The VAS
The Association of Accountancy Students, or VAS, is the study association for all accountancy students at Nyenrode Business University in Breukelen. The association was founded in 1971 and has more than 3,900 members, namely all accountancy students at the university. Once you are registered at Nyenrode, you are automatically a member of the study association.
The association represents the interests of accountancy students, contributes to the broad development of accountants and connects the students with each other and with the university. The VAS is for and by accountancy students. In the form of various committees, many active members contribute to the reputation and development of our wonderful association.
The VAS is largely financed by Nyenrode. As a result, the VAS is not dependent on sponsors in the form of accountancy firms. In this way, the VAS manages to maintain its independence, which is desirable for an association like ours.
Commissions and activities
As mentioned, the VAS is there for accountancy students at Nyenrode. The VAS therefore organizes various activities every year. These can be educational in nature and contribute to professional development. On the other hand, there are also activities with a more informal character that contribute to connecting students.
Think of the organization of VASSAs (VAS student evening). These are meetings where guest speakers from the field, or beyond, are invited to contribute to the students’ professional backpack. This is often done in the form of a seminar, Q&A or discussion format. The VASSAs are held several times a year and are often concluded with drinks. Some names that have already passed in review are: the quartermasters Marlies de Vries and Chris Fonteijn, former Finance Ministers Jan-Kees de Jager and Hans Hoogervorst and former commando and sniper Sierd Nutma, who came to talk about mental resilience.
In addition to the VASSAs, the VAS also organizes many other activities. You can think of anything here. For example, the annual city trip and the sailing weekend to the wonderful ‘Fryslan’. But also to drinks that are organized throughout the country; sports activities, such as a padel clinic; pub quizzes and much more!
The fast calculators may have already noticed that the VAS was already 50 years old in 2021. This means that we celebrated this with a party! The VAS celebrated this lustrum in September 2022 (unfortunately due to postponement due to the corona measures). During this lustrum, a symposium was organized during the day and a great gala was held in the evening. In 2026, when the VAS can celebrate its 55th lustrum (birthday), the association will do this again with a grand and great lustrum party.
Complaints and Advocacy
The VAS is an association that represents the interests of the students. This means that students can also contact the VAS if they have complaints about their studies or related to them. The VAS can then enter into discussions with the university on behalf of you or a group of students. Thanks to our close contact with Nyenrode’s program management, complaints are easy to discuss and are treated seriously. The VAS therefore has three of the eight seats on Nyenrode’s education committee. In this way, we as an association also have our influence on the ins and outs of the courses. Any complaints can be submitted to us via klachten@vasonline.nl. Or check the Complaints webpage.
Confidential advisors
In addition to the option of submitting complaints via the VAS, we also offer the option, if necessary, to contact one of our two VAS confidential advisers. It can sometimes be nice to tell your story to someone you know will treat it confidentially. For more information, see the webpage Counsellors.
The committees within the VAS
All of the aforementioned is organized within the VAS in a number of committees:
VASSA committee
Activities committee
Lustrum committee (once every 5 years)
Education Committee
Counsellors
FInanci
Management
The board of the VAS
The fiscal year of the VAS is equal to the academic year. Every academic year there is therefore a ‘changing of the guard’ when it comes to the composition of the board. Usually board members stay on the board of the VAS for one to three years. With an average of 4 to 15 hours per month, the workload is considerably lower than at other study or student associations.
The board is generally concerned with the ins and outs of the association. In addition, the board members are often active in one or more of the aforementioned committees. For the academic year 2022/2023 the board consists of the following persons:
Chairman: Delano Tolhuisen
Vice-chairman: Victor Smorenburg
Treasurer: Rick Voogd
Chairman of the activities committee: Anne Kock
Chairman VASSA committee: Chérie Smorenburg
General board member: Sanne Wiggers
Contact and social media
If you are a Nyenrode accountancy student and are curious about our association, we cordially invite you! Students experience the association as a very accessible and open association. You feel at home quite quickly. We will keep you informed of our activities via social media:
In addition, the VAS also has two WhatsApp group apps: one general group app (VAS groupsapp) and a announcement app (VAS announcement app). We recommend that you become a member there as well. You can join one or both WhatsApp group apps via the links.
If you are also interested in playing an active role within our association, please contact us for the possibilities via secretariaat@vasonline.nl. Also take a look at our webpage VAScancies. You are also at the right place with other questions with this email address.
We hope to have given you a good picture of our association. Do come by sometime!
Yours sincerely,
The VAS board
