With the new academic year, the council is partly changing, as the student members get reelected every year. This time, however, the change will run a bit deeper than usual.

If you join the live stream or the recording of one of our council sessions from September, you will likely notice the absence of our esteemed Guido Visman from our ranks! With great sadness and filled with gratitude and appreciation, we see our faction chairperson go, sailing towards new adventures. Thanks Guido for all the support and all the work you did at the council, we will miss you.

As per the regulations, he will be replaced by the next person in our electoral list. Thankfully, Gerard Ritsema van Eck, who already served within the council in the previous term, is willing to replace Guido. Gerard has been helping us with social media and has been very active with us for the whole of the past year, and he is a welcome addition to the Science Faction in the Council.

The University can run smoothly only through cooperation between the students, the academic staff and the support staff. It is our faction's firm belief that a better university cannot be created if we sit on the sidelines and complain. We strive on behalf of the entire academic community, from PhD students to professors, to actively shape the policies and improve the decisions of the university. We want to see research and education supported in meaningful and fruitful interaction between the faculties and the supporting services.

This is only possible by active participation and cooperation, with a clear intent to improve our university and reduce the unnecessary bureaucratic overload, and actively promoting a feedback loop with the colleagues at the services, so that it is clear what our roles, constraints and needs are, and how we can work together productively.

This is our raison d’être, and we welcome anyone that wants to keep the work up with us. You saw in the last year that we are going through a complex period, and now more than ever we need your help: in terms of support, in terms of feedback and suggestions and in terms of joining our ranks and participating in the effort to make the university a better place.

With the elections coming in May next year, we would like to renew a call for participation to all our colleagues, from both the academic and support ranks. Please get in touch with us at wf rug.nl or personally contact one of us.