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What does a board year at ESN entail? Definitely a lot more than you can imagine! ESN Wageningen aims to create a home for international students and an adventure for Dutch students. With 7 board members, over 100 events per year, committee members, buddy mentors and a close connection to other national and international ESN sections in Europe, your board year will be exciting, challenging and interesting every day. ESN Wageningen is located in the Global Lounge which gives you the opportunity to work on a project supported by the University and providing a home away from home.
For both Dutch and international students, having a part-time board position in ESN Wageningen is a great way to develop yourself professionally by working in an innovative, young, interdisciplinary and highly international environment. You will have unforgettable experiences and friends for life, as well as a global network of students that are grateful for your efforts throughout the year. No matter where you are from and what your previous work experience is, we encourage everyone that is interested to apply.
Great! We’d like to start with giving you more information about the board and some practical things that are important to know before applying, so we highly recommend you to read the information below. Also, we are organising interest lunches where you will learn more about what it is like to be on the ESN board (you can find the Facebook event here). We can then talk about what it means to be a board member while we provide you with lunch. If you already know that you want to come please indicate this on the Facebook event! However, you are always welcome to come. You can also join if you have class until 1, but please let us know by email. After the lunch, in order to know which position would fit you best, we encourage you to get in contact with us by sending an email to [email protected]
The next board is chosen by the current ESN board. To be considered you need to send in a curriculum vitae and a motivation letter containing your top 3 positions before the application deadline (for the board year of 2023-2024 this 26th of March 2023). Afterwards, you will be invited for an interview. Important to note, ESN Wageningen is a student association for everyone so the board is looking for international and Dutch students.
When all the board positions are filled, the transition period can start. During period 6 you will learn everything you need to know before you can start your ESN board year. Most of the information you will get from your position-specific predecessor, but you will also go on a transition weekend. The transition weekend is the final part of the transition process from the old board to the new board. During this 3-day weekend, the old and new board spend some time togethern. Besides handing over as much information as possible, this weekend consists of plenty of board bonding activities to make sure you’ll make a strong team from the beginning!
After this process, you are ready to start your board year! This board year officially starts on the first day of the summer holidays.
An ESN Wageningen board position is considered to be part-time, so it is still possible to follow half of your BSc or MSc courses. Also, writing your thesis is good to combine with your board year because you are flexible during the day when to work on ESN and when to work on your thesis. Since this board year is on a voluntary basis, you will not get paid. However, there is a financial compensation regulation (FOS) to compensate for your tuition fees.
During a regular day, you will have to work on your function-specific task as well as teaming up with the other board members and ‘being the board’ in general. Practical things like being present during office hours, helping students with all questions they may have, helping out at events and the introduction weeks, and representing ESN to different stakeholders is expected of all board members.
Office Hours
During office hours, you answer questions students might have, you rent out bikes or sell ESNcards. During office hours in the less busy months, you will also have time to do your own work. In general, office hours are a nice way to stay in touch with the students and keep up-to-date with the work of your fellow board members as well. Even when you are not scheduled to do office hours, you’ll often be present at the office, for example for your ESN related work or for meetings (with board/committees/external parties). The office is also often used to just hang out with your fellow board members who will become friends for life in no time. It’s never boring in the ESN office!
Most of your board year you will be spending with organising over 100 events mainly for international students. This can be anything, such as parties, study lunches, weekly drinks and excursions. The fun thing about being on the ESN board is that you not only organise it, but you can also participate in all the events.