Students' voice matters

The computerization of didactics, the organization of next year's "graduations," inconveniences in class schedules, the functioning of student locker rooms at USK, inappropriate behavior by instructors, and funds for the renovation of dormitories - these were some of the topics raised during an open meeting between UMW students and university authorities, represented by UMW rector Prof. Piotr Ponikowski and pro-rector for students and didactics Prof. Agnieszka Piwowar.

The meeting was held on November 9 stationary, but before that students had the opportunity to raise issues and ask questions electronically. They took advantage of this eagerly: the correspondence was so rich that it was impossible to address all the issues raised at one meeting. The rector assured that improving the university authorities' communication with students is a necessity, and announced the cyclical organization of such direct contacts. In addition, he invited representatives of the student government and student organizations to a meeting of the Rector-Dean College on November 20.

- Problems need to be solved, not just talked about, so I invite you to the college so that you can present your objections and ideas before this body," said Prof. Piotr Ponikowski. - We strive to be a research university, and there is no good research university without good teaching. We don't agree with mediocrity in this area, so we want to react quickly to any irregularities and eliminate them. We will not do this without your help.  We need to know what, from your point of view, is not working as it should. Then we have a chance to improve it.

The rector encouraged young people to be brave: it is impossible to react to anonymous reports that concern an unknown unit or unspecified leaders. University authorities must have concrete to act. One such concrete action will be workshops for students, organized by the UMW equality team. Their goal is to eliminate any discriminatory behavior, and to jointly develop a catalog of phrases that students do not wish to hear from their teachers.

Photo: Tomasz Walow