‘Governing while studying’ remains the watchword of student student board members at TU/e, the Executive Board reminded the student members of the University Council on Monday. This means, according to the Executive Board, there can be no scope for exempting student student board members at TU/e from paying the tuition fee. After all, if a person is not enrolled, they are not entitled to take courses.

Groep-één has been battling for some six years to get a tuition fee waiver introduced for student board members. On Monday afternoon, in tandem with ESR, this student group presented a paper that made mention of the importance of student student board members to the university and the fact that with the loss of the government grant system, students are finding it increasingly difficult to bear the cost of a committee position. According to Yoram Meijaard of Groep-één this presents the risk that student board member roles will become the preserve of affluent students.

The paper included a study of how this matter is being handled at other universities. At the universities in Groningen, Leiden, Utrecht and the VU in Amsterdam, it appears the tuition fee waiver has already been adopted. It is also evident that every university stipulates its own conditions. 

Raising the grant amount

At TU/e this academic year enough grant money for a thousand months is available. This is distributed among the various federations of student organizations. The monthly grant amount currently stands at 290 euros. With the promised increase of 125 euros, this will rise to 415 euros in the coming academic year. For those student board members entitled to the maximum of nine months’ grant, in the new situation 1,125 euros of the tuition fee of 2,006 euros will be compensated. Add to this the hundred extra grants and these two measures will cost TU/e an extra 166,500 euros in the coming academic year.

In Monday's University Council meeting the student factions expressed satisfaction with the Executive Board's offer, although they would have liked to have seen student board member grants made available to the student teams. The Executive Board will not be accommodating that wish. As Executive Board member Van Ham said: “On an annual basis, the university is already investing half a million in the student teams. We think that’s enough. If the student federations are keen to organize things so that grants can be made available to the teams, they must arrange that among themselves.”