“We believe in a high-quality, plural, respectful, truly public university”

Laia Montero, Telecommunication Engineering student at the Engineering School is standing for election to be part of the Senate as Enginyers al Claustre.

14/11/2018

I am standing for election as representative in the Senate because I love student representation: I’m a Student Representative, I’ve been part of the school’s board, I’m in the Quality Committee and I’m also representing Telecommunications in my faculty’s Student Council. I would like to participate in this year’s Senate elections because there are few people interested and someone has got to do it. Besides, I like doing this kind of stuff, and if I can, I try to make time for it.

What are your proposals as candidates?

We want to implement a 30% discount on tuition fees. This is a public university and we consider that our fees are outrageous. Furthermore, Engineering is more expensive and we pay 37€ per credit approximately, outrageous. For this very reason, we want a real price leveling between bachelor and master’s studies fees. Since bachelor’s fees are so expensive, we consider that it is important that the timetable should be flexible enough for students to be able to work as well. Many students are working and have exams and lectures that sometimes cannot attend.

Furthermore, we have feminist proposals to chase away sexism and heteropatriarchy from faculties as well as to promote and encourage Engineering as a first option in women’s futures, which is a matter in which I am already quite involved.

We want to also encourage studying abroad opportunities with both logistical and financial aid. Studying abroad is expensive and in Engineering we also have problems when choosing courses, recognizing credits, etc.
We believe that external internships should be paid both in bachelors and master’s degrees because otherwise we are working “for free”.

In the School of Engineering specifically we want more classrooms and spaces because we have no library. We want more space for students because we literally study in the hallway. We have IT rooms but there is no silence or they are also used as dining rooms. We also demand plugs within classrooms because we need our computer to programme or take notes.

What model of university do you suggest?

We want a university that is really public to which we can all access without the limitations that current fees establish. For this reason we demand a 30% discount on fees and giving the option to combine studies and work. We also demand study spaces in the Engineering School because home is not always the best place to study. Nevertheless, what I think is more important is the proposal for an inclusive university. It is true that UAB has a protocol for transgender people transitioning and that’s amazing, but in Engineering, where I am studying, the sector is very masculinized and we either have no feminine referents or they are invisible. Thus, we have to empower women’s role. We want a university aware of this masked sexism, sometimes hidden under fake chivalry.