. By promoting key changes and developments regarding sustainability to the student body in an accessible way, we ensure these get the recognition they deserve, and lead by example.
Sustainability in Organisations and Associations
Endorsing more sustainable changes, we feel that allocating even more funds to sustainable events and initiatives is an important way to promote the shift to more sustainability in associations and other organisations. Funding should be aimed in particular towards funding sustainable travel alternatives and sustainable events, and should ideally ensure that sustainable alternatives do not come at an increased cost.
Sustainable Buildings of the UT
To start, UT should prioritise energy efficiency and actively promote reducing energy usage across all its buildings. This includes optimising lighting, electricity, heating, insulation, and water usage. Additionally, UT should aim to increase the percentage of green energy sourced from its energy suppliers. The university should focus on increasing the sustainability of the buildings that are currently being built or renovated and implement sustainability features into future plans concerning the alteration of buildings. Increasing the sustainability in buildings will not only reduce the university’s carbon footprint but also create a more comfortable, sustainable and future-proof environment for students and employees.
Communication & Transparency
Increasing visibility of the University and Faculty Councils
UReka represents the students at the UT. This is our task as Faculty and University Council representatives. In order to do so, students should be aware of the existence and role of the councils. UReka wants to make sure all students of the UT can understand what the different councils do and what type of decisions they can influence. This way, UReka strives to get more input from their constituents as it is better known who in participation is responsible for what and who students can contact and talk to when issues arise. Last year, we started inviting associations for coffee dates to introduce us but to also hear about what issues they are experiencing. We aim to keep these up and to explore other methods of increasing the visibility.
Establishing more transparent communication
Related to increased visibility is transparent communication. To effectively represent students, it should be clear to the UT community what the council is discussing. Students should be able to assess whether they are properly represented and that the relevant topics are discussed. Concise, understandable, and transparent information provision and an open and proactive communication culture is key in UReka’s view. To pursue more transparent communication, UReka is summarizing the important topics of every meeting cycle and sending these to students in a post on Instagram. UReka will continue this endeavor in the hope to better inform students of the UT.
Creating an accessible UT website
A majority of University students struggle with finding the desired information on the UT website and opt to navigate the site by searching through their search engine instead. Despite the UT acknowledging this problem and having reworked the website in the past years, it is still not fit for intuitive use. UReka encourages the UT to effectively rework the website based on student input. More specifically, we envision a tailored website experience, based on people’s role in relation to the University (e.g. student, researcher, lecturer, business). Important information for students should be easily accessible, such as information about psychologists, career services, or housing and not hidden within a muddled web of submenus.
Organising and coordinating initiatives in the UT
The UT is filled with various different initiatives, organised by different working groups, associations, and other organisations. It frequently occurs that different parties are working on a connected or very similar project, but are not in contact with each other. As UReka, we see it as the task of the Executive Board to improve coordination, alignment and exchange between different initiatives. This not only fosters fruitful collaboration but additionally creates a transparent overview, allowing students to raise new initiatives and place them effectively in the landscape of the UT. Facilitating this should be done in close collaboration with all involved parties, ensuring that student perspectives are incorporated.
UT to be closer to students
The Executive Board makes decisions that include finances, strategy, and academic policy. UReka acts as the students’ voice in decision-making processes, but we believe the Executive Board should do more to involve students in policy processes. The Executive Board may be perceived as “mysterious” or “hidden” by the students. Visibility of the Executive Board, for example through ‘lunches with the Rector’, are events that UReka supports and wishes to see more frequently. By increasing interaction with students, UReka believes students will not only feel more heard, but that they will feel that their opinions are actually listened to more sincerely, resulting in more satisfaction.
Facilitating student initiatives
UT should also facilitate student initiatives that aim to improve the university. UReka especially observes that many students have great ideas, but exactly how to initiate and realise them, still is unclear to them. Therefore, UReka desires more clarity on that, to make it easier for students to work out their initiatives together with the UT. UReka itself is always open for ideas and student initiatives and connects students with the right UT departments and employees when we receive student input.
Communication towards students
From UReka’s point of view the university should be transparent about relevant topics that are going on at the university. This is in line with the close UT community. Those topics, including for example budget or changes to the campus should be communicated to the students in a timely manner. In our opinion the means of communication are also crucial, while using the website and email are a great starting point more students can be reached using the social media accounts of the UT. We therefore advocate for the UT to communicate to students in a clear and timely manner.
UT & Society
Companies integrated with the University & Entrepreneurship
UReka values collaboration between companies and the University. This collaboration is of great importance to prepare students for their future careers. This is not limited to ‘career encouragement’ alone, but self-development as well. UReka wants to support proper collaborations between the UT and enterprises, particularly both fairly young and well-established companies within the region such as Kennispark. The aim of this support is to provide proper career orientation opportunities for the students. More specifically, attention can be given to stimulate existing bodies at the UT for career support, including but not limited to, the Student Career Services, Business Days, Create Tomorrow, and networking events such as symposiums at study associations, so that there is more value created for students and companies alike.
UReka also strives to encourage entrepreneurship by students, which can be realised by committing ourselves to ensuring students’ ownership over their ideas. This can be done by supporting the Incubase, DesignLab, UT Challenge, and other existing start-up structures for young entrepreneurs at the UT, where students are able to further learn the skills and make use of resources they may need for starting their own entrepreneurships.
