Wiktoria Kamińska, SAM: ‘We want all students to be heard’

An app for all university affairs, a digital student card and more recorded lectures, that’s what Wiktoria Kamińska (21) wants to achieve in the coming year as candidate of student party SAM. She was not born, but she did grow up in the Netherlands: ‘I like being very accessible to both Dutch-speaking and English-speaking students.’

What needs to change at Tilburg University?

‘Of course, there are a lot of things that come up. The most important thing is that digitization can be improved for students. For example, we want to have one comprehensible app for everything.

‘Now we have the Osiris app for registrations for courses and a separate page for course schedules and also a separate app for the sports centre. It’s frustrating when you have to log in again and again for each app with an authenticator.

‘We know it is possible to have one large app with multiple functions, they have that in Utrecht, for example. It is also very easy to add a digital student card in it.’

What is going well?

‘That free menstrual products are offered, for example in the neutral toilets in the Cube, and you can ask for them at the library desk. They are of good quality, which is a step forward. It would be nice if that could be expanded to several buildings.

‘An improvement in the area of mental well-being of students is that we have a walk-in point in the LocHal every Friday. If students experience something, there is a low threshold for them to tell their story to trained volunteers. Those can also help you further, for example by finding help at the university, because sometimes it is quite difficult to find exactly where or to which person you need to go.’

What will SAM be committed to in the coming period?

‘In addition to a clear app, we want hybrid education to be better organized. For students who are occasionally ill, or are chronically ill, and therefore cannot attend lectures, it is sometimes quite difficult to ask whether lectures can be made available online. The bar is set very high for this.

‘We really want lectures to be accessible to everyone and that everyone has the opportunity to study well. Sometimes students cannot come in because of strikes. Or students cannot learn well in a lecture hall, for example because of ADHD or autism. In a very large study program, such as psychology, for example, you can be in a lecture hall with two or three hundred people, and it can be difficult to understand what’s being explained.’

‘It is important that your student life becomes pleasant and easier and less stressful’

Why should students vote for SAM?

‘What I really like about SAM is that we are committed to all students. We want all students to be heard, because everyone deserves a voice. Many students are not aware of how much influence you actually have in the University Council.

‘Of course you have to deal with policy plans and slow processes, but it is important that students are heard in this. At the end of the day, students make up the university, not just the professors and the other people who work here.

‘In addition to the big issues, there are many smaller things that we are not satisfied with. That there were no menstrual cabinets. And chocolate milk was taken out of the vending machines. Those are small thing and now that the’re back, it may not change very much. But it does help you get through the day. It’s important that your student life becomes pleasant and easier and less stressful, it should simply be the best time of your life.’

What do we need to know about you personally?

‘I have ADHD and quite a lot of experience with study delay and seeking help. How difficult that actually is. When you experience it yourself, it is so different from hearing is as someone else’s story. That’s why I would like to be on the University Council.

‘I only have ADHD myself, but in my environment I have friends with functional disabilities or difficult home situations. This gives me a more general idea of how students’ lives can play out and what setbacks you can encounter.

‘I’m also Polish, hence my name. Many people think I’m an international, but I’ve lived here since I was three. That gives me a very big perspective when it comes to Dutch students and international students. I have lived here all my life and have many friends who are Dutch, but since I have been studying at Tilburg University, I also have a lot of international friends.

‘From their point of view, I understand all the struggles and the burdens they face. At the same time, I know the Dutch perspective. I like being very accessible to both Dutch-speaking and English-speaking students.’

_Advertentie.