What do student representatives, or hallopeds, do?
Hallopeds represent students on TEK's committees (in Finnish) and TEK members on Akava student delegations (in Finnish).
The committees play an important role in TEK: they act as advisers and experts to the board in their specific fields. Student representatives are appointed for one year only, although the terms of the committees are otherwise three years. The committees meet around 6-10 times a year and the role of the hallopeds is to keep the student voice heard at the meetings and to inform the other hallopeds of the decisions taken at the meetings.
Why apply?
As a student representative, you'll be able to make a difference and build networks that will be invaluable for your future. You'll get to know both really experienced TEK members and other student influencers from all over Finland. You'll also get to delve deeper into the topics of your own committee.
All your meeting-related expenses will be reimbursed (e.g. travel and accommodation expenses). Most of the meetings are in Helsinki. In addition, you can participate in events such as TEK's Halloped training, the Student Lobby Seminar and the Saimaa-ilmiö event.
All TEK student members are eligible to apply. No previous experience in a similar role is required. More important than experience is enthusiasm and motivation to get involved, make a difference and learn new things. Please note, that the primary working language of the committees is Finnish.
To which institutions are hallopeds appointed and how many?
A total of 21 full student representatives + 12 alternates are appointed annually to the TEK administration.
The TEK Board consists of one representative and one alternate, whose term of office is one calendar year.
The 11 full student representatives and 11 alternates are elected to the TEK committees as follows:
- Three full student representatives and three alternate representatives are elected to the Education Committee for a period of one year.
- The Member Community Committee, the Municipal Committee, the Technology and Innovation Committee, the Work Life Committee, the State Committee, the Private Sector Committee, the University Committee and the Entrepreneurship Committee shall each elect one full student representative and one alternate. The student alternates may attend the meetings if they wish.
Local representatives to the Council and the Youth Committee are elected through local associations. If you are interested in these positions, please contact your local association:
University of Tampere: Tampere Teekkarit (in Finnish)
University of Turku/Åbo Akademi: Teekkarikomissio (in Finnish)
Mathematics and Natural Sciences: ML-association (in Finnish)
In addition, four representatives from TEK are elected to the Akava student delegation (in Finnish) and DIA student selection steering group.