In addition to Crea, Asva student union also struggles with shortages

Budget negotiations between the joint meeting of the co-determination councils and UvA’s Executive Board are still not concluded, although “guiding principles” for the budget were previously issued by the joint assembly of the Central Student Council (CSR) and Central Works Council (COR).

Student involvement from the UvA co-determination council should be a part of the overall approval for the university’s annual budget. So wrote the joint assembly (JA) last week in a letter to the UvA Executive Board. And because student involvement is seen by the co-determination councils as an essential part of the relationship between the UvA and its students, the UvA should also provide more money for it, students and staff believe. The council’s main concerns are reported shortages at the student union ASVA and the cultural center Crea.

Asva student union

Two weeks ago it was revealed that the Crea cultural center is facing substantial deficits and should receive an additional €800,000 to balance the budget. According to the co-determination councils, the Asva student union also has a substantial shortfall of €60,000 annually. The De Key housing corporation is partly to blame. Last year, the corporation terminated “the annual subsidy of €25,000 to Asva,” according to the councils, even though Asva would like to do more for many more students than just those of UvA and HvA. The student union would also like to represent students of secondary vocational education. Asva would also like to increase the hourly wages of its 25 employees from €14 to €16 per hour. These are all plans that cost money, but because there is none, the co-determination councils fear that “Asva employees will have to be laid off.” An additional amount of €100,000 must be provided, according to the JA, to get Asva back on track financially.

Faculty-student councils

According to the co-determination councils, faculty-student councils should also receive more money so they can do their work properly. They also believe there should be at least a “standardized minimum amount” for the councils. According to the council’s calculations, the amounts faculty councils receive per student vary considerably, from €4.12 per student at the Medical Faculty to €0.75 per student at the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Because the differences between faculties can be large and depend on the negotiating capacity of each individual faculty-student council, there should be a minimum amount of €10,000 per faculty-student council.

The co-determination councils would also like more student advisors. In several programs, their availability is “still a problem.” This may become a reality, as the UvA board has commissioned an audit of the availability and accessibility of student advisors.