Sjoerd van den Belt – UReka

Free Menstrual Products Pilot

Sjoerd van den Belt — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 14:08:20 +0000

Together with the Office for Diversity and Inclusion, the Student Union and the women’s network for PhD students UReka has worked on and pushed for a pilot for free menstrual products at the University of Twente. The Executive Board showed their full support for the pilot, which has now been picked up by CFM to become a part of their official duties and budget. The pilot is set to start as soon as possible, and negotiations are currently underway with suppliers of products as well as storage space for inside of the bathrooms – so we hope to see free tampons and pads in some of the UT’s bathrooms soon!

Restricted use of UT Buildings due to bad ventilation

Sjoerd van den Belt — Tue, 17 May 2022 16:08:44 +0000

In the summer of 2021, the corona situation still was very present at the university. In these times, the ventilation of the buildings is of course an important aspect. Therefore the status of all the buildings was checked. These results were not as positive as we all would have hoped. And in some older buildings this leads to some severe limitation in the usage.

In for example the Zilverling, employees are not allowed to receive students in their office as that would exceed the maximum amount of people in the room. Students who are graduating and sharing a room with 6 can now only sit there with 2 at a time. Next to that, we have noticed that people are not even following the rules that are set up. Overall this situation is not desirable at all.

The University Council discussed these issues together with the Executive board, but changes regarding ventilation are not easy to solve and will take a long time. The Executive Board stated that with some additional efforts. The employees and students are able to make the best of the situation and the rooms available on our campus. This means ventilating windows before students come in. And keeping the windows and doors open at all times.

Therefore we cannot expect immediate improvements in the upcoming months, and restrictions in use of the buildings remain even after COVID-19. We strive for an healthy environment for students and employees, but these rules are impossible to stick to and invite breaking them. Next to this, the current measures are not comfortable and sustainable at all.

All in all, the current faction keeps a close eye on the development of this issue and the opportunities to improve the buildings. We will try to make sure that the problems are solved as soon as possible!

UReka Input on Student Housing Shortage

Sjoerd van den Belt — Tue, 17 May 2022 16:03:41 +0000

At the start of this academic year incoming students encountered the urgent housing problems that have emerged in Enschede. Due to a shortage in (student) housing, both international as well as Dutch students were unable to find a new home. In response the UT has sent out a mailing to students, advising students to unenroll in case they do not have a home by the time the academic year starts.

To tackle these issues, the housing problems can be split up into two separate points:

Short-term capacity to accommodate the incoming students
Long-term capacity by building additional housing

To accommodate the former point, UReka has advised the UT to be more transparent towards students with regards to the housing situation in Enschede. Incoming students should not be surprised by the housing crisis after enrolling at the UT. Furthermore the University Council is positive about the flexible housing solutions that have been initiated.

To accommodate the latter point, the University Council is positive about collaborations between the university and housing corporations. UReka stresses the importance of the UT staying involved with the housing corporations, to accommodate the duty of care that the university has for its students.

UReka Input Session: COVID Policy at the UT

Sjoerd van den Belt — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 13:19:13 +0000

UReka wants to hear your thoughts on UT policy!
The regulations, as a result of the COVID pandemic, have impacted all students in unprecedented ways. Forming well-weighted policy on these issues, in regards to examination, physical education and student well-being is all but trivial.
The University of Twente has adapted its education to conform to the Dutch regulations. Especially during times where communication is impaired, it is extremely important for students to be able to reach out to the UT and express their thoughts and oppinions on how to handle this situation in the best way we can.

Input Session
During this input session, all students from the UT can join the debate on how to deal with education during the pandemic. Together we will explore the issues and benefits of the current regulations, and hopefully come to great ideas that we can propose to the UT.
At the session, various members from the UReka faction will be present.

If you have a few questions concerning the regulations, want to share your experiences and thoughts, or are just interested in joining the debate, make sure to sign up!

Topics we will discuss:

Physical examination
Proctoring
Physical education
BSA

If you have any other related topics you would like to add, feel free to send us a mail!