Student representation in Antwerp (Belgium) Artesis Plantijn University College Elise Beeckmans & Dries Meerts student council Anika Hendrickx policy advisor on student engagement

Facts and figures Artesis Plantijn University College Fusion of Artesis and Plantijn in 2013 11.000 students 24 vocational courses 8 art programmes (Royal Academy and Royal Conservatoire) 7 campuses across Antwerp Only investing in student engagement since 2015 Asked to do this presentation last night at 8 PM Non-native English speakers Please be kind

Interactivity, yay! We start with a short survey Go to kahoot.it and sign in with the code on the screen

Evolution throughout the years Student elections 2013: 11 % 2015: 34 % 2017 and 2018: > 40 % (Belgian record for years) Student reps 2013: 23 2015: 42 2017: 52 2018: 84 2018 84 student reps – 30 student reps in Schools of Arts 50 have had training (IRL) Almost 60% female Almost 25% first year students Great diversity (gender, religion, socio-economical, ethnic background, age, ...)

Some basic realisations Big investment in digitalisation of administration Evening students can use free parking Renovated student space on one of the campuses Longer opening hours for the student restaurants Exam schedule published 4 months before actual exams

Working with sparqs Little legislation Institutional student council through elections SPARQS 2016: Workshop for student reps Presentation to board of directors Workshop with board members and student reps Attended sparqs training in Dundee 2017 Attended sparqs conference Strategic planning for student engagement and start engagement project 2018 Attended RAISE-conference Simultaneously, other student reps to sparqs training Kickstart engagement project

Student engagement project 5 student reps work for the student support office on this project (paid) Together with policy advisor Basic workshops and materials having productive meetings working as a team role of student rep how to write a proposal communication and negotiation Presentation and informal drink for students interested in applying The AP student rep handbook Town hall meetings about specific subjects Promoting participation in other training/workshops/conferences Intercultural communication Student support Deep Democracy Teambuilding

Student engagement project Making sure the students know the student reps Facebook page with ‘student rep of the week’ ‘Who is who’ of student reps on the e-learning platform Anonymous feedback and suggestion form online Mailbox and telephone for student council Office and meeting space for student council Promotion material: Posters Short interview montage of student reps First start up activity to improve social integration: Boardgame night open for all students