Student Platform | Student Unlimited from TU Delft

Student platforms for and by students with support needs play an essential role in promoting inclusivity and accessibility within educational institutions. Through several interviews with student platforms, we want to provide tools and inspiration to other student platforms, as well as educational institutions, on how to organize student participation within an educational institution. For the fifth interview we went to TU Delft, where the board members are working on expanding the platform to a new form.

Part 5: TU Delft student platform – Student Unlimited

When Marissa van der Tol (29), TU Delft bachelor’s student in technical mathematics, was still a student at the college, she wanted to join a platform for students with disabilities, but she missed the sense of community there. “I didn’t find them very active, they only had an activity once or twice a semester,” she said. That sense of community does exist at the Student Unlimited platform at TU Delft, of which she has been a board member for over a year. She enjoys using it herself, as she has fibromyalgia.

“Students with disabilities have a secluded position within society. It’s nice not to have to explain sometimes what’s bothering you, that you can go to people who understand what’s bothering you.” – Marissa

That sense of community naturally grew that way. Marissa guesses that the Student Unlimited platform was established during the 2019-2020 academic year. Marissa: “TU Delft wanted advice from a few students with disabilities. Those students quickly saw that a few is not enough. They said, ‘I can tell from my experience, but there are so many more students who have a disability. Those experiences need to be shared, too.’ “They wanted to create a place where students with disabilities could meet.”

From casual chats to committees

It succeeded. In addition to the board, the platform now has over 200 members. The platform keeps in touch with members in various ways, including using a new feature of WhatsApp called the “community. Marissa: “When you get in there, you get to the announcements. Then you have all kinds of chats, from casual chats where you can talk about all kinds of things to a study time chat where you can find others to collaborate with.” Since TU Delft has many foreign students and the platform wants to be as inclusive as possible, most communication is in English.

Some of the members also volunteer in the platform’s various committees. For example, there is the “promoco,” which deals with promoting the platform and maintaining the various social media accounts. Another committee deals with the monthly activities. At those activities, not only TU Delft students are welcome, but also other students. Marissa: “We even have members from Rotterdam.” Each committee has a board member attached to it.

Culture change

Marissa has chosen to serve on the committee that advises TU Delft. One of the committee’s tasks in doing so is the annual inspection of a building at the university. During the interview with Marissa in early September, the finishing touches are being put on a real report on the latest inspection. Marissa: “That’s quite a tough thing to do, but we find there’s a lot of interest in it.” That committee also gives monthly updates to the Central Student Council and has a regular moment at the consultation between student advisors and student deans. “That consultation is privacy sensitive, so we’re not there for the whole meeting, but at the beginning of that consultation we can discuss points that are important to us or that we’re running into. They help us fine-tune those points and we advise them in the meantime to change certain things.”

Marissa is especially pleased with the effect their input on the new campus vision has had. In it, the educational institution sets out its goals for the coming years. Marissa: “I was allowed to give a presentation on what needs to be done from a student perspective. There were staff members who were willing to discuss this further with us.” Marissa notices that encountering limitations is less and less put back on herself. Staff members feel more responsible to do something about it. “That’s really a culture shift,” she says.

“There is an inclusive atmosphere at TU Delft.” – Marissa

She also attributes the receptivity to her message to the level-headedness with which the platform proclaims its message. “You can tell it like: look at me being pathetic, or you can tell it like: guys, this is what it is and you have to make do with that.”

Interest Group

The board has since taken up the idea of making the platform an official interest group. The choice to do so is primarily a practical one. A while ago, the board consisted of four members. Now there are six, two of whom perform the function unpaid. Marissa: “TU Delft considers the representative function of the platform very important, only they feel that the social element is not part of it. That part is performed by the two volunteers.” By making the platform an interest group, all board members can claim a board scholarship.

In addition, the board would like to be able to work full-time. The current four hours per week for each board member is far too little. As an association board member, you can claim the university’s profiling fund, which makes it easier to put your studies on hold for a year. To ensure continuity within the platform, not only is there an association plan, annual plans and minutes, the board has a gradual turnover. “Instead of the whole board being refreshed every year, we refresh half the group every six months,” says Dr. K. K., a member of the board. Each board member basically holds the position for one year.

Physical place

After the platform is officially an association, Marissa hopes there will be a physical place for Student Unlimited. “You can then organize activities there more easily, you could organize a walk-in clinic and you can hold the meetings there. It all becomes a little more accessible that way.” She won’t experience that herself. In no more than a year, she will be a student and hopes to be able to lobby at the national level.

The interview series student platforms is written by Thijs de Lange. Thijs de Lange (b. 1997) is a journalist and daytime speaker. He has a mild form of Cerebral Palsy due to lack of oxygen at birth. Since his studies, he has been working as an expert by experience to improve the lives of people with disabilities in the Netherlands. More information can be found on his site: www.thijsdoet.nl.