IS reigns the department council this year, but here's why you still need to vote!

Departmental council

Many decisions at our university are made by the executive board. Of course, just like in the Netherlands, the decision process at TU/e is democratic. The University Council (UC) has the right to vote on many of these proposals. However, not all decisions are made at this central level. Education and research are more specific and therefore many decisions are made at the departments themselves. Every department has a so-called ‘Departmental Board’. This board consists of the dean, vice deans, and the managing director. Together with the director of education, they make a lot of decisions about the general order of business in the department. The departmental council has an advising and decisive role at the departmental level. The decisions made by the department are more specific and are, in our case, only about Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences. 

In the departmental council, there are 5 employees and 5 students from the department who are elected by other employees and students. The job of the council members is to keep an eye on the board, advise them, and vote on their proposals. You could compare this job with a municipal councilor (gemeenteraadslid). In practice, members share their concerns with the board about problems they see among their colleagues or their fellow students, make sure the PER (OER in Dutch) does not disadvantage students, and come up with new ideas the board can use to improve certain things in the department. In short, council members stand up for their colleagues or their fellow students.  

Seats

At the university, there are several departments. Most of these departments only hold one bachelor and a few masters. However, our department is an exception. Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences can be divided into two parts. Our part of the department, Innovation Sciences, consists of the following bachelor and master programs: Psychology & Technology, Sustainable Innovation, Human Technology Interaction, and Innovation Sciences. On top of that, the Industrial Engineering part consists of the bachelor Indrustial Engineering and three other masters. The 5 seats in the departmental council are usually divided between IE and IS. However, due to a procedural mistake at the side of IE, they are not participating this year. This means we get all 5 seats this year! But … this does not mean we do not need your vote. WE DO! To be heard, the departmental board must know that many students are represented by us. Therefore, your vote is as important as any other year. So, all VOTE Innovation Sciences on 7 or 8 December!

If you have any questions, remarks, or anything else you want to share with the members of the departmental council, feel free to contact us.

Ayda Frings

Hi, I am Ayda Frings and I am part of the departmental council. I think it is important that our Innovation Sciences students are represented. Decisions made in the council, have consequences for the quality of education and the reputation of our whole department, including the Innovation Sciences part. Therefore, I aim to get the best education for all our students, now and in the future. Other topics that are very important to me are well-being, personal development and sustainability.

Emma Höngens

My name is Emma Höngens and I am in the departmental council since January 2020. I am in the council to make sure the board makes the right decisions for students. Every July, the new regulations for the upcoming academic year have to be approved by the departmental council. My main focus in this process is the laws regarding the exams. I want to protect students from more stress around exam periods. I don’t want that students have to wait for more than three weeks for their exam grades for example. When there is something in these regulations that disadvantages students around exam weeks, I advise on how to adapt these so the board improves this part.

Besides Ayda and Emma, three other students will be representing Innovation Sciences in the departmental council this year. See the (almost complete) group pic below!

From left to right: Rik Schutte, Emma Höngens, Charlotte van Dongen and Ayda Frings. The fifth student, Julie van der Hijde, is unfortunately not in this picture.