9 July 2024
The YUFE alliance actively engages in empowering students and making their voices heard. Recent meetings in Toruń (May 2024) and Rijeka (June 2024) focused on empowering the YUFE Student Forum (SF) and its role in co-creating the alliance’s future. The leadership of our member universities reinforced their commitment to enabling student engagement within YUFE to the highest possible degree.
Students at the Heart of YUFE
The YUFE 2030 Mission Statement underlines the ambition of being the leading model of a student-centered, egalitarian, open, and inclusive University. The YUFE Student Forum (SF) acts at the center of the YUFE governance, interconnected with the two main decision-making bodies of YUFE, the Executive Committee and the YUFE Strategic Council. The YUFE Student Forum consists of a total number of 30 students (three per partner university) and is co-responsible for shaping a holistic and inclusive future for European students, learners, and their society.
The SF members actively contribute to ongoing activities, ensuring that the student perspective is central to YUFE’s development. YUFE is committed to enabling active student engagement by providing the rewarding tools necessary for the Student Forum to contribute meaningfully to the alliance’s mission. Herewith, the members of the Student Forum take on different roles, such as student co-creators, student representatives, or student board members. Being part of the Student Forum also means being part of a community that enriches students’ personal and professional experience and representing their home university. This translates into participation in diverse international working groups and regular events and activities. Students can also gain managerial skills and experience in an international environment.
Re-emphasize student empowerment
In the past years, YUFE has made great progress in student-centeredness and student co-creation. But to further empower student engagement and to become a real role model, YUFE needs to improve further. For that reason, The YUFE Strategic Council has endorsed in a recent meeting 14 calls for action to implement their commitment to student centeredness even better. Those calls for action contain measures to improve student representatives’ onboarding, be more transparent about workload and time commitment as a SF member and support students better with a local reward system.
Building a Stronger Future Together
YUFE aims to create a truly student-centered learning environment. This will empower students, foster innovation, and contribute to YUFE’s vision of becoming a leading model for European universities meaningful to the next generation.
