harks

Laura Harks

Hey, I’m Laura and during the past year, I had the honor to be seated in the University Council on behalf of DAS. Within the council, I was co-chair of the committee FPB, which focuses mainly on documents and policies regarding management and finance. As part of the sounding group of the Long-Term Strategic Housing plan (LTSH), I particularly found this a very interesting document. This year, the new LTSH for the upcoming 10(!) years was established. This plan focuses on the facilities on our beautiful campus. By giving a critical note on the prioritization of the different projects for improving the facilities, we as DAS ensured a high priority for extra project rooms, more study places, and better sports facilities in the upcoming years. What I really liked about this process was that we had intensive contact with different people, from sports associations to attendees of the meetings of the umbrella associations, to be able to represent as many students in this prioritization as possible.

Another policy that was very important that was discussed in the last year was Shaping 2030, the new strategy of the UT. As a faction, we were able to ask critical questions which ensured that we as students were not forgotten in the practicalities surrounding this document. Outside of my role in the council itself, I was responsible for the contact with some other parties. One of those was the municipality, with whom I had a meeting every cycle about issues that might interest both parties. Moreover, I was the contact person for the international umbrella, Unite, with whom I worked to strengthen the relationship between DAS and the international community, as well as the contact person for sports, which regarded primarily the prioritization of the LTSH projects and brainstorming about the creation of a new sports umbrella.