A new initiative forum opened for students and staff – Aiming to enhance university democracy
As an organisational body, the University Collegium is like a miniature version of the university community. The Collegium has 30 members, of whom 10 represent the professors, 10 the teaching and research staff and other staff, and 10 the students of the University. The new elected Collegium started its term of office on 1 January 2022.
To gain information about topics and themes concerning the JYU community, the new Collegium has opened an initiative forum where all members of the community can submit proposals on issues regarding the JYU community to be dealt with in the Collegium. Do you find, for example, that the voices and needs of all JYU community members are not heard through the current structures? Now you can bring your message to the Collegium through the initiative forum.
“The initiative forum arose from our considerations as to how we could promote and contribute to administrative autonomy and university democracy,” says Professor Kaisa Miettinen, Chair of the University Collegium. “This discussion resulted in the idea of an initiative forum open to the whole community in order to bring more awareness to ideas and development needs that concern the JYU community at large.”
Express your ideas and wishes to the Collegium by email
It has been possible to approach Collegium members with ideas and proposals already before, but the new initiative forum makes contacting even easier. From now on, you can make an initiative or a proposal by email at jyu-kollegio-aloitteet@jyu.fi.
The Collegium’s chair and vice chairs select appropriate initiatives to be discussed in the Collegium, and the Collegium decides how the initiatives will be taken forward. If a topic does not call for processing in the Collegium, the chairpersons will forward the initiative to the right place.
“We are looking for hints on issues that need wider background work and discussion, as well as for information about problems concerning JYU community members, or for development ideas that the Collegium could bring forth or promote,” Miettinen says. “However, the initiative forum is not an appropriate place for the issues of individual units or solving problems of operative level.”
Read more about the University Collegium.
