More pay for student representatives

From the beginning of October, the fees paid for hallopeds increased. Here’s what you need to know about being a student representative and what they do..

The announcement begins. A meeting fee of 41,20 euros per meeting is paid to student members from 1.10.2020 onwards from the following meetings: Collegium, Board of Examiners, Education Management Group, the Education Council, the Faculty Board, Faculty Steering Group and Education Committee. Announcement ends. A number of questions arise: What meeting? What committee? What fee? What student member?

A student member represents students in university administration. Their job is to bring forward a student’s perspective and look after students’ interests. A student member is plenipotentiary in the meetings of the university. In other words, they have an equal say and vote in all matters just as any other member does. These members are called hallopeds, a.k.a. student representatives in administration, who influence the future of education and research in the university they represent.

Hallopeds can also represent in administrations outside a university. As for the University of Oulu, its hallopeds can represent in the boards of student owned restaurant chain Uniresta, Oulun ylioppilasapu ry (‘Student help association in Oulu’) and the Student Housing Foundation of Northern Finland (PSOAS), and also in the nationally operating delegation of the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS) and in the locally operating executive board of FSHS healthcare service unit of Oulu. Hallopeds are appointed either by the Student Union or the student body.

You might be thinking ‘wow that’s a lot of responsibility’. So many delegations, committees, councils, management groups and boards! There’s no denying that the list is quite extensive. But if you think about it, it makes perfect sense.

The University is a big institution, where several matters require decision-making. Without student representatives nobody would know of the real problems that students face. After all, universities were founded to suit the needs of students. Students themselves established the university institution during medieval times, and sought out their own teachers.

But what are the things that students might want to influence these days? Who has the energy to meddle with the details of every bureaucratic decision? As a matter of fact, the issues can be rather tangible. If for example, a student restaurant serves bad quality food or neglects allergies, hallopeds can address that. They can also affect what kind of thesis supervision a student receives.

With the help of hallopeds these things can change. The accomplishments of hallopeds include for instance, the Quiet Room at the University, and the “55 study credits” overall patches and meal tickets, although the latter don’t exist anymore.

What about the fees then? A student representative does not receive a salary per se, but they do receive a meeting fee of 41,20 euros from most meetings they attend. So, did the announcement from the beginning mean that hallopeds are getting more money?

From the beginning of October, hallopeds receive the meeting fee from more meetings than before, but the numeral amount of the fee has not changed. Influencing the extension of the fee was Aino Rossi, a Specialist in Academic Affairs at the Student Union of the University of Oulu (OYY). Among other people, she helped accomplish better compensation for the efforts of hallopeds.

Now, who can become a halloped and how? Anyone can apply as a halloped and you don’t need to have any prior experience in organization or interest work. Open calls can be found at OYY’s website and in the halloped portal of the University of Oulu.

Many additional calls are still going on at this moment. Every other fall there is a larger open call, where all hallopeds are elected. OYY trains all of the student representatives and arranges orientations. The latest orientations have been this September, but additional training can be arranged throughout the year regarding subjects that the hallopeds themselves request.

Most student representative jobs in administration last two years. You can however resign during your term if the job gets too straining or if you happen to graduate. In addition to the ordinary members there are also vice members involved. Vice members don’t need to participate in the meetings unless the ordinary member is unable to attend for some reason. Aino Rossi also points out, that the experts at OYY will help with any problems and answer questions.

Hallopeds do not have to work without the support of other students either. Hallopeds can be provided with feedback, which they can take into account. Student members represent students and oversee their interests, which is why they need the support and opinions of other students. Questions and feedback can be sent to the present hallopeds straight via email. The contact information of all present hallopeds can be found at halloped.fi/en/oulu. There you can also find all of the committees, the lengths and descriptions of halloped jobs and ongoing halloped calls.

So, the stiff announcement from the beginning shortly entails the following: The student members, who represent students in the meetings of University administration, are being paid a meeting fee from more meetings than before. Students are getting financial compensation for the work they are doing – That is all in a nutshell. •