Dear Student Unions of Nordic Technical Universities
As a response to a majority of the relevant institutions for SUNTU did not attend the previous meeting, and also that a large part of you do not know what SUNTU is, we want to send a note to all relevant Student Unions in the Nordic countries. This was decided on the SUNTU-meeting autumn 2011 in Tallinn, Estonia. Following is a description of what SUNTU is, and how we work.
Organization
SUNTU stands for Student Union of Nordic Technical Universities. It is a collaboration organization made out by the universities offering engineering education in the Nordic countries. The definition of Nordic are the following countries
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
Iceland
Latvia
Norway
Sweden
As a guideline, the member institutions of Nordtek and Baltech can be considered as relevant to the SUNTU-organization. However, there is no strict membership system, all relevant Student Unions are invited to attend. There is no member-fee, but the members attending the meetings are to pay a participation fee according to this. SUNTU is a sub-leader organization, meaning that the meetings are not relevant for presidents and leaders of the Student Union, but for example Vice Presidents, International Officers, Educational officers, etc.
The organizer of SUNTU between meetings is the Secretary General (SG). This person is elected by person by concensus at the autumn-meeting each year. SG is responsible for the activity between the meetings, meaning information flow in the organization and follow up on member organizations. The participation fee covers travel expenses on behalf of the SG.
Meetings
The main form of working in SUNTU is three day meetings which are held once every academic semester. The Student Unions participating in SUNTU are responsible for organizing these meetings at their universities. The meeting schedule shows an overview of the hosting of SUNTU meetings.*(to be added, please send me (Annti?))
The aim of the meetings is to facilitate networking across the Student Unions. A SUNTU-meeting should inspire the representatives, enhance their knowledge of educational affairs, and they shall get to know the host university. The main focus on the meetings is education, and the topics are decided by the host university. A draft of the topic shall be presented on the prior meeting, with a following discussion. The members are welcome suggest topics to the host.
At the planning of a meeting there will be sent an invitation to all student unions, with a recommendation on which position Student Union the meeting will be relevant for. The invitation will be sent out minimum 3 months prior of the meeting, while the registration will be open until 1 month before the meeting.
It is important that both the previous host and next host attend the meeting in order to secure continuity in the organization.
The host is also responsible to invite other relevant organizations to attend the meetings, such as European Student Union, the National Student Union and interest organizations within engineering and technology in their University or Country.
After each meeting there will be produced a report that concludes on the topics discussed. This will be sent to all the members of SUNTU. The organization also has a possibility to make statements towards for example Nordtek, Baltech if this should be nesscecary.
Sincerely,
Lars Kristian Holgersen
Secretary General of Student Union of Nordic Technical Universities
