Student wellbeing and staff wellbeing are two sides of the same coin. Within our HU, decision-making at every level should therefore take a broad and integrated perspective on which choices are right for students, staff, and the HU as a whole. This is only possible when students and staff within participation bodies are able to find one another and work together to safeguard and promote the quality, transparency, and inclusivity of the HU working and learning environment.
We are Fractie Vlijmscherp, and through participation bodies we passionately dedicate ourselves to the above principles and to the other positions we consider important for our wonderful university of applied sciences. We strongly believe in showing and living by what you stand for. That is why Fractie Vlijmscherp is the first and (so far) only participation faction in which students and staff work together as one. We do this both at the central level in the University Council (HSR) and at the decentralized level within institute councils. In doing so, we contribute to themes such as student wellbeing, educational quality, realistic workload policies, assessment practices, mobility, transparent decision-making, good facilities, and HU ambitions that respond to societal developments.
When it comes to quality, in the broadest sense of the word, we make no compromises. That is why our motto has been, for many years:
“Hard on the content, soft on the person.”
We have now been doing this for more than ten years. In 2016, the faction was founded by Richard Gertsen and Martijn Grul, who were students at the HU at the time. As sometimes happens with students, they found each other during a social gathering in the shared belief that a healthy critical voice and constructive friction contribute to good decision-making. Shortly afterwards, the faction was founded on the idea that education should truly be accessible to everyone, and that this is only possible when participation bodies dare to be constructively critical — and occasionally a little bold. The name Vlijmscherp (“Razor Sharp”) and the orange scissors in the logo therefore symbolize cutting through bureaucracy and staying sharp during meetings.
Ten years later, Vlijmscherp has developed from an “underdog party” into a faction that upholds and safeguards the quality of participation within the HU. Several students who became involved in participation through Vlijmscherp later became colleagues within the HU. Over the years, a strong collaboration has therefore emerged between the staff faction HUZO!? and the student faction Vlijmscherp. Both factions have experienced that cooperation between staff and students within participation bodies is essential for making good decisions and providing sound advice together. The step toward one joint faction was therefore self-evident and a natural consequence of our working methods and our vision of how we want to work together within the HU to achieve improvement.
The merger of the student faction Vlijmscherp and the staff party HUZO!? means that today’s Vlijmscherp has extensive experience with a wide range of, and often long-running, issues. In addition, through a broad network, we possess a great deal of knowledge about the history of the HU, its challenges, and its many positive and unique qualities. The 2026 faction is a strong mix of new, enthusiastic participation representatives and people with years of knowledge and experience in participation, all working together to contribute to the HU of today and tomorrow.
In short: at Vlijmscherp, staff and students stand together for one another!