Every day from Monday 19 February till Friday 23 February the student council is organising an activity in the context of the ‘Week of the student’. From Etterbeek to Jette and the centre of Brussels, you can find them everywhere.
 
During the Week of the Student the student council not only presents its inner workings, but also draws attention to a particular aspect of campus life. This year, they’ve decided on student participation:
 
‘Being a student amounts to more than just studying’, says Otto Cartrysse, vice president of the student council. ‘Your student years shape you as a person as well, and this process doesn’t only take place inside your classes. As we’ve noticed an increasing decline in student involvement in recent years, we’ve decided to focus on student participation during the Week of the Student.’
 
‘I think everyone would be amazed at how much you can change and decide at the VUB’, adds Carmen Mazijn, international affairs manager of the student council. ‘As a student representative you can exert influence on all student services. So if you want to change something, announce your candidacy for one of the councils and change it, because you simply can.’
 

What’s on the agenda?

 

 
In order to give students a better idea of how the student council’s works the student council opens up both the preparatory meeting in Etterbeek on Monday and the plenary meeting in Jette on Tuesday to students. Each meeting is followed by an informal information session in the respective lounge bars.
 
On Wednesday, the student council organises the “VUB Student Conference” in collaboration with the International Student Platform. ‘We will discuss multiple subjects in focus groups, such as ways to better the contact between international students and local students alongside the role of students in internationalisation. During the second part of the conference we’ll present the results of these focus groups to important policy makers at the VUB such as rector Caroline Pauwels’, Carmen explains.
 
On Thursday the Student Council takes the city with their ‘VUBrussel’ event. They’ve got a ton of fun activities planned on such as a city game, after work drinks and the launch of the student participation platform VOX.VUB. The night concludes with a party until the last night bus, which was a result of the previous Week of the Student, takes everyone home.
 
The week concludes with a swim in the new VUB swimming pool. ‘Students that want to participate in this event should register as quickly as possible, as places are limited.’
 
 

Let your voice be heard

 

 
Do you want to follow Carmen and Otto’s footsteps and represent your fellow students? Hand in your candidacy for the Student Council or Faculty Council between 19 February and 7 March.
 
Not enough time to become a student representative due to other engagements? Don’t sweat it, there are also other ways to have your voice heard. Not only can you fill out the General Satisfaction Survey to have an impact on your programme, but you can also give some feedback to the current student representatives about all student services:
 
‘We would like to know what our fellow students think. We represent the complete VUB student community, but we’re not always fully aware of everything that happens on campus. Every event during the Week of the Student gives students the opportunity to give us some feedback’, Otto and Carmen conclude.