What is the student union? Interview with Satu Nurmi, international affairs specialist
One of the most important institutions for all students at the University of Turku is the Student Union, or TYY (Turun Yliopiston Ylioppilaskunta in Finnish). Founded in 1922, TYY is a corporation independent of the university that aims to represent its members and offer support services to students.
All students, both Finnish and international, are required to pay a fee to TYY before starting the course, and TYY representatives welcome new students at the start of term. However, for many students exactly what TYY is and does remains unclear. To help explore this topic further, I turned to Satu Nurmi, a staff member at TYY who kindly agreed to be interviewed for the Student Life Blog.
Hi Satu! Perhaps you could start by introducing yourself and your role at TYY?
I’m Satu, I work as a staff member at the Student Union of the University of Turku (TYY).
TYY’s staff members are paid employees whose job is to give counselling services to Student Union members, prepare proposals, be authorities in their areas of responsibility and assist the Executive Board in the execution of decisions. The Executive Board changes every year so we are also here to train the new board and transfer the knowledge from the current Board to the next one. My responsibilities are international affairs and development cooperation.
My everyday work typically consists of helping students by answering e-mails or meeting them personally, attending university meetings and also doing different kinds of projects together with the Executive Board member that is responsible of international affairs and development cooperation. I am also one of our three harassment contact persons.
What services does TYY offer for students?
Our members can get wide range of services such as consultation services and student benefits (a full list of student services is available on our website: https://www.tyy.fi/en/students).
We also serve our 148 student organisations by advising them, giving them trainings and financial aid.
How can international students get involved with TYY?
International students are welcome to participate in TYY activities! Although we do not have resources to translate everything in our communication, we do include international students in our activities so that when non-Finnish speakers are attending, we switch to English or communicate bilingually.
“International students are welcome to participate in TYY activities!”
Good examples of international student involvement are several non-Finnish speaking Wing (TYY’s voluntary student action groups) members and we just elected an international student for our Executive Board (the second time we have a Board member whose mother tongue is not Finnish).
We also encourage our organisations to welcome all international students in their activities and give the “TYY International Award” every year to one successful organisation. This year the winner is ELSA Turku ry (the European Law Students’ Association).
Of course inclusion does not happen automatically by speaking English and I think we all can always improve the inclusion of students with different types of background, not only international students!
Unlike in other countries, Student Union membership is mandatory for all students at Finnish universities – why is this the case?
The membership of the Student Union is stated in the law, the Universities act, where there is a specific section for the Student Union.
Because of the student unions, the students in Finland have access to key services such as the student health service, the student card and student aid (for domestic students). It is very important to have student representatives in the administration.
What is your favourite thing about working at TYY?
My favourite thing is to work with young people that come from versatile backgrounds. I’m happy to have work where I can work every day with topics that are interesting and meaningful for me. I never get bored because my work is very versatile and dynamic. I like that we do many things together but everyone can also focus on their own field of specialisation and we are also trusted to do so. The work is also flexible and independent and I think our organisation is pretty agile and creative!
I also like to help international students to integrate into Finnish society and advise any student who contacts me. I remember myself how stressful it was to be a student and if I can soothe even the few students that everything goes well in the end, I’m glad!
Where can we find more information about TYY?
On our website, our instagram, and also by watching the following video (with English subtitles):
Thanks Satu for an engaging and informative interview!
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Last updated 5 August 2022
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