What ISYY

Representative Council

The Representative Council is ISYY’s highest decision-making body. The Representative Council has 39 members; all of them are students and ISYY members. Representative Council members (Edaattorit in Finnish) are elected in November of every odd year (2019, 2021, 2023 and so forth). In other words, the Representative Council term of office lasts for two years. All ISYY members may run for candidacy and are eligible to vote in the Representative Council elections.

The most important tasks of the Representative Council are appointing the ISYY Executive Board and approving the action plan and budget. If needed, the Representative Council may form Committees to aid the Council.

The Representative Council holds meetings about once a month during the semester. The meetings are open to all ISYY members and usually meetings are streamed, which means they can also be followed via live feed.  

Upcoming Representative Council Meetings

Upcoming Representative Council meetings can be found from the event calendar in the frontpage.

The agenda of every meeting will be pusblished in Finnish a week beforehand in the Documents-section of ISYY websites. The English translation is typically pusblished a few days later.

The Representative Council has a Chairperson and two Vice Chairpersons

  • Chairperson: Jimi Viita-aho
  • First Vice Chairperson: Miika Hiltunen
  • Second Vice Chairperson: Helmi Vanhanen

Responsibilities of the Chairperson

The Representative Council Chairperson is also known as the Student Union Chairperson. Their task is to lead the Representative Council, preside over Representative Council meetings and supervise that the Student Union operates according to the law and its own rules.

The Chairperson also holds meetings with decision-making bodies of the University and the local municipalities, and represents ISYY at different events. The Chairperson of the Representative Council, thus, makes sure that ISYY will be included in decision-making processes at both the local and national level.

Responsibilities of the Vice Chairpersons

The Vice Chairpersons help and support the Chairperson in the running of the Representative Council. Additionally, the First Vice Chairperson presides over Representative Council meetings, if the Chairperson is unable to do so.

The Vice Chairpersons have a comprehensive understanding of the Student Union. Along with the Student Union Chairperson, they are to make sure that strategic policies are implemented. The Vice Chairpersons are required to have a good knowledge of Student Union affairs and they are authorised to attend and speak at ISYY Executive Board meetings.

Responsibilities of the Representative Council Members

The Representative Council members attend meetings and exercise their right to speak and to vote in these meetings. Representative Council members may also work in Committees. You can see the chosen Representative Council members for the term 2022-2023 on ISYY's Documents or from the link below in the 'Read more' section.

Representative Council Committees

The purpose of the Committees is to allow the Representative Council to work more efficiently and to support its operations. The Committees give a report about their activities at the Representative Council meetings. The Committees can also submit motions to the Representative Council or the Executive Board on matters concerning their fields of interest.  The Rules Committee is the only statutory Representative Council Committee. Its duties include preparing rule amendments to ISYY Rules from a motion of the Executive Board or the Representative Council.

If there are disagreements over how ISYY Rules are to be interpreted, the Rules Committee issues a binding interpretation of the rules to the Representative Council Chairperson. In addition, the Rules Committee will issue a statement, if an appeal case for a revised decision is being processed by ISYY or one of its institutions.

Read More:

Isyy.fi, opens in a new tab: Representative Council contact information

Isyy.fi, opens in a new tab: Chosen lists, members and deputy members 2021 (PDF, in Finnish)

Isyy.fi, opens in a new tab: Documents