Linnékåren är en HBTQI-diplomerad verksamhet 

Student representatives & student safety representatives

Do you want to become a student representative or a student safety representative?

This is one of the largest and perhaps most significant opportunities students have regarding student influence and advocacy. A student representative is a student at the university who is elected by the student union to represent the students in what is called a preparatory or decision-making body. It is suggested that you are a student representative in a body that is connected to what you are studying, for example a programme council or perhaps an employment committee for a new senior lecturer. 

For you who want to apply

Student representative

Being a student representative is not only a fun experience, but also a merit on your CV. You will get the opportunity to influence your education and even get paid. As a student, you have the right to be represented in all preparatory and decision-making bodies within the university.

The "bodies" are decision-making or preparatory forums, councils or committees for issues that concern you as a student in various ways. It is everything from programme councils that concern direct issues in your programme, to the university board where the vice-chancellor, among others, makes decisions at a very high level.

A student can, regardless of what level he or she studies, apply to become a student representative. There is however a language barrier where in most decision making and preparatory bodies you need to be fluent in Swedish. Student representatives gets paid for the work they do.

Student representatives gets invited to a short education to learn more about the mission and how the structure works. The education is digital and arranged by the Student Union and the University office. Once a new date is decided for an education we invite all students that haven´t participated yet.

To become a student representative you need to fill out the form further down on the page.

 

Student Safety Representative

The student safety representative represents the students in various contexts related to the physical and psychosocial study environment , for example by pointing out deficiencies, participating in safety rounds, having opinions on changes and participating in work environment together with the university´s safety representatives. To be able to become a student safety representative you need to be fluent in Swedish

Being a student safety representative is a position of trust where you are appointed byt the student union and have a duty of confidentiality, but you are not personally responsible for the work or study environment. The Linnaeus Union has the ambition that there should be at least one student safety representative at each faculty and location.

The Swedish National Union of students (SFS) arranges a training session for appointed SSO. 

SFS:s SSO-Handboken – En guide för studerandeskyddsombud (pdf)

To become a student safety representative you need to be fluent in Swedish, and fill out the form further down on this page.

Important information about the assignment

Do I need any experience of how boards work?

No you do not have to have experience. All students at LNU can apply to become a student representative, it does not matter if you are studying the first term or are a doctoral student. What matters are what prior knowledge, or what level of studies that are desirable for the specific assignment. For example, doctoral students are usually desirable as student representatives to doctoral supervisory committees. We usually encourage the student to be able to relate to the body they apply for. If you apply to a programme council, you should therefore be a student at that programme, if you apply to an employment committee, you can study both at the department or in some cases study HR and recruitment.

Will I get payed?

The rules differ for undergraduate and advanced level students and students at postgraduate level (PhD students).

On this page you can read more about current rules and routines about remuneration. 

Postgraduate students are compensated with time. How much time depends on which body the student is a representative in. At FSV, it was decided in 2022 that PhD representatives will receive 30 hours in addition to the university's general rules.

Which positions are vacant?

Start by looking in our register on this page. It is divided into faculties and university-wide bodies. For most bodies and programme councils, it is clear how many places there are and which ones have been appointed. If a programme council is not in the register, you can contact us at representant@linnek.se and we will look into it.

For how long can I be a student representative?

You are appointed for one year at a time, which means that if you are appointed in August, you can occupy the position until next August without having to apply again. Linnaeus Union would like to encourage student representatives to reapply for their position to be active during their whole study time. At most, an ordinary student representative may occupy a position for three years, but for PhD student representatives that restriction does not apply.

How much time do you need to dedicate to the assignment?

Some spend 15 minutes per term on their assignment, while others work 3 hours a month. The amount of work can vary quite a lot depending on which body you as a student are appointed to. For example, the faculty boards deal with larger and more comprehensive issues than a head of department's decision meeting, which is usually already prepared and goes fairly quickly.

How do I become a student representative?

To become a student representative, you must be appointed, something the union board decides on. By filling out the form Become a student representative you will be proposed to be appointed during a union board meeting (provided there is room in the body you are applying for). The union board meets about once a month, and when you have been appointed your name will be entered in the register and the convener of the body will be contacted by us. If you have any questions about student representation, we are happy to answer them, contact representant@linnek.se.

