Fractie Front

This week, we spoke with Student Party Front. This is one of the two groups in the University Council. Front stands for the active student and that is noticeable. They think it is extremely important that being a student is more than just studying. They take a critical look at the documents that are submitted and they themselves repeatedly submit initiatives that focus on more room for the active student. Besides being a group, they also have a less serious side. Front is a close group of friends who regularly undertake fun activities together. Want to know more? Then read the article!

Who are you and what do you do at Front?

"I am Tijs van der Zanden and I am chairman of Front. As chairman you are in close contact with all the associations connected to the university. From them I try to gather input for the university council."
"I'm Charlotte and I'm a daily director. You could call that the most 'political' function of our board. I mainly deal with the preparatory meetings of the University Council and the contact with the Executive Board and the U-Council."

"So the difference is mainly in the 'stakeholders'," adds Tijs. "I focus more on the student councils and Charlotte more on the Executive Board and the University Council." 

What is Front?

"We are a student party in the university council. There are a total of two student parties in the university council, SAM and Front. The University Council consists of nine seats for students, nine seats for staff and the Executive Board. The University Council is led by an independent chair. That's kind of the big picture."

"We actually have a year-long opportunity to participate in policy making. We have the right to consent to some plans that the Executive Board imposes. This means that we have to 'approve' these plans, before the Board can start working on them. We also provide input on certain ideas and submit initiatives. We see that they actually do something with that input. Here in Tilburg we have a very receptive Executive Board and that is great. The position of the student parties is sometimes underestimated.

What does Front stand for?

Tijs is quick to point out: "Our philosophy is really 'the active student'. How we often explain it is that it is the glasses you put on when you read the pieces and where you focus on. It is also very broad, because 'the active student' is all the students who go the extra mile in their time as students. These are people who do voluntary work, go on an exchange, are members of a study, student or sports association or have a part-time job. In fact, it's about all forms of self-development alongside your studies, also in view of the increasing demand from employers for students with an extensive CV. We simply think it's important that the university facilitates that you can do all that in addition to your studies! This is how we look at the various documents and initiatives. Within our philosophy of the active student, we use three pillars, namely internationalisation, digitalisation and living campus. From these pillars we write initiatives and give input to the policy."

Student life is just not all in the books

What initiatives are you working on now?

"The 'master specialisation' is an initiative we recently submitted. You often hear from students that they want to do two masters. Two master's programmes require two theses. That scares off many students. We would therefore like to see students have the opportunity to do a certain master's, with a specialisation in another field. It would be great if that specialisation were also recognised on your diploma. The Executive Board has responded positively to this, which means that the possibilities for this will be looked into."

"We also submitted an initiative last University Council concerning training courses for a confidential counsellor. This is, of course, very prevalent at the moment. We want to ensure that the safest possible environment is created. Many associations are already setting up trust persons, but they often haven't had any training yet. We would like this to be organised centrally from the university, so that there is a large accessible network of confidential counsellors."

"Another example is the sustainability fund. This is an initiative that was approved last year. It has also already come into effect. Associations can already make a claim to it. It is an amount of €10,000 that the university makes available to associations to make them more sustainable."

Who are also responsible for Front?

Charlotte states: "Yes that is a bit of a complex story. We have five seats in the University Council and these five form the fraction within our board. The fraction consists of the president, vice-president, two general managers and one daily manager. We also have an additional board of three men, so they do not have a seat. That is the board for our participation association, or MZV, and they deal with our members, committees, events and finances. This MZV was established a few years ago for people who were politically interested and wanted to get involved with the group. It is divided into several committees, such as the activities, acquisition, events and elections committee. In addition, we have a political and international pool that we can ask for opinions."

Tijs: "We hope that this group will continue to grow. The nice thing about the MZV is that it is a group of active students. You have people who are often active elsewhere, such as a student, study and/or sports association and they all come together. So everyone who comes to Front is actually enjoying getting out of their own bubble. In that respect, we are perhaps a new bubble of different bubbles."

What are activities you do with the MZV?

"On Monday, for example, we have a cantus on a covered wagon with our members, list pushers and candidates. We often combine something formal with something informal. On Monday, for example, the new election plan is presented to the list pushers and members. That is also an opportunity for them to provide some input, after which we of course have a nice drink together and go for a ride in the covered wagon."

"In any case, there is plenty happening informally. We had the etiquette dinner last week, which was very successful. In addition, the annual keg party is coming up. Of course, there is much more than that. On a formal level, we recently organized the city council debate with Magister JFT | Juribes and the Student Council, for example."

Looking at the upcoming elections: how are you working towards them?

Tijs comments: "Well, we really start very early with that. It is, of course, a big task for your party. In November we started drawing up the list. The campaign period started last Thursday. That was the moment we announced the list externally. The election plan has also just been written, and with that we are really looking at what the spearheads are within the new campaign."

"The student debate is also part of that election. We will then debate the points of the university against SAM. We will draw up a list of 30 people, and with those people we will really try to represent our election plan. On 12 to 14 April, the real elections take place, and it is full steam ahead. It is fun to see our new list in action. It's exciting, but really fun and super cool."

We just think it's important that the university facilitates that you can do a lot of things alongside your studies

What do you want to achieve in the future?

"We believe that the exchange procedure can be improved. We recently held an Inspiration Day about this theme. We asked students both at the university and online how they would like to see the exchange procedure. This could include admission based not only on grades, but also on CV and motivation letter. We also want to expand the options for exchange from 3 to 5. We want to work with this theme in the coming period."

"In addition, we are really trying to focus on digitalisation! We want to ensure that students have the opportunity to look back at their lectures. That also fits in with the picture of the active student. We want the university to actively think about giving students more room to manoeuvre so that they can plan their own week. Ultimately, we hope to get more and more active students. Fortunately, students are becoming more aware of this, we notice!"

"Furthermore, our candidates have written an election plan, but it is not officially known yet. So we will have to wait and see. We, as the current fraction, try to give the candidates freedom in writing their election programme. After all, it is the programme of the new group. Of course, there are always current issues that are passed on to the new fraction, but otherwise, the new fraction is autonomous to come up with new ideas."

Charlotte adds, "Tilburg University's strategy for the next 5 years was recently announced. It is up to the political groups of the coming years to monitor the points in the strategic plan. In recent years, the university has focused on quantitative growth and now that this growth has succeeded, it is important to focus on qualitative growth."

Want to know more about Fraction Front? Then take a look at their site