Do you feel at home in Maastricht?
Wednesday February 13 the annual meeting of Studentenstad took place. Alderman Bert Jongen, rector Rianne Letschert and Pascal Breuls, director of the SSC, were present to discuss with students about the question: do you feel at home in Maastricht? They do quite so, but there's also room for improvement.
Alderman Bert Jongen invited the boards of all student organisations to the town hall. Quite a few of them were present. Among them the Student Council, Eunitas, ISN Maastricht, MUSST, the WE festival and the Student Project Team. The evening was hosted by Martijn Weyenberg and Thomas Schafer, projectleaders of Match and Kaleido.
After pitches by Precious Plastic, the WE festival and Match for Brighter Futures, small groups were formed to discuss about the question: do you feel at home in Maastricht and would you want to stay here after your studies? The results where discussed in a final session with the complete audience. International students feel at home at the University, but have little contact with locals. Even for Dutch students it is hard to connect with the local community. Here, not speaking the dialect seems to be an issue. Furthermore, according to the students, the university gives too little attention to local job opportunities. Because of this, the choice to leave Maastricht after finishing their studies is a rather obvious one.
The evening ends with a interactive game. The audience is asked to login with their smartphone and give live suggestions and solutions: how can the university and the municipality make Maastricht more home-like? Afterwards, the representatives join a drink in the townhall. The partners of Studentenstad are now going to look how they can put the students' advice into practice. During the Stadsronde in March, students and citizens are invited to voice their opinions on Studentenstad to the city council once more. The exact date and time will be announced at the facebook of Match Maastricht: https://www.facebook.com/matchmaastricht/.
Photographer: Martijn Weyenberg
A final word by rector Rianne Letschert
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