Our Policy

Vote List Sefa!

Our priority, by virtue of being students, is your academic career, since career success is largely contingent on your academics. It is for this reason List SEFA believes it is vital to ensure no external factors should adversely affect your academic career. Fewer obstacles in your academic life translate to more time available to devote to social and extracurricular aspirations which are linked to your personal growth. To ensure that your efforts are the sole determinant of your success, List SEFA has devised the following changes:

Enhancement of the Academic Environment
1. Optimizing student learning through:
  1. Extended library hours on workdays & weekends
  2. Increased quiet study space areas
  3. Establishing an entity for the purpose of giving feedback to lecturers in the interest of improving both content and style of lectures.
  4. Making study materials more affordable by:
    1. Introducing efficient bundle offers
    2. Publisher-UvA digital contracts
2. Improving accessibility:
  1. Making online lectures available indefinitely and in greater abundance with sufficient preparatory materials provided in advance.
  2. The provision of solution manuals extended also to analytical and qualitative courses.
  3. Provision of summarized versions of study materials for improved revision and emphasis on crucial aspects of the course.
3. Promoting on-campus student tutoring opportunities
4. Providing more merit-based scholarships for students to ensure inclusivity across all economic and cultural strata.
  1. Incentivizing student tutors to participate through official, paid contracts helping students earn while building their CV.
5. Greater transparency in the UvA Application process by:
  1. Clarifying expectations for academic performance and student life at UvA while clearly stating the metrics used to judge an applicant.
    1. Emphasising motivation and determination as the key factor.

Improvement and In-depth Revision of Teaching and Examinations Regulations and Other Rules
1. Greater transparency through:
  1. Informing the students about their rights and informing them about UvA’s policies (e.g.: Q&A website)
  2. Providing a condensed overview of the OER to all students.
2. Curriculum
  1. Creating new courses which employ inter-disciplinary collaboration among students, developing the communication skills required in the corporate world.
  2. Awarding bonuses even if the grade without the bonus is below passing.
  3. Diversifying course choices in the honours programme.
  4. Greater accessibility of electives and specialisations by lowering entry requirements for advanced-level courses.
3. Categorizing infractions in more specific levels to prevent over-punishment and making penalties more proportional to the infraction.
  1. For e.g. looking for alternatives to suspension or exclusion from a course which may be too final and have a lasting effect on the student’s career.
4. Reviewing Resit rules
  1. Allowing students to choose the best grade in the case of a voluntary resit.
  2. Change re-sit dates to minimize loss of vacation days and minimizing over-stressing.
5. Enhanced quality controls to ensure consistency across tutorial groups and passing grades across courses.
6. Flexibility in attendance policies:
  1. Being considerate towards each student’s unique circumstances which may include:
    1. Work/Volunteering commitments.
  2. Minimizing penalty for absence by resorting to extra assignments instead of revoking Re-sit rights.
7. Improving exam conditions through:
  1. Provision of supplies (i.e. calculators, formula sheets) in case a student requires it.
  2. Enforcing an exam grading period of up to 14 days after the exam.
  3. Allowing bathroom breaks on all examinations.
  4. Establishing invigilation quality-controls by allowing students to lodge complaints after an examination.
8. Crisis management:
  1. Swift and decisive action by faculty and efficient communication.
  2. Management of credit awards and sufficient academic opportunities during periods of uncertainty to be done with empathy.
  3. Offer ethically and academically acceptable (i.e. safeguarding privacy) forms of assessment in case physical examinations cannot be administered.

The UvA is nothing more than the individuals it comprises, and to ensure that you prosper and enjoy what are some of the most memorable years of your life, List SEFA believes that it is essential to not exclude anyone. How we plan to do this is by creating a more concentrated social environment at the UvA where your interaction with other students becomes inevitable, creating a greater familiarity among the student populace. We wish to cultivate a sense of belonging to the UvA so that students feel a more tangible association with the university in terms of their social life.

