Students go on strike at University College Roosevelt

Fewer people from abroad came to study in the Netherlands in the past two years and some universities are already starting to feel the pinch. One of them is University College Roosevelt (UCR), in Zeeland, which is part of Utrecht University. According to a spokesperson, the number of foreign students declined there too. For this reason, a quarter of the UCR staff will be laid off after the summer break.

No demands
UCR's board will reveal who will lose their jobs this week. The students are already staging a "strike in solidarity with the twenty or so people being forced to leave," says UCR student Nienke. "This is a peaceful strike, not a protest," the student says. "We have no demands, but we want to show that we are dissatisfied with the lack of transparency and participation in this reorganisation. The advice given by the students on the representative council has been ignored."

Secret
The strikers are annoyed that student council members had to sign a confidentiality agreement about the reorganisation. "This means they can't tell other students anything and therefore can't properly represent their peers."

A spokesperson for UCR says it is too soon to conclude that the students' advice has been ignored as the university's plans will be unveiled later this week. "Only then will students know what was done about their advice."

Some people are also concerned about how the layoffs will affect UCR's education. At the end of the afternoon, the striking students will decide if more protests will follow. This morning, about seventy students attended a lecture. Workgroups, lectures and other meetings will happen later in the day.

Part of Utrecht University
UCR is part of Utrecht University. Approximately 550 students join UCR each year to follow a three-year English-taught programme in the liberal arts. The tuition fee is over four thousand euros yearly for Dutch citizens and Europeans, while international students from countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) pay almost 11,000 euros.

About sixty percent of students at UCR come from abroad. However, the influx of international students has dropped since Dutch universities stopped recruiting students abroad. The board has announced a reorganisation and the curriculum is also being revamped.

Earlier this month, the University of Twente, Delft University of Technology and VU Amsterdam announced they will also make substantial budget cuts. Erasmus University wants to save money by getting rid of a few buildings earlier than planned, while VU Amsterdam is working on a redundancy plan to save sixty million euros.