Students on participation councils to receive up to 1,200 euros a month

Students who are elected to faculty or university councils participate in discussions about their university's policies. They even have the right to consent on important matters. All parties agree that this responsibility should be matched by adequate financial compensation, but how much should that be?

In recent years, educational institutions and students have been unable to reach a consensus on this. Last December, the Minister of Education, Robbert Dijkgraaf, tried to aid the talks by pledging an additional several million euros to higher education institutions, on the condition that they would reach an agreement with student organisations ISO and LSVb by summer. 

Guidelines
That agreement has now been made, although not with full enthusiasm. While it includes commitments on minimum levels of compensation, it also foresees exceptions in that regard. The parties have also agreed on a “process” for reaching that higher compensation, with the agreed figures being taken “as a guideline”. 

Students who are members of a central participation council could be poised to receive between 500 and 1,200 euros a month. Compensation for students serving on faculty or decentral participation councils is set at between 250 and 525 euros.

Lower?
Universities of applied sciences and research universities have pledged to enter into “constructive” dialogue with their participatory bodies about the proposed compensation levels. Before the end of the year, they will announce how the talks went and what level of compensation they have agreed upon. 

Earlier, concerns arose among participation council members that a national guideline would be lower than the levels of compensation some institutions already allocate. The agreement states that “positive” exceptions are possible, although it is not entirely clear whether institutions that pay "too much" can now lower the compensation they give. 

No amounts have been agreed upon for students on programme committees. ISO and LSVb had proposed between 125 and 200 euros per month for this group, but higher education institutions are not in favour of that idea.

Standard workload
In 2018, the parties agreed on a standard workload of roughly eight hours a week for students serving on university councils, which closely matches the hours spent by students in higher professional education, according to the latest participation monitor. The average workload for research university students tends to be around twenty hours weekly.  

Once the agreement on the standard workload was in place, the House of Representatives also called for a national guideline on financial compensation for students who serve on their institution’s participation council. Dijkgraaf wrote to the House of Representatives that he is pleased to see this has now been agreed. The higher education institutions are now likely to receive the additional three million euros they were pledged, which is to be shared between them.