ENHANCED DUTCH AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENT SOCIAL INTEGRATION
1. Free Dutch language student partnership program where students wishing to learn Dutch will be paired with other Dutch students.
2. Ensuring that during the orientation period, all groups have a balanced mix of Dutch and international students.
CONCENTRATING THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
1. Introducing students to other like-minded people through the following measures:
  1. Centralizing all student societies (e.g. debate, football, dance etc.) such that more students become aware of their existence and sign up.
  2. Organizing International Fairs where students can join cultural societies and share their culture and traditional food with each other.
  3. Organizing a large-scale University festival with tournaments for different sports.
    1. With the help of student societies, faculty teams will be drafted for different activities that will play in inter-faculty tournaments.
    2. Cultivating school and faculty spirit while also making it fun to pursue activities that students enjoy.
  4. Organizing international trips on days off.
IMPROVED STUDENT HOUSING
1. Make housing more accessible for all first-year and international students, offering more options with the possibility to extend their contracts.
DEDICATE MORE FACILITIES FOR SOCIAL INTERACTION
1. More common spaces where students are allowed to have casual conversations with the following amenities:
  1. Comfortable seating
  2. Board games, table tennis etc.
  3. Creating outdoor spaces.
PERSONAL WELL-BEING
1. Provide more mental health assistance for students with needs/concerns:
  1. Through online counselling where anonymity is guaranteed to create a safe space.
  2. Making on-campus counselling more accessible by allowing walk-ins and the use of a hotline.
2. Greater assistance in the initial phases of settling in for students.
  1. Helping new students with practicalities like bank accounts and also personal help in budgeting, scheduling and cooking.

List SEFA believes that each individual contributes to society in their own unique way. How you choose to do so is determined by what gives you the drive to pursue your aspirations in the face of adversity. The role List SEFA desires to play in your journey of self-actualization, is to bring ease and to facilitate you. For those still unsure of their career path, we wish to provide holistic knowledge of all possible opportunities, from internships to industries. For those already set in their pursuit, we take it upon ourselves to remove any obstacles from your path, be it by the help of alumni or organizing networking events. What we aim to achieve in our tenure, is to ensure that you enter the career world fully-equipped with the necessary skills, and evermore confident in your ability to navigate through life.

CAREER EVENTS
1. Organizing Career events with increased presence of a diverse range of industry-leading firms, alumni and motivational speakers for a more informed career approach and better networking opportunities.
2. Increased focus on recruitment.
STRENGTHENED ALUMNI NETWORK
1. Creating a co-op program for students to be paired with alumni placed in different strata of the corporate/career world to create an understanding of the work environment and a good work ethic.
2. Helping students have an easier medium of communication and practical information within firms through the alumni network.
PROACTIVE COMMUNICATION
1. Effectively using a single medium of communication for all career-related notifications including but not limited to:
  1. Skill-Training Workshops
  2. On-campus employment opportunities
  3. Career events
  4. University-provided career facilities
  5. Entrepreneurial activities
  6. Involvement in student organizations like SEFA
2. Practical guidance for students with regards to their CV, resume and career choices.
GREATER ADMINISTRATIVE EASE
1. Assistance in procuring work-permits for non-EU students.
2. Collaboration with talent-seeking agencies for enhanced job placement.
3. Allowing students to incorporate internship experiences into their Thesis.

With the turn of yet another decade, it has become increasingly difficult for the environment and our society to bear our disregard towards it. The UvA being a microcosm of the global collective is what makes List SEFA believe that all changeS, if there is to be any, must begin from home. This led us to dedicating a pillar pertaining solely to making the campus more sustainable and more cognizant of our surroundings. However small this step may be, throughout our tenure and in the coming years, List SEFA is adamant to build further on this initiative.

OUTREACH
1. Establishing synergies with NGOs both, local and global, that tackle a myriad of issues pervasive in society.
2. Increasing student engagement by volunteering opportunities in all ventures to cultivate a sense of social responsibility.
  1. Additionally, allowing students to choose to volunteer full-time for an NGO of their own choice in their 3rd year of study.
3. Organizing charity fundraisers to dedicate funds to pressing problems.
4. Establishing inter-disciplinary synergies to allow for collaborative projects that alleviate the distresses of society which may include:
  1. Demographic-based research
  2. Awareness campaigns

SUSTAINABILITY
1. Making efforts to turning the UvA facilities green through the following immediate measures alongside future renewals:
  1. Installing Solar panels to decrease our carbon footprint.
  2. Integrating vertical farming practices in university cafeterias, ensuring healthier food as well.
  3. Switching default search-engines on all campus computers to Ecosia, contributing one tree for every query searched.

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