Mid-Week Mail, week 41

•  VORNANEN NOMINATED FOR CHAIR OF SYL EXECUTIVE BOARD
• LIBRARY DISCUSSION AND REGULATIONS AT NEW STUDENT UNION COUNCIL MEETING
• KEIJO VIRTANEN CONTINUES ON AS UNIVERSITY OF TURKU RECTOR
• UNIVERSITY BOARD MAKES DECISION ON DEPARTMENT COUNCILS
• NEW STARTING PACKAGE STORAGE COORDINATOR
• UNICA LUNCHES NOW READILY AVAILABLE THROUGH TYY WEBSITE
• FILL OUT TYY CALENDAR QUESTIONNAIRE BY FRIDAY
• TYY SEARCHES FOR AJAGI PROJECT SECRETARY
• TYY COMMITTEE MEETINGS

VORNANEN NOMINATED FOR CHAIR OF SYL EXECUTIVE BOARD

The old Student Union Council nominated the current TYY Executive Board
Chair Jukka Vornanen for Chair of the National Union of University
Students in Finland (SYL) at its September meeting for 2010.

The new SYL Executive Board will be selected at its union meeting 20 to
21 November. There are 13 union meeting representatives at TYY that will
be selected at the Student Union Council's October meeting.

LIBRARY DISCUSSION AND REGULATIONS AT NEW STUDENT UNION COUNCIL MEETING

The new Student Union Council held its second meeting on Tuesday, 29
September in the Turku School of Economics assembly hall.

The report of the committee that was working on the account of the TYY
Library was on the agenda. Each Student Union Council group took the
floor, each having a representative speaking on behalf of the group on
the account. The new Student Union Council will decide on the future of
the TYY Library in the beginning of the year.

Furthermore, the Executive Board rules of order, election regulations
and the regulations of the new Student Union were up for approval.

The new Student Union Council will be setting up a regulations committee
whose job it will be to consider the changes that new Universities Act
will be requiring of the Student Union regulations. According to the new
Universities Act, student unions must, for example, make the grounds for
waving membership fees more clearly in its regulations.

KEIJO VIRTANEN CONTINUES ON AS UNIVERSITY OF TURKU RECTOR

Cultural History Professor Keijo Virtanen will continue on as University
of Turku Rector until 31 July 2012. The new University of Turku Board
made its selection at last week's meeting.

Virtanen has been the University of Turku Rector since 1997. Before his
first appointment as Rector, he has worked for four years as Vice-Rector.

UNIVERSITY BOARD MAKES DECISION ON DEPARTMENT COUNCILS

The University of Turku regulations, which were circulated for
statements, were received at the office during the summer. The biggest
shortcoming was that the draft, prepared by University officials, did
not allow for the continuation of department councils, or an equivalent
body, for the faculties.

TYY made an official statement defending department councils and the
institution of the chancellor. TYY also criticised that the faculties
and departments may no longer select their own directors. TYY's
statement can be read at http://tyy.fi/node/468 (in Finnish only).

Twelve out of fourteen statements spoke out on the issue that the
faculties must at the very least decide itself if department councils
will fit with their administration or not. Regardless of this, there
were no department councils found in the new regulation draft, which was
changed just slightly, on the basis of the statements when the document
was circulated.

It was decided at the University Board's Monday meeting to enter the
position in the regulations that if there will possibly be department
councils, the directorates of the faculties and Turku School of
Economics but present this to the Rector. The duties, which will be
defined in the regulations, and role of department councils, however,
will be changed considerably. The job of the department councils will
be, in the future, to give its point of view as support of the
department director's decision making, e.g. on the plan of action and
budget, its distribution of allowances and teaching plans.

The Board also decided that there would still be a Chancellor at the
University of Turku. The Chancellor's duties will, however, be different
from what they are now.

NEW STARTING PACKAGE STORAGE COORDINATOR

There is a starting package service that TYY, ÅAS, TuKY and TUO jointly
offer its exchange students.

The TYY Executive Board selected Environmental Sciences student
Mosharraf Akhand as the new Starting Package Storage Coordinator. Akhand
has previously worked as the Starting Package Storage assistant.

UNICA LUNCHES NOW READILY AVAILABLE THROUGH TYY WEBSITE

You can now quickly and easily check what cafeteria has the tastiest
lunch of the day through the TYY website. You can choose an individual
cafeteria's lunch menu from the Unica selection menu on the front page
or go directly to the webpage that has all of the cafeterias' lunches of
the day.

Bon appétit!

www.tyy.fi

FILL OUT TYY CALENDAR QUESTIONNAIRE BY FRIDAY

Do you use the TYY calendar? Do you want to influence how it should be
next year?

Fill out the TYY calendar questionnaire at www.tyy.fi/kalenterikysely
and you could win movie tickets! Ideas for developing the calendar and
feedback will be taken into consideration in the planning for next
year's calendar. The last day to fill out the calendar questionnaire
will be Friday, 9 October.

TYY SEARCHES FOR AJAGI PROJECT SECRETARY

TYY is searching for a project secretary to handle the report of the
2009 Mexico development cooperation project and also the final report,
which is done for the project years 2006-2009. The salary will be €800.

The work of the project secretary includes keeping contact with Mexican
partner organisation AJAGI, with whom the report will be done in close
cooperation. The project secretary will translate the final reports from
Spanish to Finnish and reformat the reports according to the
requirements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The TYY Committee on
Development Cooperation and its Mexico group will be a support in the
work, checking and commenting on the drafts.

Free-form applications must be submitted to the TYY Service Desk at
Rehtorinpellonkatu 4a or by e-mail at tyy-kanslia@utu.fi by 12.00 on
Monday, 19 October.

More information can be found at www.tyy.fi/ajankohtaista/2009/782

TYY COMMITTEE MEETINGS

TYY Committee on Development Cooperation: Thursday, 8 October at 16.00,
Turku-sali