New Resident Board Union fights for facilities and wellbeing of USP residents

The four resident boards of the Cambridgelaan, Bisschoppen, Casa Confetti, and Johanna buildings announced the new name at the end of May, during a meeting with SSH, the student GP, neighbourhood advisers, council members, social workers, and representatives of UU and the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences (HU). 

During the meeting, the resident boards asked for students to have more say in what happens at USP and for parties to communicate better with them. As an example, they mentioned the communication about large-scale events such as the marathon.  

DUB watched the meeting as well as the playful reveal of the boards’ collaboration.

Not listened to
The meeting was kickstarted at 7:30 pm sharp by the president of the resident boards, Frenk Out. They were in a full room at the Gezond en Wel (“Healthy and well”, Ed.) centre, inside HU’s Bolognalaan building. 

According to Out, USP residents feel as though they’re not being listened to at all when decisions are made about the area they live in. In addition, these students deal with several pressing issues, such as loneliness. Emile Ponson, who lives at Casa Confetti and is one of the representatives of the Resident Board Union, shared his experience. 

“We've got everything here at USP except friends. There are lecture halls, sports and dining facilities, and meeting places, but people are extremely lonely. We’re living in single-person studios, everyone’s doing their own thing and we don’t know our neighbours. It seems as though loneliness is embedded in De Uithof's culture. SSH, UU, and the Utrecht Science Park Foundation seem to forget that 4,000 of us are living here together. It’s extraordinarily difficult to find help and organise something. I think we need to talk to each other more, integrate, and grow closer. That’s why I’m here,” said Ponson. 

After his testimony, those present split up into groups to talk about topics like "participation and organising events", "wellbeing" and "facilities". According to the residential councils, these are the residents' most significant pain points.

Issues
Although the atmosphere was pleasant enough during the talks, there were some reproachful looks as well. Students say they do not know who to go to if they wish to organise events. As an example, they mentioned an evening surrounding the Eurovision Song Contest that was cancelled because Vagant closes early. 

Whenever something is organised, all sorts of issues arise. As the members of student boards, the responsible employees at the university, and the SSH building managers change quite often, it’s unclear who has to knock on whose door. 

When the topic of loneliness at USP was discussed, the social workers and student GP indicated that far-reaching changes are needed to turn Utrecht Science Park into a nicer place for students. They acknowledge that the student housing buildings' design makes the residents feel lonelier. There are more studios than rooms with shared kitchens, where people can meet each other, to name but one example. 

According to the UU area developer, changes in this aspect would require a multi-year plan. These are things that cannot be handled immediately. 

Another issue residents face is picking up packages and shipping them. After Primera left the space underneath the library, students were left with nowhere close to drop their packages or use other postal services. It's hard to tell how that issue is going to be solved. Some said that they could use a package drop-off point at UMC Utrecht, but representatives of the hospital indicated that the number of packages they had to handle was becoming too much. In the end, all involved parties promised to work on a functional pick-up point for the residents.

Een concreet probleem voor bewoners is het ophalen en wegbrengen van pakketjes. Na het verdwijnen van de Primera onder de UB kunnen bezorgdiensten pakketjes niet dichtbij achterlaten.

Utrecht Science Park Council
For those present, the main question was how to ensure that the university would do something about the issues they raised. Setting up the Resident Board Union is a first step. There is also the desire to revive the USP Council, an organisation comprised of members of the University Council, the HU Council, the student union Vidius, the Sports Council, and the resident councils. This organisation ceased to exist during the pandemic. A new USP Council should make it easier for USP residents to create and execute plans. It should also inform residents better about what’s happening on campus. The audience nodded in agreement.

Frenk Out was happy about the meeting's outcome. “I’m reasonably satisfied about it. The USP council will return, the issue with the package pick-up point will be dealt with, and we’ll be assisted in improving the wellbeing of our residents. That’s quite a good result. I also hope that we will remain in touch with the municipality and the university about facilities, having a say, and student wellbeing.” 

Artwork
At the end of the meeting, all participants walked to the Bolognalaan 101 courtyard. Beneath the wooden awning, four coloured blocks were hammered together by the representatives of UU, HU, SSH, forming a single artwork. Each block symbolises one of the housing buildings at USP. 

The members of the Resident Board Union with the artwork, created together with the stakeholders. Source: Marco van Stralen