YEAR OF E LECTIONS & INFLUENCING

The 2023 board of the Student Union of the University of Oulu assembled on January 12th. The year-long term of the eight-member board is guided by three important themes. They wish to leave behind an active and influential student union.

TEXT

& ILLUSTRATION

BY Tuuli Heikura

TRANSLATION BY H enna K aaresto

In recent years, there has been an unfortunate downturn in gravitating towards student association volunteering. Board positions in OYY as well as subject societies haven’t been as sought-after as before, and student union careers have never been the same. However, there was competition over OYY’s 2023 Board positions. The highest decision-making organ, the Student Council, appointed the new board during their meeting on December 7th. Following a lengthy vote, Mikko Hakoniemi , Katri Holmi , Anton Kostiainen , Elli Reinola , Aapomikko Matti, Daria Zaikovskaia and Aku Forsman were appointed for the board chaired by Suvi-Anna Salminen .

The 2023 board began their term on January 9th.

“During these first couple of weeks, we’ve already had a workshop, as well as met Petteri Orpo and Mari-Leena Talvitie ,” the Chair of the Board Salminen says regarding the first weeks of the term. According to the chairpersons, this says a lot about how wide-ranging student politics can be. “Student politics can be practised on many different levels: subject societies, guilds, the council, and for example as a Halloped,” Vice Chair Hakoniemi adds.

The chairpersons feel that student politics are on a good level in the University of Oulu. Although on a national level there has been a downturn, voter turnout at the previous council election was one of the highest ever in the University of Oulu. “It definitely speaks of a high level”, Salminen says.

Salminen describes the tripartite collegium as one of the great achievements of student politics in the University of Oulu. This means that students really do have the opportunity to make a difference on a university level. “Students are heard in decision-making,” Hakoniemi assures.

Year for influencing

“The Student Union works hard in order to keep the students better informed of influencing opportunities,”

Hakoniemi continues. Influencing is one of the largest items guiding the work of this year’s board.

“2023 is a big election year. The spring’s parliamentary election is important for the future of students, and in the autumn there’s OYY’s council election and the big Halloped application round, demanding a lot of work from everyone at OYY”, Salminen states. In particular, semester fees have sparked a lot of discussion when it comes to the future of students. “There has been a lot of discussion over tuition fees on a national scale, and we also have to be active in lobbying for free education,” Hakoniemi emphasises.

In addition to elections, this year the board will be focusing on developing the Student Union’s internal operations with the Kehitämme-project, as well as the equality and diversity activities with the Yhdenvertaistamme-project. A new policy paper was approved during council meeting on 18.10.2022, and it names updating of the Equality Act as one of its objectives. The policy change is a multi-year project, but the influencing and planning begins this year. “Additionally, we’re aiming for consistency in handling and approaching cases of harassment”, Hakoniemi adds, regarding the objective of the Yhdenvertaistamme-project. Following the coronavirus pandemic, a clear need to strengthen harassment contact person operations and support for organisations has arisen. “We also need consistent principles for safer space”, Salminen adds.

The Board hopes to leave behind a Student union who actively and influentially starts dialogues, Uhose activities are easy to jump into, and whose board positions are sought-after. “Small streams can make big rivers,” Salminen says to sum up the year’s objectives. Hakoniemi wants to emphasise that small everyday actions can make a difference, such as voting in elections and participating in subject society activities. “That’s where we started out as well.”