Alexander Clark: A student perspective on European Universities
Over the past few years, over 41 alliances of European Universities have been established under the European Universities Initiative, the ambition of which is to create and amplify opportunities for physical, virtual and blended mobility, as well as to share curricula and award joint degrees. Although proposals are ultimately approved by the European Commission, all decisions, planning and preparation are made by the alliances themselves, with no strict directives coming from the top.
Students are the ultimate beneficiaries of the Initiative. It is only natural, then, that they should be involved in the decision-making processes. Indeed, student representatives have been involved in the governance structure of most alliances, in different forms and with varying degrees of autonomy and power. What are the most successful models? And how are they spreading a feeling of belonging and commitment across the whole student population? We are joined today by Alexander Clark, President of the Student Board of the Una Europa alliance, to hear his insights from participating in the governance of that alliance and his thoughts on how we can develop university alliances that are truly for the students and by the students.
About Alexander Clark
Alexander Clark holds a Master’s in Geology from KU Leuven, where he is now studying Bioscience Engineering. He has been involved in all levels of student representation for the past five years, first on a faculty level, leading to the university and now European levels. He is the current President of the Student Board of Una Europa, having served as its Secretary last year. His future plans involve securing funding for a self-proposed PhD project.
Further reading
For further insights into the topics touched on in this episode, the following resources may be of interest:
→ Una Europa: Get involved as a student
→ Student Congress: Dream the Future European University (Una Europa)
→ Mixing many forms of excellence: the European Universities Initiative (EAIE blog)
→ European Universities: balancing excellence, exclusiveness and inclusion (EAIE blog)
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