NovUM’s pillars are housing, education, sustainability, and internationalism. These pillars enable us to serve you in the best manner possible, to distinguish ourselves from other student representation parties, and to stay true to our roots. Keep reading to know why our pillars matter and what we want to do for each in a nutshell. Also, find a detailed version of concrete policies we want UM to pursue:
Housing
It is not a secret: finding an accommodation in Maastricht is complicated, and renting it is often expensive. This issue only worsens every year.
Indeed, UM has to increase its number of students by 1 to 3% each year to conserve the government’s subsidies. If we take as referential the number of students on UM’s website (18,000), we can calculate that at least an extra ~180 students must be enrolled next year. This change may seem minor to some people. Yet, it adds up over the years: if we follow the same logic, at least an extra ~1,880 students must be enrolled within 10 years.
This increase of number of students will have several consequences: lack of places, increase of rent prices, more and more students living further and further of Maastricht, maybe even more scams.
NovUM is the only party making housing a priority by making it a pillar and, in this context, it is more than needed!
Education
As NovUM is a student representation party, it is no wonder that education is at the core of our priorities. We have always fought for an education of quality, accessible to all, and in an environment where everyone feels integrated. We strive to improve UM’s teaching, services, facilities, and transparency.
Sustainability
Sustainability has gained importance over the years, especially considering the disastrous consequences of climate change. NovUM wants to expand the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle‘ mindset at UM, increase UM’s collaboration with local businesses for supply, and overall ensure that UM consistently works towards becoming CO2-neutral. We also place great importance on raising awareness of environmental issues, whether it is in the classroom or beyond.
Internationalism
NovUM was founded to provide a party for international students to be represented, and still prides itself in its international outlook to this day. Furthermore, UM is especially proud to have a solid 50% of its student population and more than 30% of its staff from abroad. Having internationalism as one of our pillars thus makes great sense.
We want to emphasise both the Dutch and international character of Maastricht, increase the international character of UM’s teaching, and increase UM’s exchange and language course possibilities.