Hi Mette, bye Nova: changing of the guard for student member of the Faculty Board
Nova Verkerk has represented the interests of students as assessor for the past two years. Now her term has come to an end, and on 1 September she will be succeeded on the Faculty Board by Mette Kamerich.
What does the assessor do?
The assessor is the student member of the Faculty Board and, in this capacity, is the most important link between the Board and the students. Students can contact the assessor with complaints, suggestions and ideas. In addition, the assessor is jointly responsible for the Diversity & Inclusion and Participation portfolios.
As assessor, Nova has experienced some eventful faculty years. ‘When I started, everything looked pretty calm, but after a few months it became clear that the financial situation was more difficult than we thought,’ she says. 'As a result, my time as assessor turned out a little differently from usual, but at the same time it has been one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. I was allowed to look behind the scenes everywhere, from contact with study associations to the application procedures for the new dean and vice-dean.'
Contact with students
More than she had originally anticipated, Nova had to respond to the current financial situation. ‘I am pleased with where we are now in our communication with students,’ she says. ‘Previously, as a faculty, we had no direct line of communication with them, while now it’s particularly important that we keep students involved and continue to provide them with information that is important to them. So we have launched a newsletter and information page to keep everyone informed of developments. I’ve also started a walk-in consultation hour.’
Her successor, Mette Kamerich, is pleased with these initiatives. 'Nova has introduced a lot of good plans,' she says. 'Now it's up to me to keep them going and expand them where necessary. I've met a lot of people behind the scenes in recent weeks and I'm impressed with the enthusiasm with which everyone does their work. That gives me confidence that we will succeed in keeping students well informed about developments at the faculty.'
In any event, The Hague can count on her attention. 'I did a year of International Studies myself before I started my Bachelor's in English Language and Culture, so I know what a great community it is. I want to work in The Hague one half-day a week to be more accessible to the students there. Hopefully, a new consultation hour will help with that.’
Increasing social safety
Nova and Mette have also started working on increasing social safety within study associations. 'That's one of our summer projects,' says Mette. 'Student associations often already have their policies in place, but study associations are still lagging behind in this respect. We want to see how we can improve the structure within the university so that it doesn't become the responsibility of individual students to solve major problems.'
Nova: ‘If a study association draws up a code of conduct, for example, we can bring it to the attention of other study associations. That way, we help each other move forward.’
Future plans
In addition to these plans, tasks related to contact with study associations, diversity and inclusion, and employee participation are also on the agenda. That means the 25 hours per week allocated to the assessor role are fully occupied. ‘That can be challenging at times,’ Nova admits. 'Now that there are two of us to train Mette, I sometimes think, half-jokingly: why don't we have two assessors as standard? There's plenty of work to do!’ She also has a tip for Mette. Look after yourself and stay strong, just as you are doing now. Your opinion matters.’
Nova herself will resume her studies in September. 'I'll have to get used to being a student again, but it's nice to stay connected to the faculty.' Her new part-time job will also help with that. 'As of 1 September, I'll be the new student assistant for sustainability. As an assessor, I was able to observe the new master's programme in Sustainable Humanities. I found that so interesting that I'm very happy to be able to continue working on this theme in this role.'
'It's nice for us that we can still bump into you in the hallway from time to time,’ says Mette. Nova: 'I'll be on the other side of the canal from now on, but I'll definitely drop by from time to time for a chat.’
Starting September 24, Mette will hold office hours every Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., alternating between The Hague and Leiden. Mette will be in The Hague on odd weeks and in Leiden on even weeks (starting October 1). Office hours in Leiden will be held in Herta Mohr 1.04; the location for The Hague will be announced at a later date.