Reaching voters through podcasts and Instagram

Why no one cares about the university elections: a three-part analysis

21-05-2025 · Analysis

The democratic backbone of this university – staff and student participation through representative bodies – is under strain. It has been for years, but it’s especially painful now, at a time when democratic systems everywhere are under pressure. This three-part analysis by Observant identifies the biggest problems facing the University Council and the faculty councils. This time: let’s talk about solutions. There’s no shortage of ideas – but do they work?

It’s unclear what the councils actually do, communication is poor, voters don’t hear much from their elected representatives and despite good intentions, much still happens behind closed doors. Can anything be done to solve these problems? Yes and no. Ideas abound, but they rarely produce the desired results. Observant ran a front-page headline reading “Breathing new life into the university elections” as far back as January 2009, when voter turnout hit a dramatic low and there was controversy over students pushing for votes. A committee was set up to investigate and recommend changes.

Monthly newsletter

Their recommendations included raising awareness of staff and student participation among the university community; using pop-ups on all UM computers to announce upcoming elections; breathing new life into the election debate; sending out a monthly newsletter with updates from the university’s various representative bodies between elections; and appointing a student assistant to promote events.

Sixteen years later, communication is still a sticking point. There are now two student assistants – one focused on elections, the other on social media. Banners are put up around campus to remind people of the university elections. A podcast was launched, featuring interviews with council members to encourage others to stand for election. University Council chair Teun Dekker also blogs regularly about what’s discussed at meetings. A monthly newsletter has not yet materialised.

Nearly €300,000

It’s not a matter of money. Former Minister of Education Robbert Dijkgraaf earmarked €11 million for staff and student participation in Dutch higher education, with UM receiving nearly €300,000. Dekker is hopeful the university will receive a similar amount again in the near future. The biggest investment to date came in April 2024, when UM appointed a “Representation Communication Coordinator” to develop a plan to improve communication between the various representative bodies and the wider university community and to increase their visibility. But the role proved challenging for someone new to the university. Ultimately, his contract wasn’t renewed. Dekker explains, “We’ve decided not to continue with the role in that form. We’re still considering what shape it should take in the future.”

Keeping it concrete

But are students, and staff, even interested in the kinds of complex issues the councils deal with? This lack of interest isn’t unique to universities; it can be seen in municipalities and provinces across the country. The university budget, government cuts, people strategy (HR), quality agreements, the digitalisation strategy, the merger with the hospital – these kinds of issues simply go over a lot of people’s heads. And they tend to be quite boring, dry and technical.

Student parties appear to have found a way around this. While their political programmes might mention big themes like sustainability and internationalisation, they tend to focus on more concrete matters in practice, arguing in favour of things like lifting the food ban during exams; improving bike parking; making the campus greener; adding water storage facilities in university buildings; receiving better feedback on exams from lecturers; or even installing a microwave in the library.

Input form

Finally, let’s look at two initiatives to boost staff and student engagement in participation outside election time. In autumn 2024, the Faculty of Law introduced an input form allowing students and staff to anonymously contact their representatives with issues they’d like to see addressed. The form, shared via UMployee and Law Student Messages, has already generated several agenda items in recent months.

One student member of the 2022-23 University Council used his personal Instagram account to share the points he’d raised in meetings and reply to questions and ideas from the university community. As he told Observant, “Over three hundred people voted for me. I want them to see what I’m doing for them.” How’s that for an example of how things can be done differently?

Wendy Degens and Cleo Freriks

Read part 1 of the analysis: No one knows what the councils actually do

Read part 2 of the analysis: Council meetings are meant to be public, but often held behind closed doors

Why this analysis?

It’s hardly news that no one at Maastricht University seems to care about the university elections. Staff are uninterested in standing for election; they don’t have the time, don’t get enough support from their managers, or just don’t see the point because they don’t think they can make a difference. Professors usually find other ways to influence university policy. Voter turnout is also consistently low, especially among students. In 2022, just 15.6 per cent of UM students voted; turnout rose to 20 per cent in 2023, only to fall again in 2024 to 17 per cent. One small bright spot: turnout within individual faculties tends to be a bit higher, occasionally peaking at 26 per cent. So, what’s going wrong? By analysing articles from the Observant archive and drawing on years of attending council meetings, we’ve identified the structural problems explored in this three-part analysis.