Volunteer work is enriching
a board member of the Red Cross explains why
The new schedule proposal is a nasty issue for many students and organisations. Instead, the WUR should look for a structural solution in which they:
- Use current capacity properly!
- Invest in alternatives!
- Stop maximum student recruitment!
- Assure student development!
- Assure proper working conditions
Join our demonstration: https://www.facebook.com/events/1330760723674851/
In the sixth report, Eline van der Ham, a board member of the Red Cross, tells that lunch breaks are crucial for committees in Wageningen.
The “Red Cross” Student desk Wageningen is one of the organisations in Wageningen where students can do voluntary work. For example, they can fulfil a board function or join a committee. It is also possible to assist in flexible activities, which means that the student offers one-time assistance. For three years, we are trying to make students excited, and this is going pretty well! Students in Wageningen are active besides their studies and would like to work for others. In addition to the fact that this is crucial for society and it is greatly appreciated by the people and organisations we work with, we also find it important that students learn more in addition to their studies and gain new experiences.
Our most active volunteers are on the board or in one of the four committees we have run during the academic year. Every week there is a meeting. The committees do that by default in the lunch break. They often need about three-quarters for this plus the travel time between the different rooms where lessons are given. With the introduction of the new class timetable, it will no longer be possible for the committees to meet during the lunch break. The Student desk Board also regularly uses lunch breaks to schedule meetings and promotional actions. Half an hour lunch break here is simply too short. The board also meets at least one evening a week and two hours long. Now it is still possible to combine this with, for example, an activity organised by the committees, but by the new class timetable the meeting will only begin later, and the meeting will cover the full evening.
Organising activities with for example refugees or the elderly will also be hampered by the introduction of the proposed timetable. The events usually take place in the evening. As sufficient preparation time is also required, activities can not start later than 20:00 and this limits the possibilities for the activity and the rise of the target group. We would be very sorry for this. These are precisely the activities we are proud of as Student desk and which we find vital.
Thus, the proposal for the new timetable made by the university certainly affects the activities that the Studentendesk can organise. It will also prevent students from engaging in volunteers because students have relatively less time for voluntary work. Evenings will be shorter, but at the same time all meetings will be moved. This does not seem to us a good thing, so we hope the university can come up with a new and better proposal.
Volunteer work is enriching