Author: Studentarad

A proposal for a new implementation of the period of medical exams and re-examination at the School of Social Sciences was approved by the University Council on 2 June! The matter was initially brought up by the Student Council and student representatives on the University Council at a University Council meeting on 4 November 2021. The proposal was workshopped and approved by the Board of the School of Social Sciences in consultation with the Division of Academic Affairs, with diligent work from the Board’s student representative. The approval of the proposal means that the autumn semester’s medical exams and re-examination at the School of Social Sciences will take place in December and January, not June, as has been the case.

This is a cause for celebration, as students have advocated for a revision of the medical and re-examination system at the School of Social Sciences for years. The Student Council and student representatives on the University Council look forward to seeing the matter through. 

The changes are expected to take effect in the academic year 2023-2024, and the Student Council has high hopes for continued cooperation with the university’s administration. At the meeting on June 2, student representatives on the University Council, Isabel Alejandra Diaz and Jessý Rún Jónsdóttir said the following, as recorded in the meeting’s minutes:

“Representatives of students in the University Council consider the review of the arrangement of medical and re-examinations at the School of Social Sciences to be long overdue and welcome the new proposal for implementation that has emerged, following the Student Council’s presentation at the University Council meeting on November 4, 2021. At the same time which was undertaken in the will of the student representatives underline that it must be ensured that a new implementation will take place before the university year 2023-2024, as has been agreed.

A new implementation is an acceptable solution for those involved and it is clear that the natural next step is to consider overall coordination of the teaching calendar across all Schools. The student representative would like to emphasise that this work, that everyone agrees to, in principle, should not slow down or prevent the implementation of the new arrangement of medical and re-examination within the School of Social Sciences. Representatives of students in the University Council as well as the Student Council have high hopes that the consultation will be solution-oriented and successful for the benefit of students, since it is clear that their interests are at stake.. We welcome these planned changes at the same time as we emphasise that the implementation will be realised as planned. “

According to Article 21 of the Student Council’s Laws, the Student Council shall appoint student representatives to the committees of the University Council. At this time we are looking for a students representative for the Planning Committee, two students representatives for the Council for Disability Rights as well as an observer in the Security Committee. Periods for the Planning Committee and the Security Committee are one year and three years for the Council for Disability Rights. 

Qualifications:

• Interest in the work of the Student Council and students’ affairs 
• Initiative and ability to work independently
• Good communication skills
• Active participation in the university community is an advantage
• Knowledge of the administration of the University of Iceland is an advantage

For the Council for Disability Rights at least one of the student representative must fit the definition of special needs persons as stated in paragraph 1, Article 1 of the Regulation on disability services for study at the University of Iceland, no. 481/2010.

The Student Council will elect the representatives to the committees. More information about the committee’s work can be found on the UI’s website. 

If you are interested please send an email to shi@hi.is before 23:59 June 17th. The application must contain a CV, brief introduction of the applicant, a description of his interest and experience that he considers to be useful in the committee. 

The Student Council of the University of Iceland is looking for a Managing Director for the year 2022-2023.

Managing Director

The Managing Director supervises the Student Council’s finances and daily operations of the office alongside the President. That includes overseeing the Student Council’s employees timetables and the making of contracts for the Council, as well as the collection of advertisements in any of the Council’s published material. The Managing Director is also responsible for writing the minutes of Student Council meetings in addition to meetings of the Board of the Student Council.

Qualifications:

• Knowledge and experience of finances and book keeping
• Initiative and an ability to work independently
• Interest in the workings of the Student Council and students’ affairs in addition to being an active member of the University society
• Good Social skills
• Willingness and ability to work with Student Council members, the Student Council office and other stakeholders
• Ability to communicate, both verbally and in written text, in Icelandic and English
• Knowledge of the University of Iceland’s administrative body is an advantage
• Prior work in event planning and managing is an advantage
• Knowledge of accounting softwares is an advantage
• Formal qualifications befitting the work is an advantage
• Other knowledge and experience relevant to the position

 

The Student Council’s Managing Director is a part-time position, 40%-50%, available for one year with the possibility of extended employment. For further information regarding the role please contact the current Managing Director by email shi@hi.is.

A cover letter, CV and recommendations should be sent via email to forsetishi@hi.is with the subject “SHÍ Managing Director“.

The deadline is until June 5th 2022. Applications received after the deadline will not be taken into consideration.

