Tag: student

The benefits of the student representation in universities

When one is making decisions with the aim of developing or strengthening policies, they have to keep in mind the people who are likely to be affected by the decisions. Bringing everyone onboard when making decisions is a means of acknowledging that everyone’s opinion matters. It reduces the friction between the people making the decisions, and the individuals who are supposed to put them into action. The idea of representation is borne out of the need to have someone who can represent others because having thousands of share their view, one person at a time, can be a tedious task and it can be time consuming. This is the reason why countries have governments representing the interests of their people.

The idea of student representation only emerged during the civil rights movements because prior to the emergence of this idea, the educators and board members were responsible of making decisions on issues that directly affected students. Students were hardly involved in the decision-making processes, and sidelining them would sometimes lead to situations in which their needs are not addressed. For example, raising of the tuition fees without engaging students is an example of the decisions that most students may not receive positively. In the history of some universities, raising fees or making certain decisions without involving students have been met with anger, disbelief and protests.

The student representatives or student leaders play vital role when it comes to representing the interests of their colleagues. University students, each year, get the opportunity to elect their favorite representatives. These representatives are responsible of addressing students’ grievances and they are the link between administrators and students. The Student Representative Council (SRC) plays a vital role when it comes to giving students the platform where they can voice their concerns. The SRC, in addition, presents the students’ views to the administration so that the latter can take necessary measures to support students.

Almost every university has a SRC, and although each is unique to each university, they serve the same purpose of representing the interests of students. 13 of the Harvard’s upperclassman houses are all the constituents of the university’s SRC. Columbia also has a SRC, which advocates for the interests of the students. The idea of the students having their peers represent them, therefore, is a good idea because it creates a contact between the students and members of the student administration.

The history of the world’s oldest university

Universities existed way before Johannes Gutenberg developed the print, and they have played a significant role in shaping the development of the modern societies. The first university that has been at the center of Italy’s history was established in 1088 in Bologna. Since the University was established, it has gone through periods that have threated its existence. Initially, the goal of establishing the institution was to help support the study of a central text in Roman law. With time, the university became a center of learning of other subjects including war studies. Given its rich history, the university has been instrumental in the study of civil law.

Like some other oldest world universities, the University of Bologna has had a dark past. The history of the institution was interrupted by forces emanating both from within and out of the country. Although the chaos brought by the Second World War interrupted learning at the institution, it was bombings of 1926 that had devastating consequences on the institution. The bombings paralyzed learning, and students and teachers joined the call against Mussolini. Even some of the funds that were allocated to finance learning at the university were redirected towards supporting the war efforts. A section of the university was rebuilt.

According to the current global rankings, the university is placed at position 117, and given the university’s history of academic excellence, it receives thousands of applications every year. Among those who apply for degree programs at the university are non-Italians. Currently, the university has a student population that exceeds 87,000 people, and one thing that makes the institution stand out from some Italian universities is that it offers over 40 English-based courses. Thus, it appeals to the international students who might want to study English-based degree programs.

University of Bologna, given its past, remains a symbol of the strong spirit of the Italian people, and for the institution to compete, it needs to embrace new trends such as investing in research and development. Being an oldest university, the University of Bologna should be among the top 100 universities.  As much as the institution is making efforts to invest in technology, it needs to come up with potent curricula that match the global standards. For several years, Harvard has managed to maintain a reputation of an institution that attracts elite students from across the world. University of Bologna should therefore learn from Harvard University on how to effectively adapt and build a strong global profile of academic excellence.