Acco

Acco is a cooperative that aims to offer affordable course materials. The board consists of five student representatives, of which three student representatives to be represented by LOKO. Their responsibility is twofold: they are on one hand directors of the cooperative and on the other hand, and first and foremost, representatives of the students. Within the board, their main tasks are to ensure that the courses have a reasonable price and that they are present correctly and on time, also at the course services. Moreover, they evaluate new projects, such as an Acco location in other cities or the e-learning project of Acco. In addition to this role as directors, the representatives maintain the connection with the course services of the circles.

Questions for the representative(s) Acco? → Contact acco@loko.be.

Alma

LOKO has two student representatives within the board of Alma. As representatives within the board, the students review the results and try to outline a student-friendly policy together with the entire board.

In general, they must ensure that Alma does not lose sight of its objectives (affordable, quality meals for students) and that all branches are balanced. Points of attention are the prices of the meals, the offerings (including for vegetarians), but also the role of Alma 2 as a party hall.

Questions for the representative(s) Alma? → Contact alma@loko.be.

Diversity

The two student representatives of diversity sit in several city consultations (accessibility, digital accessibility...) and are engaged in raising awareness of diversity within the Leuven student community, with various initiatives and campaigns. They are currently collaborating on the Charter for an Inclusive University of KU Leuven!

Do you have any questions for the Diversity Representative(s)? → Please contact diversiteit@loko.be.

sustainability

The sustainability representatives generally ensure that events and initiatives are organised as sustainably as possible. Two student representatives sit on the KU Leuven Sustainability Council and are also in close contact with the Green Office. These student representatives are also involved in Leuven 2030. In the 2020–2021 academic year, they organised the planting of extra trees in Leuven and are investigating a large-scale project involving reusable cups!

Do you have any questions for the Sustainability Representative(s)? → Please contact duurzaamheid@loko.be.

Mobility

A key partner in the field of mobility is Velo, a social and environmentally friendly cycling project where, amongst others, students in Leuven can hire a bike. In addition, Velo has a bicycle repair workshop where students can have their bikes repaired. Together with the City of Leuven, educational institutions and the police, LOKO actively works to promote road safety in the city and prevent bicycle theft. The Velo board of directors includes two student representatives from LOKO. The mobility representatives also deal with broader mobility issues such as public transport, the condition of the roads, and cycling policy in Leuven…

Do you have any questions for the Mobility representative(s)? → Please contact mobiliteit@loko.be.

City

The City of Leuven would also like to see the large group of students living in the city represented at certain meetings. A monthly consultation takes place between the city and a number of student representatives from LOKO. Furthermore, the two city councillors sit on committees such as the Drugs and Alcohol Partnership Committee, the student bar committee and several thematic working groups. They maintain close contact with the Leuven student police and literally put students on the Leuven map.

Do you have any questions for the City’s representative(s)? → Please contact stad@loko.be.

Studentenvoorzieningen (Stuvo)

KU Leuven receives annual government funding to provide student support services. The aim of these services is to promote equal access to and participation in higher education for all students. This aim is achieved by providing material and non-material support and services, and by removing barriers to study. Efforts are made in various areas to remove these barriers. These areas include accommodation (residences, accommodation service), catering (Alma), social services (Student Career Centre, academic advisory service, social services department responsible for student finance, study and disability services, and a number of diversity contact points), medical services (student health centre, student psychologists and Mindmates) and student activities (LOKO). There is also a focus on mobility and sustainability (Velo, sustainability and mobility policy), but these are not separate services. Some of these areas apply specifically to KU Leuven’s Leuven campus, such as Alma and Velo. Did you know, by the way, that LUCA’s Lemmens campus also contracts in the full range of services, and UCLL’s Leuven campus for everything except health? For more information on the full range of services, please visit the student services website.

As KU Leuven has campuses in several cities, the university has decided to establish a Campus Student Council on each campus. The Campus Student Council is responsible for pursuing the objectives of student services at campus level. The KU Leuven @ Leuven Student Council consists of six student representatives with voting rights and six members of KU Leuven with voting rights. The Vice-Rector for Student Policy chairs the Student Council. The Student Council decides how much money is allocated to which area and what is to be achieved with that money.

But what do the student services representatives actually do? Before a proposal is approved by the Deelstuvo Council, it is usually prepared by a working group. These working groups consist of student services staff, experts, policy-makers and, of course, the student representatives. The student representatives seek input from the LOKO AV and then try to incorporate this input into the proposal as much as possible via the working group. If there are certain aspects of the proposal that students find difficult to accept, these are noted and clarified with the relevant heads of student services. This ensures that once the proposal is submitted to the Deelstuvoraad for approval, it already has broad support. As a result, it only needs to be fine-tuned at the Deelstuvo Council before it is approved. This ensures that the students’ views are always taken into account as fully as possible when allocating the budget across the various areas and determining which services are provided as a result.

Another task of the student representatives is to assist students who encounter a problem with the services. This issue is then raised with the relevant service head, and together a solution is sought.

Questions for the mandate holder(s) Student Services? → Contact deelstuvo@loko.be.