Update #1

There will be regular updates from our chairman Hans Kunstman about what we are doing in the times of corona. Continue reading below for this week’s update:

Our daily life as a student has completely changed in recent weeks. We have all noticed that the corona crisis also has major consequences for Radboud University. In recent weeks, the University Student Council has made every effort to express the interest of the students in the Crisis Management Team and the Executive Board.

In the coming weeks we will regularly post an update on what is going on with regard to corona at the executive level. In the past period, we have mainly paid attention to the progress of education and exams. On average, the transition from physical education to online education seems to have gone well.

Most exams also took place, sometimes through an alternative form. The exams at some faculties have been postponed for large courses. The Executive Board and the faculties are now working on a good solution to be able to take examinations for large courses in block 4. The University Student Council explicitly draws attention to the privacy of students. We need to find the right balance between study progress and privacy.

In times of crisis, both directors and student representatives are faced with difficult choices. We don’t always have the luxury of choosing a “perfect” solution. Everyone will have to face up to the fact that the Corona crisis brings with it problems that we cannot completely eliminate. We also face such dilemmas in our meetings. The only way to deal with this is by carefully weighing up with the Executive Board the least bad option in these difficult circumstances.

The next joint meeting with the works council and the Executive Board will take place on Monday 20 April. Among other things, we will ask the Executive Board critical questions about the application of ‘proctoring software’ during exams. We will also talk about the situation at campusdetachering, where student employees are unsure about their jobs. An important topic that we have already discussed earlier is the provision for students with financial problems as a result of the corona crisis. We will look for a solution for this in the coming weeks.

Stay healthy!

Hans Kunstman, President of the University Student Council