‘Expenses for student associations too high’
The management wants to restrict the arrangement through which board members of fraternities and student unions get up to five thousand euros per year from Windesheim.
After the arrangement changed last year, it seemed that students could declare 100.000 euros more in total.
That became clear after the first grants were applied for in the new style. The management finds that this is a case of ‘an unexpected and unintentional substantial exceeding of the budget’ and wants to set a maximum for the total budget for these scholarships.
The scholarships now vary from 1275 to 5100 euros a year for students who have an executive role in a student association. The University contribution rises in proportion as the number of members becomes higher (a so-called ‘staffel vergoeding’, which is a graduated calculation of contribution). They will be given to a maximum of five executives, at the moment of twelve student associations of which the bigger ones have two to three hundred members. In the old situation all executives of big and small student associations received the same amount: 1000 euros per year.
Last December it became clear that because of the changes, 100.000 euros would be declared extra this year. Ever since, a committee has been investigating the results of the new arrangement. Based on the conclusions, the management now wants to restrict this new arrangement. That is why the management sent the central participation council a proposal to change the Profile Fund Regulation (the student financial support fund). That fund is the coordinating university arrangement that covers these board scholarships, meant for students who have a study delay because of personal and particular circumstances.
In the new proposal the differences in scholarships will stay. But the total budget will get a maximum that the management will set yearly, at the beginning of the school year. The maximum is based on the Windesheim budget. If that maximum falls short 10% from what came out of the graduated calculation, the monthly payment for every executive role student will be 10% lower as well. A student who would receive 5100 euros now will have to do with 4600 euros per year. The participation council (where there are always many students who do executive work themselves) has pleaded for years for the rise of the scholarships. We will have to await whether the council will agree with partly canceling these higher grants. (EM)