The Student Council of the University of Iceland, the University of Iceland and the Icelandic Student Serviced, signed a declaration of intent regarding changing Stapi, a building on campus, into a student housing and thereby connecting it to Gamli garður and its new extension. The Student Council has long had this in its policy.

Stapi, which was originally called Stúdentaheimilið (Home of students), was built by the Icelandic Student Services (ISS) in 1971 and sold to the University of Iceland during the construction of the University Square in 2007. Stapi housed for a long time the Student Travel Office, the bookstore and later Stúdentakjallarinn on behalf of ISS. For the past decade, a course in physiotherapy has had facilities in Stapi.

The Student Council considers this to be a great step for the university community and an important step in the increase in the number of student apartments on campus.

The Student Council’s next meeting will be held May 18th in N-132 at 17:00.

According to paragraph 9 of the Student Council’s laws, the Council’s meetings are open to all students at the University of Iceland. Students who are not members of the Student Council may therefore attend meetings and listen to discussions within the Council.

Please contact the office of the Student Council at shi@hi.is if you have any questions regarding the meeting or the agenda. Furthermore, all students are welcome to contact the office with inquiries about their rights.

Meeting agenda

1. Meeting begins 17:00
2. Vote on minutes from the Student Council meeting on April 13th 17:05-17:10
3. Annual financial statement of the Student Council 2021-2022 17:10-17:20
4. Annual report of the Student Council 2021-2022 17:20-17:40
5. The new Student Council 2022-2023 takes over 17:40-17:45
6. Vote on minutes from the Election Meeting 17:45-17:50
7. Practical information for new Student Council members 17:50-18:10
8. Intermission 18:10-18:20
9. Remaining nominations for the Student Council’s schools and committees (voting) 18:20-18:25
10. Timelines of major issues 18:25-19:00
11. General inquiries by new Student Council members 19:00-19:10
12. Other issues 19:10-19:20
13. Meeting ends 19:20

The meeting takes place in Icelandic.

Dear students,

Now that circumstances have changed we want to invite you to celebrate the summer and end of exams together at SHÍ’s Summer Festival!

→ The line up is Friðrik Dór, Birnir, GDRN, Gugusar, Inspector Spacetime and DJ RASLEY.

TICKETS
University students: 6990kr
Others: 7990kr

Ticket sale goes through tix.is.

We recommend that you keep an eye out on our Facebook Event it until the festival!

We look forward to seeing you warm up for Októberfest 2022.

 

The Student Council of the University of Iceland is looking for a Managing Director and an Editor of the Student Paper for the year 2022-2023.

Managing Director

The Managing Director supervises the Student Council’s finances and daily operations of the office alongside the President. That includes overseeing the Student Council’s employees timetables and the making of contracts for the Council, as well as the collection of advertisements in any of the Council’s published material. The Managing Director is also responsible for writing the minutes of Student Council meetings in addition to meetings of the Board of the Student Council.

Qualifications:

• Knowledge and experience of finances and book keeping
• Initiative and an ability to work independently
• Interest in the workings of the Student Council and students’ affairs in addition to being an active member of the University society
• Good Social skills
• Willingness and ability to work with Student Council members, the Student Council office and other stakeholders
• Ability to communicate, both verbally and in written text, in Icelandic and English
• Knowledge of the University of Iceland’s administrative body is an advantage
• Prior work in event planning and managing is an advantage
• Knowledge of accounting softwares is an advantage
• Formal qualifications befitting the work is an advantage
• Other knowledge and experience relevant to the position

 

The Student Council’s Managing Director is a part-time position, 40%-50%, available for one year with the possibility of extended employment. For further information regarding the role please contact the current Managing Director by email shi@hi.is.

A cover letter, CV and recommendations should be sent via email to shi@hi.is with the subject “SHÍ Managing Director“.

The deadline is until May 11th 2022. Applications received after the deadline will not be taken into consideration.

 

Editor of the Student Paper

The editor oversees the publication of the student handbook (Akademían), which is published at the beginning of each school year, as well as the Student Paper (Stúdentablaðið) which is published four times per school year, two issues each semester. Further timing on each issue depends on the decision of the Editor and the Student Council’s office. The Editor appoints an editorial board and directs its work. He is also responsible for publishing material from the Student Paper its website and is responsible for distributing the paper.

The Editor assists with the collection of advertisements for the paper as the Managing director oversees the operation of the newspaper.

