‘UG leaves Valencia students out in the cold after floods’

During exam weeks, Valencia was hit by unprecedented flooding. The UG then left students from that region out in the cold, Zulima Martí Cuñat believes. ‘What can my student advisor do if my lecturer refuses to take a second exam for me?’

On October 31, during the peak of exam week at the UG, a catastrophic natural disaster took place in the Spanish province of Valencia. The flood killed hundreds of people, caused thousands of people to lose their homes and business, and did extensive damage to the infrastructure of the region.

On top of that, it has significantly impacted the hundreds of UG students that hail from the region, as they have friends and family that have lost everything due to the catastrophe.

The authorities in Valencia severely mishandled the situation, leading to a shortage in basic necessities such as food and water. The communication infrastructure was also significantly affected. All this and more added to the stress of the people living in Valencia and posed a threat to their lives.

It also affected the students at the UG, as they had to pull double duty, serving as emotional support for the people back home while also cramming for exams.

They have friends and family who have lost everything due to the catastrophe

As an emotionally vulnerable group in need of tangible support from our university, we, the students, reached out to our representatives on the university council so they could raise the issue with the board of directors.

As Calimero, DVS, and SOG have pointed out, students affected by situations like these need a university that stands by them, not one that is hindering their progress by forcing them to take resits and taking away their right to fair examination or even their opportunity to graduate with honours, as the UG is doing.

On Friday, November 8, the board of directors wrote on Brightspace that they supported the students that were affected, as well as the students on exchange in the region. But what can my academic adviser do if my professor refuses to make a second exam for me? These students, already in stress because of the situation in Spain, were unable to reach their advisers in time.

Now exams are over, and there is nothing these students could have foreseen to do to prevent their academic failure. These students should be allowed to focus on their own well-being and on being there to support their friends and family; we cannot burden them with the need to email their professors and reaching out to their study advisers, on top of studying for exams and starting a new block.

What we can do is support the students by allowing a fair examination procedure

That is why the board’s message to the students in distress is so disappointing. On top of that, while I don’t begrudge the students on exchange the board’s support, they didn’t reach out to any of the hundreds of students from Valencia studying in Groningen.

University president Jouke de Vries said that ‘we cannot solve every problem in the world’. But what we can do as an academic community is support the students affected by allowing a fair examination procedure. This should be a central policy; we shouldn’t overwhelm our advisers and well-being experts by applying extensions merely on a case-by-case basis.

In an effort to sidestep the bureaucratic wall in place at the university, we proactively sent an email to the advisers’ bureau to inform them about this situation. If you are an affected student yourself, please reach out to your adviser! Hopefully, we still have professionals at this university who genuinely care for and acknowledge the students’ well-being.

Zulima Martí Cuñat is from Valencia, she studies at University College Groningen (UCG) and was on the university council for student party Lijst Calimero last year.

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