It’s sometimes been hard to understand why UM wants to ‘integrate’ with the hospital. Maybe physical proximity is part of the reason. For those of us working in the inner city, it’s not always easy to tell the difference between the hospital and FHML.
Sex Shop
If proximity is important, then I suggest the FASoS Board and the Executive Board take a stroll along the Grote Gracht. Across the street from FASoS are a sex shop, coffee shop (in the Dutch sense), and bookshop. They all sell goods and services of interest to students and staff. One could go so far as to suggest they are integral to academic life. After the recent revelation that university students have sex in unlikely places, maybe it’s time to explore other possibilities for the university to merge with local businesses.
Revamp
If such mergers are pursued, the UM website will need further updating. The latest revamp includes many pictures of smiling students on the homepage, but no mention of the library. Maybe there are spots in the different libraries where students (and let’s be honest, perhaps also staff) could pursue activities suitable for adults, including reading and meditation.
We could also think of cross branding. Each party could include the logos of the others, together with the now mandatory QR codes. Linking to those would provide more information about the services offered and the opening hours. We could introduce a loyalty card, transferable between the different activities. For each cup of coffee drunk at the Banditos café at FASoS, or book bought at the bookshop, or borrowed from the library, you get a sticker. With enough stickers, you get a discount at the sex shop or coffee shop, and vice versa. The possibilities are endless, and do not require too much imagination.
University attached
As Mark Kawakami described recently in Observant, UM has been searching for a new slogan. ‘Come to Maastricht for the sex and drugs’ might prove to be more effective than ‘Come to Maastricht for the hospital with a university attached’.
This advice is free, unlike that of the consultants Kawakami discusses.
Sally Wyatt, professor of Digital Cultures