Welcome Letter by the Chairman

Welcome back to Uni! I hope you have all had a great holiday and are back on our faculty with a fresh mind. My name is Pieter Kraak, the chairman of the first-ever FSG board. It is a great pleasure to see you all back on campus instead of behind your laptops. In this short article in the FSG Journal, I would first of all like to tell you about FSG, the Financial Study Association Groningen. Afterward, I will tell you about my personal day-to-day tasks to give you an idea of what it’s like to stand on the rudder of this study association.

FSG is affiliated with the Faculty of Economics and Business. With over 9000 students, this is the biggest faculty of the University of Groningen, meaning we have a large audience for whom we can add value. FSG is the study association for the financially interested student, and in particular for the MSc programs: Finance, International Financial Management, Accountancy & Controlling, and Management Accounting & Control. The goal of FSG is to bridge the gap between theory and practice by organizing both formal- and informal events. We do this to make the theoretical world of academia a bit more practical and easy to grasp. As a result, you will boost your skills, your CV, and you are presented the opportunity to get to know your future employer during one of our many in-house tours/days. Luckily, with the positive prospects of physical activities taking place, we are able to have more and more of our events offline, meaning you will get the most out of the experience when you join one of these activities! One of these physical events is the Accountancy Tour Amsterdam. This will take place from September 26th until September 29th in Amsterdam! You can register for this all-inclusive tour before 23:59 on September 19th! As a student on the FEB, you can get involved with FSG in three ways: one of which is becoming a regular member. This is achieved by registering online for €5,- a year and, if you’d like, voluntarily joining one of our many events or socials (drinks on us!) throughout the year. The second option is becoming an active member, this means you are more actively involved in the association by doing committee work and organizing events for your fellow students. There are two rounds of active-member recruitment, one in April and one in September (so now!). Sounds interesting? Reach out! We’d love to tell you more about it (DL: 23:59 October 3rd). The last way of getting involved in FSG is the most hands-on, doing a board year! I’d like to tell you about a board year from my perspective as chairman.

Together with my board, I am responsible for the continuation of our association. This is a very broad responsibility of course, but what it means is actively monitoring our committees, sub-boards and working on the long-term strategy of the association. This is partly done by executing the policy plan, which my board and myself set out to do at the beginning of our board year. Moreover, as a chairman, I am the contact person for the University of Groningen and our advisory boards. All these people help us create better events with their knowledge and broad network. Doing a board year at FSG is full-time, so even though you can definitely do a few courses on the side, doing it alongside a full MSc or BSc program is not manageable.

I imagined that I would meet a lot of new people this year, but it exceeded my expectations! It is awesome to co-organize our events with like-minded people. Interested in becoming the new chairman of FSG? I’d love to tell you more about it over coffee! Contact me by sending an email: board@fsgroningen.nl.

I would like to wish you all the best in this new academic year! Enjoy the city of Groningen which is slowly coming back to life with students from all over the world. FSG is there for you if you’re looking for an enrichment of your student life.

On behalf of the FSG board 2021-2022,

Pieter Kraak