Foto: Sven Menschel
Student Financial Assistance (FOS) offers students with a board position financial compensation for the delay to their studies caused by their association duties. This sum is linked to the basic grant. With the basic grant coming to an end as of September 2015, FOS too was shrouded in uncertainty. On the initiative of VeSte, the Student Council has agreed with the Executive Board that a transition year will be introduced for FOS. So students who wish to do board work next year will still receive payment. ‘It’s great,’ says Soline de Jong of VeSte. ‘Most boards are already looking for next year’s successors. That students don’t need to worry about a delay to their studies may well give them the extra push they need to spend a year as a board member.’
What will happen to the FOS after that is not clear. Student societies are important to rector magnificus Martin Kropff, and he wants students to have the opportunity to work on a board for a year. ‘But the question is whether Wageningen UR should play a role in the new situation,’ says executive board spokesman Simon Vink. A working group is going to tackle the subject and come up with recommendations at the beginning of April.