Academic institutes: How truly international is the University of Maastricht?
Foreign students at the University of Maastricht (UM) currently represent more than 30 per cent of the total student population. Although this might appear as a positive sign, the university’s true commitment to internationalisation and to making its foreign guests feel welcome is increasingly being questioned. International students find it hard to interact with the Dutch and do not feel at home in our little country. Will a debate about the integration of international students and the foundation of an international student association make a difference?
Debate on integration
Although only about twenty people participated in the meeting organised on May 8 by the Maastricht Student Council, the debate itself did not suffer. What all students agreed upon was that there existed a clear separation between international and Dutch students and that this distinction should be abolished. However, the reasons for this situation and the solutions to the problem were not as easily settled.
“We do not want Germans”, a student was told when he tried to become a member of a Dutch student association. According to him, it is the Dutch who are not open to foreigners. Rob van den Meijdenberg, the chairman of student association Koko, agreed: “Our students do not want to put any effort in meeting international students”. However, international students interested in joining Koko, one of the three major student associations at the UM, do not have to fear the ‘hazing’ period that characterises many Dutch student associations. “Koko does not believe in first humiliating prospective members and becoming best friends afterwards”, reassured Rob.
Besides the fear of hazing, another obstacle facing international students in joining student associations is the Dutch language. Although Dutch people are famous for their good command of English, students who wish to be admitted into a Dutch student association have to speak Dutch. “I understand that Dutch students do not want to speak German with me and that I have to adjust. However, we speak English during lectures, so why do I have to speak Dutch to become a member?” wondered a German student. Students who try to tackle the Dutch language criticise the University. “The UM offers very expensive language modules, but these are often cancelled”, complained an American student.
Another student claimed that the university’s international character is reflected only in the number of international students: “The university has no clear policy towards internationalisation and does not provide international students with any facilities”. This criticism was shared by other students. An American student whose work at the faculty of Arts and Culture consists in proof-reading all documents written in English, said that her task had somewhat changed since she began working there last year: “The academic staff is not able to produce English texts, and all I do is translate their pieces. How can you call yourself an international university if your staff is not able to produce English texts?”
Gerard Mols, the rector magnificus of the University said he was impressed by the fruitful debate and sound arguments put forward by the students. He insisted on a second debate in which concrete solutions would be discussed. The next meeting will be set before the end of the academic year so that measures can be taken to enhance the university’s ‘international’ character.
Foundation of an International Student Association
Maastricht’s international students however do not want to wait any longer for the university to come up with solutions. On Friday 12 May seven students representing six different nationalities met at Tafelstraat 13 to agree on the foundation of an international student association. The students felt that it was high time to change student life in Maastricht. “Many people support initiatives like this, but only a few are really willing to put some effort into changing things,” argued a student from Colombia.
The students chose a very straightforward name for their new association, which will be known as the “International Student Organisation of Maastricht”. “We do not want to exclude Dutch students, but we do want our association to be different from ordinary Dutch associations,” said Lithuanian student Linas Cepinskas, the initiator of the meeting.
According to Cepinskas, “the new association should grow into a multipurpose association”. One of its goals will be to organise social activities for international students. 
Furthermore, the association aims to provide support for the international student community in Maastricht, to represent its interests within the UM and in the city and to assist foreign students with information regarding housing, municipal issues, etc.
“The INKOM week will be crucial for recruiting new members. If we manage to start off with a few dozen students in the first year, we will have a good base from which to develop,” says Cepinskas. But the INKOM - the introduction week for new students at the University of Maastricht - is only three months away. Since the university will stop most of its activities at the beginning of July, the new international student association is going to have a busy time in the coming weeks!
New knowledge centre for UM foreign staff
Another aspect of the ‘internationalisation’ of the UM is revealed in the increasing number of foreign employees. Acknowledging this, the UM has decided to establish a new knowledge centre to foster the integration of its foreign staff in Maastricht. Where does one arrange for housing, theatre tickets, and where does one meet other expats? These are a few of the questions which the centre will help answer. Perhaps the new knowledge centre can broaden its scope and work together with the recently founded international student association? After all, a university is established for students in the first place…
By Lennard Duijvestijn
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