Consent

The issue of consent was much discussed during the recent debate. Concerned and frustrated students asked Maex and Van Tienderen several times to grant them a vote on the issue, yet none received a satisfying answer. Van Tienderen pointed out that it is not that simple. ‘Collaboration with the VU is a complicated process in which many decisions have to be made.’ He invited student representatives to work together to specify which decisions they wanted a say in before he agreed to any form of consent. Meanwhile, Van Tienderen reassured students that he ‘would never make a decision at the expense of education or that is not supported by the whole faculty.’

Kjed Oostra, chairman of study association VIA, acknowledged that a veto could not be given right away, but stressed that Van Tienderen should give clarity on when they can expect a decisive answer. ‘If you are afraid that students will vote against the plans, than you have to convince them. If you cannot convince them then maybe you should listen to them,’ he said.

Students will have to wait until the final plans are presented in order to formulate a point of view. This, according to Maex, will be at the end of next week.