Two requirements in place at TU/e for obtaining a board grant had already been dropped the year before. A freshman year ceased to be mandatory as did the credit achievement rate of 75 percent. But once a board member, you were still obliged to take credits to secure your eligibility for a board grant. This was because the Executive Board long favored the adage: ‘While doing board work, you have to keep up your studies’. Now this is no longer necessary.

The requirement for a freshman year and the 75 percent rule were dropped by the Executive Board after a decision by the Appeals Tribunal for Higher Education (CBHO) relating to the TU Delft Profiling Fund cast doubt on the legitimacy of these two academic progress requirements at Eindhoven. 

A letter sent, according to university secretary Susanne van Weelden, by the Ministry of Education (OCW) on November 15th to TU/e holds the reason for the current retroactive abolition of the requirement to obtain a certain number of credits. Here, it is stated that ‘an academic progress requirement may no longer be applied to the fund for board grants available to students’.

Board work and studying

The letter in which Van Weelden informed the University Council of the above on Monday afternoon also states that the Executive Board continues to hold in high regard the principle of ‘doing board work and studying in parallel’. The Executive Board believes strongly that it is beneficial to the personal development of every student that they undertake various duties in parallel during a board year, to quote the letter. For this reason, here at TU/e a board grant will now be provided for a maximum period of nine months.

The Executive Board also emphasized that a special course for student board members is currently being designed. This will enable them to carry out their role with greater professionalism. Due to welcome its first student cohort in September 2022, this course was recently the subject of a Cursor article. It is an initiative in which various members of the University Council are involved, and for which credits can be obtained. According to faction member Boris Zwaan of Groep-één, who this Monday stepped down from the University Council, this course offers a nice alternative to the previous arrangement.