UR | Student boards are struggling

Something remarkable has been happening over the past ten years at study associations, social associations for students, and student sports clubs alike. Filling board positions at these organizations has become extremely difficult. Some are even going from four-member boards to two-member boards, simply because they have no other choice. But what is causing this?

There are more and more stories of boards having to work incredibly hard to recruit people and actively seek out their successors. In the past, students would compete to apply for a board position, hoping to be elected. 

Now, associations are hoping they will receive enough applications to fill their boards at all. If you have several candidates to choose from, you’re in a privileged position.

The root of the problem is fairly simple: students are generally becoming less active outside their studies. They are less likely to join associations, and even when they do, they are noticeably less active and show up less often. 

So even if membership numbers on paper are not necessarily declining dramatically, the number of active members willing to contribute to their association is dropping significantly.

The trend of students becoming less active in Eindhoven has become increasingly apparent in recent years. It’s affecting not only association boards but also other committees.

As a result, several student initiatives have been discontinued that were enormously valuable to the city and to students’ personal development. Quite simply, there isn’t enough interest anymore, even though there was just a few years ago. 

Take Liberation040, a freedom festival that aims to raise awareness of freedom among Eindhoven residents. Unfortunately, it has not been organized since last year.

Of course, this situation hasn’t come out of nowhere. There are several reasons why students are becoming less active, including financial difficulties and academic pressure.

The costs of everyday student life are skyrocketing. Rent is rising, as are grocery bills and the cost of daily necessities. As a result, students are trying to keep their spending to a minimum.

On top of that, more than half of all university and HBO students report stress-related complaints, with academic pressure often being the main cause. The Dutch National Student Association ISO is therefore calling for a cultural shift in student life. Instead of focusing on academic success, we should focus on student success.

Passing courses and earning credits are part of that, but they are far from everything. So much revolves around the BSA (binding study advice, ed.), but let’s move away from that mindset. Student success isn’t just about studying; it’s also about gaining other experiences and developing as a person. That’s what your student years are for, after all.

Being active in an association or student team can help you develop skills that you wouldn’t necessarily acquire through your studies alone. Think, for example, of organizational skills or out-of-the-box thinking. Plus, sometimes it looks good on your resume, too.

There’s nothing wrong with simply enjoying an active, social student life. Whether you're contributing to society or helping make student life more enjoyable, these are all things we should be more proud of as a community.

So let’s look at how we can encourage and support this within the university. Student life is nothing without student success!

Jesse Eekhout is an Industrial Engineering student at TU/e and a member of the University Council on behalf of the DAS student faction.  The views expressed in this opinion piece are his own. The text was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.

Photo | Jurre Wolters