The 8th ESC was held in Njimegen (Netherlands) and co-organised by ISO and LSVB. The conference took place under the EU-presidency of the Netherlands in which higher education had a strong priority. New steps were being taken in the creation of a European space of higher education and the creation of the knowledge based society. In this light, the two student unions of the Netherlands and ESIB, the National Unions of Students of in Europe, found it necessary to discuss contemporary and alternative forms of decision-making in these processes.

 

As already mentioned, the very root of higher education reforms is often based on the guiding principle of democracy. This guiding principle can be seen in a number of guises: Whether from increasing the involvement of students and other stakeholders in the decision making of issues affecting them; recognizing the democratising role of higher education in society as a whole; issues surrounding equal access for all to higher education and how this expansion of Higher Education should be financed; ensuring transparent information in terms of the quality of the subject and the institution through quality assurance and enhancement as well as how the autonomy of the institution should be balanced with external funding and regulations.

 

Read the pre-convention reader.  

 

Two plenary sessions were held:

 

Mr. Merisotis' presentation, entitled Democratisation and Student Inclusion - Observations on access, financing of higher education and coalition building. can be downloaded here.

 

This workshop looked at the role of students and universities in society in the wider sense. Focusing on the impact that higher education can have in ensuring greater involvement and participation throughout life, the workshop will address issues such as tackling student under-involvement. Regional, gender- and political identity and student involvement in society will be focus points.

Discussion points: What is the added value of involving students in internal democracy? What should the university provide in extracurricular activities/provisions? What kind of extracurricular activities support active citizenship?

Students representing students

This workshop looked at how to ensure student representation including looking at some of historical issues of student involvement and activism. It also discussed at how to ensure representation that truly reflects the views of students.

Discussion Points: Which democratic structures are present in different NUS'es? How do you represent minorities in the student population in an NUS? Can we have consensus in student views?

Financing higher education

There have been increasing calls for higher education to be financed via student contribution and yet this has a major impact on democratic involvement. This workshop looked at the best ways to finance higher education as well as looking at different options and how to ensure the minimum impact on access.

Discussion points: How we make finance flows in the institutions more democratic? What will be the position of the student when he finances the full program (through a voucher system or another study grants model)

University autonomy

University autonomy to set the curricula and governance has been guiding principle since universities were established almost a thousand years ago and yet increasingly there is discussion about how this autonomy should go with the funding from the state (or increasingly the student).

Discussion points: What are the rules for the institutions to follow when applying for public finances? What is autonomy really and how does it relate to institutional democracy?

Quality Assurance

To ensure democratic availability of information and ensuring that higher education is constantly improving to ensure that students are able to make the most of their time within the system there must be a good system of quality assurance and enhancement.

Discussion: What is a good internal quality assurance system? What is the quality culture really?

Conclusions

[Insert post-conference docs]

 

 

 

The convention was supported by the Netherlands EU Presidency