Be the student voice! - the University of Tartu Student Union invites you to run for student representative

On March 25, the application process for the faculty and institute student representatives will begin at the University of Tartu (UT). Anyone who is a student in the University of Tartu and who wants to stand up for the interests and needs of students, and support them in protecting their rights, can run. This year, 138 new representatives will be elected.

Renar Kihho, the President of the University of Tartu Student Union (UTSU), notes that students' opinions are important and should not be ignored. "The student's voice must be heard not only in the corridors of the educational buildings or in random conversations between lectures – the proposals and concerns of students must reach the desks of the decision-making bodies directly from the students themselves," says Kihho.

You can apply to be a student representative of both the faculty and the institute on UTSU's own website until April 7. The difference between the two representatives lies in the fact that, while the faculty student representative (FSC) stands for the students of their entire faculty, the institute student representative (ISC) stands for the students of their own institute. The mandate of the student representatives lasts for one year, starting from July 1.

Kihho points out that the student representative gets a better overview of the inner workings of the university system than an ordinary student would and they also understand better how it all works. "The student representative has a more detailed view of the university's inner machinery and is an important multi-functional cogwheel in the structure for whom this system works. Therefore, we ourselves speak for our present and future students' well-being," says Kihho.

Different faculties also have different numbers of student representatives based on how many students there are in that particular faculty. If there are a total of 138 places in the entire university, they are divided among the four faculties of UT as follows:

• medical sciences - 31 places;

• arts and humanities - 36 places;

• social sciences - 33 places;

• science and technology - 38 places.

These elections are the first for the board of UTSU, which was elected last summer. The board together with the office coordinate the work of student representatives in faculties and institutes. The student union includes 31 institute student councils. From January 2024, the bioengineering institute was added to the UT institutes, whose students can also apply to be a representative.