Qualifications:

• Knowledge and interest in student affairs
• Experience in media and publishing
• Experience in graphic design is an advantage
• Good general computer skills
• Knowledge of web management is an advantage
• A competence in communicating, both verbally and in written text, in Icelandic and English
• Initiative and ability to work independently
• Willingness and ability to work with Student Council members, the Student Council office and other stakeholders
• Other education and experience relevant to the position

 

The Editor is hired for a 20% work rate during the period June 1st 2022 to September 1st 2022, with an increase to 30% from September 1st 2022 to May 31st 2023. Working hours can be flexible by agreement. For further information regarding the role please contact the current Editor of Stúdentablaðið, at the e-mail address studentabladid@hi.is.

A cover letter, CV and recommendations should be sent via email to shi@hi.is with the subject “Editor 2022-2023”. In addition, it is desirable that the applicant’s view of Stúdentablaðið and ideas for publications are included, as well as a sample of his work if the person in question has previously worked as a writer.

The deadline is until May 11th 2022. Applications received after the deadline will not be taken into consideration.

Rebekka Karlsdóttir was elected the new President of the Student Council of the University of Iceland (SHÍ) on April 20th. The election took place at a special election meeting of the council held online. The new Rights Office and the newly elected Student Council will formally take office after the exchange meeting in May.

Rebekka will graduate with a Bachelor degree in law from the University of Iceland in June 2022. Alongside her studies, she has worked as a law student at BBA//Fjeldco and before that as a ranger at Vatnajökull National Park. Rebekka also graduated from Menntaskólinn á Egilsstaðir in 2016.

Last year, Rebekka was the President of the School Council of the School of Social Sciences and a member of the Board of the Student Council and the Board of the School of Social Sciences. Rebekka has also served as a student representative on the University Council’s Academic Affairs Committee, a vice-representative of the Student Council for the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, as well as being president of Röskva, an organization of socially minded students at the University of Iceland.

I am very excited to take on the role, as there are many opportunities ahead regarding students’ interests, such as the development of the University campus, a new policy of the University of Iceland, a review of the Student Loan Fund and collaboration with a new ministry and Minister of University Affairs. Likewise, there are brighter times ahead for the social life at the University after 2 years that have been characterized more or less by distance learning and staying at home.

At the election meeting, the following representatives were also elected to the Student Rights Office:

Vice President: Gréta Dögg Þórisdóttir

Interest representative: Katrín Björk Kristjánsdóttir

Student Loan Representative: María Sól Antonsdóttir

The Student Council’s sixth survey was sent out on February 7th to all students at the University of Iceland. 843 students had taken the survey when it ended on February 14th. 15,258 students are registered at the University. Questions were asked about personal background, well-being and teaching conditions, both in Icelandic and English, but there were 27 questions.

As with previous surveys, the aim was to examine the effect of the pandemic on the well-being and academic progress of students at the University of Iceland. In this way, it is possible to get a better view of the situation and better outline ways for improvement.

The results show that the effects due to COVID continue to be difficult for students, but this is mainly due to the lack of connection with fellow students, increased online learning and the stress that comes with it. The majority of students prefer to be able to attend the school’s premises and it is clear that limited social life has affected their mental health. The students’ experience has thus changed from feeling insecure due to COVID to worrying about not having good control over their studies and how those circumstances affect mental health.

Important points to be deduced from the results:

• 56% say online learning has worked very well or rather well.
• Of those who are in online learning, 34.74% think that it is very successful to use  telecommunication programs and 42.82% way it has gone rather well.
• Of those in online earning, 18.41% think that teachers’ teaching methods are very good and 44.51% think they are rather good.
• 75.96% of students from the School of Social Sciences strongly agree that resit and makeup exams, due to the final exams in the fall semester, should take place in January.
• 25.39% believe that it has been very difficult to get to know fellow students during the fall semester of 2021.
• 32.03% say that online learning has had a rather large effect on their well-being, on the scale: extremely to not at all.
• 53.85% mark their well-being 5 or higher on a scale of 0-10, the scale ranges from very poorly (0) to extremely well (10)
• 63.58% experience stress and/or strain that they believe has a very large or rather large effect on their studies.
• 61.4% said that online learning has had either a very negative effect or a negative effect on interest and ability to learn. 27.2% said it has had a positive effect.

 

The survey in its entirety can be found here.