The Student Union of the University of Eastern Finland
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The Student Union of the University of Eastern Finland
22.08.2025
Are you thinking about becoming a candidate in the Representative Council elections, but you don’t have any idea what the Representative Council of ISYY even is?
In the Representative Council, there are 39 student members, who represent different Representative Council groups. The Representative Council is chosen via elections every two years and the Representative Council in turn chooses an Executive Board each year amongst students who have applied to the Board. The Executive Board drafts proposals for the Representative Council to vote on. In practice, political participation in ISYY largely replicates Finnish political participation in other areas, and it is a great opportunity to get experience in making a political impact if that is something you want to do in the future. At the current moment, the membership fee in ISYY is 73 euros for the whole academic year, which gets you interest advocacy, rental facilities, events, advice/support and the ability to borrow equipment, for example equipment for sports or other hobbies. Would you like for the membership fee to be a different amount or the services to be different? You can make an impact on it by running for the Representative Council.
During the academic year (from the start of September to the end of May) there is approximately one meeting per month. There are no meetings during the summer break and the Representative Council also has a winter holiday break. The Representative Council holds a virtual meeting called the Evening School a few days before the actual meeting to go through the material for the next meeting, and to predict what kind of conversations the material sparks. The Evening School lasts about an hour. The Representative Council meetings are held on weekdays starting usually at 5 p.m. in the University’s premises. The duration of the meetings is largely based on how much material the Representative Council members have to go through, and how much conversation each topic sparks. The average duration for a meeting is approximately 3 hours including breaks.
The Representative meetings follow an agenda, which includes bureaucratic things, such as, opening and closing the meeting, the verification of the legality and quorum of the meeting (i.e. the meeting notice was sent on time and it is made sure that there are a sufficient amount of reps, meaning representatives, present) and then going through the agenda and proposals which the Executive Board have drafted for the reps. The agenda is delivered to the reps at least seven days before the meeting, to make sure the representatives have had the opportunity to go through the material, either individually or as a group, and prepare statements if needed. However, taking the floor at a meeting doesn’t have to be drafted beforehand and you can ask for the floor by addressing the Chairperson of the Representative Council. During the meeting, representatives and their groups can propose resolutions, i.e. wish for the Executive Board to clarify certain issues or draft proposals for the next meeting. In the meetings, the reps also vote on issues based on the Executive Board’s proposals. In addition to the Executive Board’s basic proposal, the representatives may also draft an alternative proposal, between which a vote will take place. International Representative Council members can request an interpreter to be present at the meeting if their Finnish isn’t fluent enough.
In addition to the fact that as a representative you will learn how the systems of political participation works, being a representative is otherwise beneficial too. Even though it’s one of the smallest upsides, being a representative in your Student Union will look good on your résumé. A future employer can see from you being involved in the Representative Council as you knowing how to collaborate and communicate as well as negotiate with different types of people and organisations. Another plus-side to being a rep is that in the Representative Council you get to know other students from different fields of study and get to work diversely with different types of people. Each Representative Council group also gets a certain amount of money for recreational activities, so being a rep isn’t just working hard, it’s also playing hard. The third upside to representative work is that you get to advance concrete changes. The Representative Council has decided, for example, on the Environmental Programme, which has brought more recycling opportunities to the University’s premises. The reps have also founded a position at ISYY for a Community Coordinator, whose responsibilities include organising events for the start of the academic year and events for the week of May Day as well as organising the activities of the Coffee & Friends Café.
If you have a vision of what you would like to see Student Union developing towards in the future or you know what kinds of things you would like ISYY to organise, run for the Representative Council to make an impact! Your membership fee is used on running ISYY’s operations whether you like it or not, so be part of what the organisation looks like.
Emma Ohtonen, Coordinator for Representative Council Elections, Student Union of the University of Eastern Finland (ISYY), vaalikoordinaattori(at)isyy.fi, tel. +358 44 576 8450