Student Union of University of Tampere

Kauppakatu 10, 33210 Tampere (044) 3610 210 - tamy@uta.fi

Tamy – your Student Union

The purpose of the Student Union of the University of Tampere (Tamy for short) is to promote students’ interests and to protect their rights within the University and in society. All degree-seeking students at the University are members of Tamy – including exchange students and visiting students. Tamy's membership is voluntary for postgraduate students. There is a total of some 12,000 members of Tamy spread out in the three cities the University of Tampere operates in: Tampere, Hämeenlinna and Pori. Whenever you need advice about studying, welfare or other aspects of student life, you can turn to your student union!

According to the Universities Act, the purpose of the student union is to act as a link between its members and to promote their societal, social and intellectual aspirations. In practice this means that Tamy has three roles:

1. Supervisor of interests

Tamy works hard to supervise the interests of its members not only at the University of Tampere but in the Tampere region in whole. The most important statutory duty of the Student Union is to nominate student representatives to the administrative bodies of the University and its schools. This way students are represented where decisions concerning them are made. Moreover, Tamy acts as an expert, makes statements and gives comments on matters relating to students, and represents students at various draft working groups.

At a national level, a central force is the National Union of University Students in Finland (SYL), to which Tamy belongs. All the student benefits and discounts, such as financial support for students and meal subsidy, have been negotiated by the Finnish student unions in the course of time. Thanks to the student unions, the housing supplement for students and the meal subsidy were increased during the 21st century. Some of the most recent examples of the student unions' supervision of interests is campaigning to keep university studies free of charge and to index study grants.

2. Service providerTamyn<br /> vapputapahtumassa 2011.

Tamy offers various services for its members and for the almost 80 organizations associated with it. These services include e.g. consultation services, the student newspaper Aviisi, health services at the FSHS, free legal counselling, events, activities and a lot more. One of the most important benefits is the student card and all the discounts it entitles to. As a member of Tamy, you can make use of all these services and more!

3. Civic organization and a social force

Tamy offers its members several possibilities to take part in societal conversation, engage in international activities and take the floor for development cooperation, equality and environment, to name but a few. Click here and see how you can make a change!

Who's who in Tamy

Naturally, the Student Union is made up of members (you!) who have an equal right to take part in its actions. By participating, you can influence what the Student Union fights for and what it considers important! The most common way to start participating is through student associations and other associations acting at the University, such as council groups.

Tamy's highest decision-making organ is the Council of Representatives, whose 40 members are chosen through a general election every two years. The next representative elections are held this autumn, on 1–2 November 2011. In the representative elections, all members of the Student Union have the right to vote, stand for election and be chosen as a member of the Council of Representatives.

The Council of Representatives annually appoints the Executive Board to take care of day-to-day matters. The Executive Board is a political organ that governs the Student Union, uses the Student Union's right to speak, represents the Student Union and prepares the items brought to the Council meetings.

Together with the secretariat, the members of the Executive Board proceed with matters related to e.g. educational politics, social welfare affairs, international affairs and organizational affairs. Moreover, the members of the Executive Board are often responsible for smaller sectors, such as sports, environment, equality, culture and public relations.

In addition to the Executive Board, a host of very competent people work at Kauppakatu. The secretaries are experts in their field. They advise and do a lot of research so that students could feel well – and not just today. Please don't hesitate to contact them if you have any queries.