Merlijn

Dear reader,

The past academic year, I’ve been part of the Faculty Council as a student member. As the elections for the new student members of the Council are coming up, I will inform you about the reasons I choose to apply, tasks, responsibilities, and other practicalities surrounding membership in the Faculty Council.

During the past years, I’ve been quite involved in the Faculty in several areas. For example, last academic year I supervised first-year students as a mentor and in previous years, I have been a member of the student panel and the Education Council, been active as a Faculty ambassador, done a Board year at Faculty Association SHARE, and supported professors as a student assistant. One of the things I enjoyed the most during these ‘side jobs’ was thinking about strategic issues along with other students and ESHPM employees. Because I am a student myself, I’ve been able to draw the perspective of a student into discussions whenever necessary. Next to the fact that it’s very educational and interesting to be part of such a discussion, you also receive generous compensation for being a member of the Council.

As a student member of the council, you’ll mostly need to be present during the meetings, which are usually around 1/2 times per month. Some of these meetings are only with other members of the council and other meetings are with the daily board of the faculty. During these meetings, you can engage yourself in a discussion whenever you want to or talk about your experiences and ideas if someone asks you to. Next to that, you’ll be able to choose a portfolio. For example, my portfolio this year is ‘vice-president’ and ‘student participation’. For me, this means that I’ll function as the president when Martijn isn’t available and that I’m concerned with engaging students during education. In order to stimulate the latter, I am currently working on a questionnaire that will be sent to all ESHPM students at the end of the year. Other portfolios for example are sustainability, inclusivity, or educational policy. It is also possible to create new portfolios if you’re passionate about something that that is not yet part of an existing portfolio.

I look back positively on the past few months as a student member of the council. I have the feeling that in such a position you’re really able to make a difference. For instance, because of a discussion with student members of the council, the revision of one of the master programs of ESHPM has been delayed in order to align it better with students’ demands.

If you have any questions regarding membership in the council or about something else, feel free to contact me on LinkedIn or via email ([email protected]).

Good luck applying for the council!

Kind regards,

Merlijn Dries