In an interview with Nina Brigou from the Student Information Hub, vice president of the student council, Julie Bussche, who is also one of the pioneers of this event, reveals more about what that week entails.
Why did you choose to organise a week of the student?
The visibility of the Student Council has significantly improved in recent years. For that reason we, as current members of the council, aim to continue on this path. One of our policies is to engage more closely with the students, to interact better with them and take on board their feedback and suggestions on decisions and proposals. For us this week presents the perfect opportunity to bring our students together and let them interact with one another. Thanks to the multiple programmes planned, we hope to offer something of interest to every student and consequently attract a larger and more diverse group.
We also want students who are considering running as candidates for next year’s student council to be better informed and more enthusiastic. We notice that many students do not know what it means to be part of the student council and that scares them somewhat. If we can bring them more closely to our organisation, what we do, in a playful way, then it is likely they will be a step closer to running for and even becoming a candidate.
The timing of your event is thus not a coincidence, I take it?
No, that is right. We have chosen to place the event at the time when the nomination period for candidacies starts. Students can then immediately turn their words into deeds and become a candidate.
Last year you ensured that the ‘Week of the Student’ was a major success. What is in store this year?
We have maintained the previous year's activities to some extent. For instance, the bubble soccer was such a success that we had no choice but to have it on again. Of course, there are also a number of new activities. For example, we now provide an information session on campus and there will also be an open meeting organised at the Study Guidance Centre (SBC). Actually, all of our meetings are open also to students, but we never really have many people coming along. The aim of this open meeting is to lower the ‘barrier’ between us the rest of the students and therefore make ourselves more accessible. We hope also to give them a better understanding of how things work during the open meetings.
In addition, this year we have changed the name of the week’s event. That is because we want not only the student council but the entire VUB student community to be on the spotlight.
You have decided this year to bring a little more adventure to the campus with VUBrusselt. What can we expect?
In addition to the planned information sessions, this year we also have a major event taking place in the centre of Brussels which we hope will be a huge success. We want the university students to venture into the city and through this activity they will be able to do exactly that.
At 17:00 they can join in the city game "Brusseleir", after which there will be a food market from 19:00 on, topped up by performances and music. All VUB staff is also invited to join in for an 'after work’ drink from 17:00. We will moreover take the opportunity on the night to make our voices heard in relation to the issue on public transport in Brussels before Pascal Smet.
There are party buses planned from and to the university campuses between 18:30 and 03:30, so with the convenience offered by public transport there is no excuse not to show up.
We heard the student council are also planning a brunch with the VUB rector and vice rector.
Yes, that's right. On Friday we have, in collaboration with the student association ‘Free Inquiry’ (Vrij Onderzoek), organised a brunch with rector Caroline Pauwels and vice rector Jan Danckaert. This is a great opportunity for our fellow students to come and engage in conversation with them. Those who might have questions but are too shy to ask in person can send their questions to us in advance.
More information and a full program can be found on MY.VUB