Student council
Within Maastricht University there are different organs that make decisions about the direction of the UM, its faculties, and its programmes.
Maastricht University is distinguishable from the others as it highly values the opinions of the students. Students are invited to actively participate in university politics and can make their voices heard in a number of committees. Representation in the FHML for each study is organised in five major organs.
Student Council Health and Life Sciences
The student council is a group of motivated students from three different gremias (the Educational Programme Committee – EPC, the Management Team – MT, and the Board of Directors – BoD). The student council is specific for each faculty and consists of all student representatives of EPC, MT and BoD of each study programme at FHML (except medicine), and each Head of Education of the Study Associations at FHML. A student representative from the Faculty Council also joins the Student Council meeting. This set-up allows for proper communication between the gremias and the Faculty Council and provides a space for flow of ideas between the different study programmes.
As a member of the Student Council you also have to be a part of EPC, MT or BoD. However, you can also be a part of EPC only and not the Student Council as there are too many student representatives in EPC and not enough spaces in Student Council so only two members of EPC will report back to the Student Council.
Educational Programme Committee BMS and RMT
The Educational Programme Committee for Biomedical Sciences and Regenerative Medicine and Technology consists of 6 staff members (from Institute for Education – IfE) and six student representatives (1 for RMT, 4 for BBS and 1 for MBS). EPC provides advice about the courses and structure. The EPC meetings are once a month and take two and a half hours.
Management Team BMS
Unlike EPC, the MT makes decisions about the education within BMS (Bachelor and Master). Staff members are;
- Jan Theys – Director of Education BBS,
- Roger Godschalk and Frank Stassen – Program Coordinators BBS
- Ronit Shiri-Sverdlov – Program coordinator MBS.
There are two student representatives for MT BMS, one for BBS, and one for MBS. The meetings are every two weeks and take +- 1 hour.
Board of Directors AZM/FHML
The Board of Directors is the highest organ of FHML, and only one student representative is present; the student has a term of 1 year and the domain is switched every year (Medicine 23/24, Health Sciences 24/25, Biomedical Sciences 25/26). This council makes the decisions regarding the whole faculty – including both FHML and AZM.
Faculty Council
The council of the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML) is the representative advisory board, elected by the students and staff. The faculty council advises the board of the faculty, solicited and unsolicited. Moreover, the council has a right of assent with regards to a fixed range of faculty issues.
The council has eighteen members: si persons represent the academic staff, three represent the support staff and nine members are chosen from and by FHML students. Council meetings are public, and confidential agenda items are omitted. In chapter 3 of the faculty regulations (only available in Dutch) the roles and competencies of the council are elaborated upon.
University Council
The University Council of Maastricht University is a representational body in the sense of the Higher Education and Scientific Research Act. The UC’s main powers are the right to give advice and the right to give or withhold consent. The UM Administration and Management Regulations, which the UC was involved in drawing up, set out the issues on which the UC is asked for advice and/or consent.
The UC also serves as a sounding board for the Executive Board, is involved in assessment and monitoring, and may submit proposals for new initiatives. The UC has three committees in which staff and students discuss plans and proposals with the Executive Board. Each month a plenary meeting is held with the full council and the Executive Board.
The UC is composed of twenty members, equally divided among students and staff. The ten staff delegates are elected every two years, with six representing the academic staff and four representing the support staff. The ten student members of the UC are elected annually.
Interested? There are still some open vacancies, feel free to email studentcouncil-hls@maastrichtuniversity.nl .
If you have any other questions: education_sahelix@maastrichtuniversity.nl