Connecting the UT to Kennispark and the wider region
One of the unique aspects of studying at the UT is the ‘Kennispark’ area. Kennispark provides a place for starters and start-ups to develop themselves after their studies and is therefore crucial to keeping talent in Twente and stimulating the local economy. We will urge the Executive Board to ensure that the Municipality maintains good infrastructure between Kennispark and the campus, to allow a natural flow of students who go from studying at the UT to working at Kennispark. For example, UReka will support the building plans of the new traffic intersection between Kennispark and the UT campus. In addition, UReka will also support plans to connect the campus directly to the F35 bicycle highway.
Bringing the University back to the region
Both letters in the abbreviation ‘UT’ are of equal importance to UReka. Not only are we a University, but we also hail from Twente and see how our University can benefit the region. Through initiatives such as the Employability of International Students minor, we aim to keep student talent in Twente; even after graduation. We will encourage projects that help students integrate within the regional culture surrounding our beautiful campus. Even though our University is situated in the Netherlands, we also have a close connection with our German neighbours. Collaboration within the region should not be limited to the Netherlands, but should cover the Euregio which includes many German municipalities close to Enschede. Next to that, the UT should make sure that it also reflects well to the local community. This includes increasing usage of the Dutch language for signage on campus, to stay open and inclusive to the local community.
Social Responsibility of the UT
As a societal Stakeholder the UT has the responsibility to contribute to empowering local citizens, increasing the trust in science, and facilitating dialogues and interaction between Academia and Society. The DesignLab, Techmed as well as current initiatives regarding Life long learning (LLL) are critical 3rd Mission activities in their respective fields that should continue to have a priority next to the main tasks of Teaching & Research.
Growth
Ensure small scale education at a growing UT
The University of Twente has seen both an increase and decrease in student numbers over the last couple of years. The UT population will possibly start growing again when policy concerning growth will be implemented in the coming years. UReka acknowledges that growth is crucial for the University from a financial perspective. However, small scale education, interactive learning, and personal contact is what the University advertises, and why a lot of students choose the UT. UReka believes that the university should stick to this vision when the student population starts growing again. It is important to maintain that the teacher to student ratio, and by extension the teaching assistant to student ratio, is consistent across the different studies and or relevant to the nature of the course. To ensure that the needs and desires of students are met, student input as well as clear communication from faculty should be prioritized in these plans.
The UT has outgrown the current campus (sport) facilities
The University is a great place for both learning and socializing. UReka wants the educational buildings as well as the library to have enough open spots for students. Next to these buildings, students should also be able to practice their sports, which is now not always possible due to a lack of space. As the student population grows, these facilities should expand to ensure a spacious and comfortable study atmosphere with study spots and lecture locations. UReka thinks it is unacceptable that, when the student population grows, a significant part of the lectures must be given online because of a shortage in lecture halls, when most students want and need physical education. Besides, UReka does not support evening lectures as a solution for the capacity problems that arise with a growing University.
Grow by spreading the UT name
Over the past couple of years, the University has seen a decrease in student numbers, despite rapid growth in the years prior. The University still aims to grow and raise its market share amongst universities in the Netherlands. UReka stands behind this, but sees the decrease in student numbers as an indication that the University needs to consider its marketing strategy if it wants to grow. Considering the current political vision, stimulating national rather than international student influx, UReka believes the University should work on spreading its name among prospective students in the Netherlands, while remaining open to international students by marketing abroad to the extent that this is still possible. UReka believes that a re-evaluation of the setup of the UT open days is necessary. Furthermore, UReka sees promise behind the University’s recent steps to strengthen collaborations with universities and research centers in the Netherlands such as the Radboud and the VU. UReka appreciates the continuous efforts of Pre-U and urges the University to continue spreading its name in high schools across the Netherlands. In other words, UReka encourages a consistent, comprehensive marketing strategy within the Netherlands to ensure the University spreads its name and grows for years to come.
Budget
Financial measures
This academic year, the budget at UT has come under increased pressure due to a decline in new student enrollments and rising costs. Consequently, decisions have had to be made about what to continue and what to scale down. One of the measures was scaling down the number of teaching assistants, Ureka believes that the quality of education should not suffer. Therefore, we try to keep in touch with representatives of all studies to keep an close eye on this matter. Next to that, the opening hours of the Bastille were reduced, which resulted in the university library becoming overcrowded during exam weeks. In response, Ureka successfully advocated for extending the Bastille’s opening hours during these critical periods.
UReka is committed to ensuring that budgetary measures do not compromise essential aspects of education and student life. It is crucial that students continue to receive adequate guidance in their studies. Additionally, Ureka emphasizes the importance of maintaining student support services, such as FOBOS, which are vital for maintaining student activism at UT. When measures are taken this should be communicated clearly and transparently. To ensure that students and staff know what to expect.
Next to that, the UT should not only focus on cutting costs but also on increasing income. One way of achieving this is by increasing student enrollment again. For this, it is essential that the budget savings do not harm the campus community that we have built up over the years, which is something that UReka will continuously defend in discussions with the executive board. For example this year there will be no create tomorrow but in the future, it is important that these projects are not lost because of lack of funding.