Ricardo van Belzen
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Ricardo van Belzen
Student-member of TiSEM’s Management Team‘I wanted to do something meaningful for our university. Applying for this position seemed like a perfect way to achieve this.’
A brief introduction
My name is Ricardo van Belzen, and since the academic year 2017-2018 I have been a student at our beautiful university. I study Econometrics and Operations Research, one of the many programs that TiSEM offers. After two years of studying, I did a full-time board year at the study association, Asset | Econometrics. After this, I started working for the university as a student assessor. During the first year, I was student assessor for the Executive Education Committee, and since the beginning of this academic year, I am the student member of the Management Team of TiSEM, something I do with great pleasure.
How would you describe your position?
My position is best described as the linking pin between the faculty and its students. On the one hand, I have the (challenging) job to bring the student perspective to the table in the meetings with the Management Team. Hence, I am in close contact with many different organizations, like ASSET, MAK, Smeetskring, EBT and the two student faculty parties, ECCO and Active TiSEM. This way, I try to get a feeling about what ‘the student’ thinks. At the same time, it is also my job to communicate the faculty’s perspective back to these organizations. Eventually, the goal is for everyone to better understand each other and to come closer together.
What has your MT membership brought you so far?
First of all, being a student member of the Management Team gives me interesting insights in how an organization as big as TiSEM is run. There are always multiple interesting processes going on. For example, a new strategy for TiSEM is being developed at this moment. In this process, I find it fascinating to see how everyone within our faculty is involved, including students. This way, it really becomes a strategy of us all.
Secondly, I have learned to see what a wonderful institution a university is. Now, I am aware what a synergetic combination research and education is, and how these two pillars of a university reinforce each other. By being strong in both research and education, we can really create impact as a university, and we can really understand society. Last but not least, being a student assessor always brings a big smile on my face. I work with a diverse group of interesting people and meeting all these people is very inspiring and brings a lot of joy, especially since we can meet in person again, on our beautiful, green campus.
Why have you opted for this position?
Since I came here in Tilburg, I have been involved in extra-curricular activities. It began with being an active member of the study association, and eventually I ended up doing a full-time board year. After this, I still wanted to be an active and involved student and I still wanted to do something meaningful for our university. Applying for this position seemed like a perfect way to achieve this.
What priorities do you focus on?
In one word, I would say that I focus on student-centricity, and on making sure we keep fulfilling the needs of students. Since this might sound rather generic, I would like to give two examples. First, from the people around me I notice that there is a need for involvement of society within the university. Not only does this entail labor market orientation, for example by organizing career events on campus in cooperation with the study associations, it also entails really involving ‘the outside world’ within the curriculum, by hosting guest lectures and internships for instance. The second example I would like to give is blended education. During the pandemic, we all studied at home. Now we can get back on campus again, it is valuable to really find out what the needs of the students are with regards to online versus on campus education. Personally, I think the strength is in the combination, but this is something we need to find out in the longer run.
Who is you role model?
I must admit that I do not have a specific role model. I think that everyone around me has a lot of qualities of which I can learn very much. However, if I were to name someone, albeit somewhat tongue-in-cheek, it would be Winnie-the-Pooh, my favorite movie character. Even though there are always a lot of challenges or multiple reasons to be stressed-out, Winnie always remains positive and empathic, whilst finding creatives ways to solve the problem anyway. That is something at least I can learn a lot from.
Do you have a tip and is there anything else you want to say?
A tip I would like to give is that when something must be done differently from how we would like it to be, it is always nice to explain to students why this is. For example, when exams have to be planned during the weekends, students will probably dislike this. However, when they know why this is the case, they are probably a lot more understanding.
I would like to close by saying that I am always more than willing to discuss the student perspective on several topics. Feel free to reach me at r.vanbelzen@tilburguniversity.edu.