Joost remains assessor: 'Another year at the table with the top of the Faculty'
Because of the pandemic, we hardly saw him walking through the corridors. Yet Joost Barendse chooses a second term as assessor. ‘Last year was so much fun and educational. So being an assessor for another year is something I can't refuse.’
The life of Joost last year looked like that of many a student: online lectures and trying to enjoy yourself at home. But he also sat at the table of the top of the Faculty. ‘I sat at interesting meetings and talked about subjects that I could not have thought of before.’
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Besides being a crazy and busy year, it was also an educational one. Joost learned to speak his mind. ‘In this role you consult and meet with employees who have years of experience. There was only one way to get in and that was to open my mouth. Because students' opinions matter.’
Letting the student perspective be heard
From meetings with the Faculty Board to consultations with fellow-assessors and the Executive Board. Joost did everything to make the student perspective heard. ‘I tried to improve the contact between programme committees and the faculty board. We have set up a buddy system for this. Next year, we are also going to organize a faculty participation day. It will be a full agenda, but I'm looking forward to it.’
Students in the corridors
This year, Joost hopes to speak to more students in the corridors. ‘A large part of the assessor's job consists of speaking to students and finding out what is going on among them. That goes much better when you see the students physically.’
New year, new goals
He has also set new goals. ‘Student input can be even better and more efficient, for example through the study programmes. Many study programmes are getting bigger and bigger and not everyone knows where to find the study programme committees. For example, study programmes can introduce yearly representation. For each year layer, you would have a few students who would have regular contact with a student in the study programme committee or the study programme board. That's what I'm going to work on this year.’