Play an active role in co-participation
Do you want to get involved in the university community whilst working on your personal development? Co-participation is the perfect way to do it.
What are the benefits for you?
- You get to play a role in decisions that affect you as a student
- It’s good for your personal development
- In many cases, you will be eligible for financial compensation
- You can do your bit for the university community
These are the options available
As a student, you can take part in the following university co-participation bodies:
Stand as a candidate
Members of the University Council and faculty councils are chosen every year by way of university elections.
Want to play a role in decisions concerning your study programme? Why not join your programme committee? In general, new members join at the beginning of each academic year. Contact your programme committee for further information.
National student organisations
You could also join one of the national organisations that represent the interests of students, for example the Dutch Student Union (LSVb) or the Dutch National Student Association (ISO).
Participate!
In the Faculty of Humanities, students are represented in the following boards and committees: the departmental teaching committee, the department administration ór the institute administration and board, the faculty council and the faculty board. In all these consultation bodies, the student representatives protect the general interests of the students in Humanities.
Departmental boards
Each bachelor’s and each (research) master’s programme has a Departmental Board. The Departmental Board is responsible for the relevant teaching programme, i.e. for designing and implementing the teaching programme. The Board comprises a member of the academic staff as departmental chairman (bachelor’s) or programme coordinator (master’s), generally a professor, and a student from the department in question.
The Departmental Boards for bachelor’s programmes are responsible to the vice-dean, the portfolio-manager for teaching within the Faculty Board. The tasks carried out by the Boards of the master’s programmes fall ultimately within the responsibility of the dean of the Graduate School. This dean is also the dean of the Faculty, and chairman of the Faculty Board.
Departmental Teaching Committee
The faculties have developed a quality assessment system for the purpose of safeguarding the quality of the teaching programmes. The main body involved in this system is the Departmental Teaching Committee. Each programme has its own committee.
You are always free to contact the Departmental Teaching Committee with teaching-related questions or complaints. You can also play a role yourself by becoming a member. As a student member, you can exercise influence on all possible aspects of teaching within your department.
Faculty council
The Faculty Council has approval and advisory rights on a range of faculty matters, including teaching. It operates as the representative of the students and of the scientific and administrative staff with regard to significant decisions. The Faculty Council comprises nine staff members and nine student members, from different parties. More information about the Faculty Council and the issues which are discussed within this body can be found at the Faculty Council website.
Faculty Board
The Faculty Board comprises a dean (responsible for the master’s programmes), a vice-dean (responsible for the bachelor’s programmes and teaching in general), a portfolio-manager (or director) for operational management and a student member (also known as ‘assessor’).
The Board is responsible for the general operational management of the faculty in the field of teaching, research and organisation/operational management. The assessor, a student member, represents the interests of the students within the faculty.
The student member can be found in room 132 of the Lipsius Building, telephone 071-527 2299 or 527 2318 (faculty office). E-mail: assessor@hum.leidenuniv.nl.
Advisory Committee on Teaching
The permanent Advisory Committee on Teaching (Dutch) advises the Faculty Board and the Faculty Council on all matters related to teaching (across departments). This independent committee comprises six staff members (at least one study advisor) and five student members.