Transparency Within Our Education

 

Clear Guidelines on Educational Developments

The faction will keep their eyes open for specific concerns of students within different departments regarding unclear topics. We aim to inform ourselves on these topics, then communicate this information back to the students. The first topic that concerns us would be the guidelines on the use and handling of AI. So far, there seems to be a lack of collective agreement on what should be done concerning this aspect. This can easily lead to students not correctly referencing the use of AI, and professors having minimal directions on what to do when encountering these situations. From our perspective, there should be clear guidelines across the faculty/across programs, which would benefit both professors and students in the grading and completion of assignments, and would also facilitate decisions for the exam committee in cases of misuse. Secondly, there has recently been a change in the number of course evaluations per year. Our faction plans to follow the development of the pilot, as well as staff and student reactions following it. We understand the reasoning behind the change, but it is also important to monitor the development of courses without clear yearly updates and feedback from students. It would be nice, for example, for professors to encourage students to still reach out regarding possible complaints, but the lack of anonymity might hinder this, so we will look for other options that students would be open to, such as still employing surveys for them to complete.

 

Transparency Around Budget Cuts

One highly significant topic for everyone in our faculty is the implications of the budget cuts. There appears to be a sense of uncertainty and concern amongst students about how their studies will be affected. PSB wants to stay versed in the updates on the budget cuts by staying in contact with the student assessor, in hopes of helping students feel more at ease with this topic. All of the information we gain on these matters will then be relayed to the students. Our main goal is for PSB to facilitate and to better the communication between the faculty and the students. We plan on updating our Social Media platforms after meetings. Stories will be put up on Instagram with the information that can be shared, which will then be combined into highlights for each topic. We also plan on making use of the PSB newsletter to give regular updates. Lastly, we would like to offer updates in more physical forms as well, such as information flyers, or flyers promoting the rebranded walk-in hours before they are due to happen. All of the updates will be done in both English and Dutch, in order for us to be inclusive towards both international and native students.

 

Strengthening Communication Channels

Our main goal is for the communication from the faction to the students to be better and clearer, so students know what topics are being discussed within Faculty Board meetings and in the hopes of also informing students of what the Faculty Council and PSB does throughout the year. In order to further this goal, we would like to make this information available in both English and Dutch so that all students in the faculty may be able to understand these updates well.