From May 11th until May 25th there are elections for the student representatives within the univcersity council. Students can vote via progresswww.nl/rug, the site containing your grades and sign up information. The university council plays a big role in making the policies of the RUG. The council also deals with many subjects that are important for international students. Like English programmes, housing, and communication to international students. It is important that students are represented well. Your vote is important, because you can create a better university for students like yourself. Go to ProgressWWW, and use your vote!

The GSb has a student party within the university council. Through representation of the students of the RUG, we work towards a better university, for Dutch students and for International students. The GSb has already done a lot for International students.

Our successes for International students are:

1. Lower payment for Housing Office within the tuition fee. Tuition is for education, not for housing.

2. An honest financial compensation for non-EU students who experience study delay.
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3. Active and Passive International participation in university council, with an English council newsletter and international candidates running for council!

Because international students encounter different problems than Dutch students, there should be international students in the council as well. That is why the GSb has two international students on their list. With Qingsong Ye and Mona Dohle, we have the most international candidates of all parties. Here they will explain what they are planning to do for International students.

Qingsong Ye – PhD student dentistry -
Nr. 3 on the GSb list

“The RUG should create a better environment for international students. This is an important step in the internationalization of the University. We want to achieve the following:

1. Understandable information. International students always find it a big barrier for them that most of the RUG documents, even the ones concerning them, are provided in Dutch. This situation should be improved in order for the RUG to become more and more international.

2. Less financial burdens. International students are more likely to experience fi nancial problems, because they pay higher tuition fee (non EU students) and get less/no financial support or social welfare from the government compared to their Dutch classmates. Therefore, the University should re-evaluate the tuition fee to make it more affordable for the international students. These students should pay for education, not for the fi nancial problems of the University. Furthermore, provide more work opportunities for them, for example teaching assistant positions.

3. International students meet a lot of problems particularly when they’ve just come to Groningen. A systematic support, such as a handbook for the international student, is necessary to provide sufficient information regarding details about how to live in Holland.”

Mona Dohle - student IB/IO – Nr. 4 on the GSb list

As a German student coming to Groningen I have been confronted with a lot of obstacles that you might have experienced as well. For example, a tuition fee for the language course which comes down to 1000 Euro. For non European Students it is even higher. This poses a severe constraint for students coming from countries with lower average incomes.

For students who do not obtain any fi nancial support such as the Dutch “studiebeurs”, it is difficult to afford this obligatory course. Since the fee demanded by the IB Group is only 90 €, the University should make the language courses more affordable. Furthermore, the coordination between the University and the IB
Group is often chaotic. Foreign students are often spending a lot of time at the IB Group, the international Offi ce and are receiving contradictory information.

Likewise, the Students at the RUG who want to go abroad face a lot of problems. Although there is a general information event, the preparation remains insuffi cient. For example, in order to apply for some programs, students need an English certifi cate which should have been passed before the application. Another important point of criticism is that it is almost impossible to go abroad to a country which has no exchange contract with the RUG.

To sum up: Our University is already quite international. However, students coming to Groningen still face lots of obstacles. We criticize the financial and bureaucratic barriers. Our aim is to increase support for students who want to come to Groningen as well as students who want to go abroad.

Vote GSb for an international oriented University! You can vote using ProgressWWW