UvA votes | What the CSR achieved this year: “More consensus-building would benefit us”
With the student council elections approaching, Folia looks back on the past year in the Central Student Council (CSR). Chair Francesco Bruseghini (Activist Party) and committee chair Pieter-Joost van der Plas (De Vrije Student) discuss the CSR’s successes and challenges.
What is the biggest victory the CSR has achieved for students this year?
Francesco: “From the start of the year, we as the CSR have focused on increasing the availability of Dutch language classes for international students. We have now received a commitment from the Executive Board (CvB) that €800,000 will be made available to make these courses more accessible. Securing nearly a million in a period where finances are so tightly controlled is a major victory for us.”
Pieter-Joost: “I think the availability of study spaces was the most important issue this year. The overcrowding in the new University Library and the lack of places to study around exam periods was a real problem for many students. With the weekend opening of the Bushuis and the opening of the J/K building on the Roeterseiland Campus during exam weeks, real steps have been taken on that front.”
On which issue would you have liked to have had more impact this year?
Francesco: “Overall, many things have gone well. Of course, you can’t achieve everything you want, because you also depend on other stakeholders. We did have discussions about the appointment of the new CvB chair (Vinod Subramaniam, ed.). We would like to see the appointment process improved and made more democratic. That was not necessarily a goal we set at the start of the year, but it is something we are now discussing with the university.”
Pieter-Joost: “Personally, I would have liked us to focus a bit more on broader perspectives within education. That there is debate, and that everyone feels able to express their own opinion. If you look, for example, at how a speaker (Tom van Grieken, ed.) is once again not able to come to the UvA, then I think we could have paid more attention to that.”
How political is the CSR?
Francesco: “We are of course not the House of Representatives: it is all much more small-scale. At the same time, it is very important that student politics is genuinely political. Ultimately, we are not a student association or a panel that comes together to exchange ideas: we represent students within the university. That democratic character of the council is crucial for the functioning of both the CSR and the university administration.”
Pieter-Joost: “It would be good for students if the CSR were a bit less political. In the end, you see that most students simply need the same things, and it is important that we communicate that clearly to the board. For that, it is more useful if you work together properly and don’t get stuck in party politics. In that sense, a bit of Dutch ‘poldering’ and consensus-building would help. If you look at our biggest achievements – the language courses and study spaces – those are issues we worked on together.”
What advice would you give your successor after the elections?
Francesco: “I would mainly advise them to always keep the importance of the CSR in mind. Make sure it is not slowed down or lost, and remember that the work of the CSR is truly crucial, for both the university and the students.”
Pieter-Joost: “Stay constructive. Keep talking to the administrators and the people working at the university. And also seek each other out within the council; try to stay aligned. That is how the CSR can really achieve things.”
From 11 May, every eligible student will receive a personal invitation at their UvA email address to vote on the new CSR. All UvA students can vote and will receive a voting link in their inbox. Voting is open until 19 May. The results will be announced on Friday 22 May in the Muziekzaal of CREA on the Roeterseiland Campus.
