Photo Guy Ackermans Every academic year, two seats in the Student Staff Council are reserved for and required to be filled by two PhD candidates through an election. For the second year in a row, there were no elections for the PhD Council, which represents over 2,400 PhD students. However, two PhD candidates have fortunately stepped forward to ensure continued representation of the PhD community.
But have you ever wondered how to evaluate the success of previous councils? This is the elephant in the room, particularly for the WUR PhD Council. Over the years, there has been a constant and drastic decline in students willing to stand for elective positions. This also includes non-elective positions in the WUR Council, particularly among staff. However, competitiveness within the Student Council, representing Bachelor’s and Master’s students, remains strong thanks to the three council parties that are competing to win the votes of their constituents.
The PhD Council remains ineffective, with its elected members only taking on administrative roles
Convincing voters isn’t an easy task. It requires articulating clear messages that are factual, realistic and visionary, addressing underlying issues affecting students, such as the quality of education, mental health and well-being, teacher capacity, sustainability and so on. The best evaluation is when notable and identifiable policies and initiatives are emerging from this representation.
While one may say WUR’s policy and decision-making is a collective action, this isn’t the case for the PhD Council. The PhD Council remains ineffective, with its ‘elected’ members only taking on administrative roles within the WUR Council, neglecting their critical roles to voice issues affecting the PhD community. There is limited reaching out, no communication on past or current topics and potential achievements, and no single long-term agenda to influence upcoming policies or decisions in favour of the PhD community.
The top-down approach has become common on matters related to the PhD community, which is already disadvantaged in many respects. This raises a critical concern: good representation can be undermined. There is a need for the inclusive development of a new strategy and policy to guarantee true representation. And (international) scholarship PhD students must be allowed to represent themselves in the central participatory council. It’s time to decolonize the WUR representation system.
Joshua Wambugu (41), from Kenya, is a PhD candidate in the Marine Animal Ecology and Environmental Policy groups. He is a Social Safety Guide and loves cooking, hiking and birdwatching.