Application form
Listor över samtliga studentrepresentanter. Senast uppdaterat 27 mars.

The board of the Student Union appoints student representatives and student safety representatives once a month.

Sista dag att söka för att bli tillsatt i januari is: 8 april

The board makes decisions on appointments on: 13 mars

Sista dag att söka för att bli tillsatt i maj är: 13 maj

The last day to apply in order to get appointed in June is: är: 10 juni

What faculty do I belong to?

Here you can find out which faculty you belong to through which education association you belong to. Several associations includes educations that belongs to multiple faculties. Email us at representant@linnek.se if you need any more information, or talk to you educational association. 

Växjö

  • Växt - You belong to the faculty of technology (FTK)
  • Viska - You either belong to the faculty of social science (FSV) or the faculty of arts and humanities (FKH).
  • Wädur - You belong to the faculty of technology (FTK)
  • Samvete - You belong to the faculty of social science (FSV)
  • S.MI.SK - You either belong to the faculty of social science (FSV) or the faculty of health and life sciences (FHL)
  • Pedal – You study to become a teacher and you belong to the board of teacher education. But depending on your chosen subjects, you might belong to other faculties as well.
  • Pax - You belong to the faculty of social science (FSV)
  • Lips - You belong to the faculty of health and life sciences (FHL)
  • Klubb - You belong to the faculty of arts and humanities (FKH)
  • EHVS - You belong to the faculty for the school of business and economics (FEH)
  • EDBplus - You belong to the faculty for the school of business and economics (FEH)
  • Champs - You belong to the faculty of social science (FSV)

Kalmar

  • Meskalin - You can either belong to the faculty of arts and humanities (FKH) or the faculty of social sciences (FSV)
  • LiK - You either belong to the faculty of social science (FSV) or the faculty of arts and humanities (FKH).
  • SPIIK - You belong to the faculty of technology (FTK)
  • Karolin - You study to become a teacher and you belong to the board of teacher education. But depending on your chosen subjects, you might belong to other faculties as well.
  • Lambda - You belong to the faculty of technology (FTK)
  • KalmarEss - You belong to the faculty for the school of business and economics (FEH)
  • Humanus – Du tillhör antingen fakulteten för  samhällsvetenskap (FSV) eller fakulteten för hälso- och livsvetenskap (FHL)
  • CNaS - You belong to the faculty of health and life sciences (FHL)

FEH = The faculty for the school of business and economics
FHL= The faculty of health and life sciences
FKH = The faculty of arts and humanities
FSV = The faculty of social sciences
FTK = The faculty of technology
NLU = The board of teacher education

International students becoming student representatives

International students’ possibilities to impinge on their education as student representatives is inadequate. Almost all preparatory or decision-making organs don´t use English as working language, they all use Swedish. The reason of this is the Swedish law called “Språklagen (2009:600) that claims the Swedish language is the one to use in government workplaces.

The board of the Linneaus Union recognizes that there is a problematic situation that international students encounter when it comes to the possibilities to impinge on their education due to the law of the Swedish language.

As far as we know, only the international programs where the educational language is English, uses English as working language in the program board meetings. Otherwise all decision-making or preparatory organs uses Swedish as working language except for the Internationalization Committee. Temporary institutions sometime use English as working language, for example an Employment board.

 

Renumeration

Detta är blanketten som gäller från 1 januari 2023.

  1.  Download the new remuneration form here. Arvodesblankett. Länken är tagen från LNUs medarbetarsida. Den går att hitta genom att söka på mallar och blanketter. Blanketten heter ”Underlag för ersättning för uppdragstagare”.
  2. Fill out a form for every month as a student representative.
  3. Choose the right date at "Arbetat tid"
  4. Ignore "Totalt antal timmar"
  5. Save and send the form to the financial administrator at your faculty (financial administrator) på berörd fakultet med kopia till den som är sammankallande för ditt organ. Kontakta representant@linnek.se eller sammankallande för ditt organ om du är osäker. 

LNU is responsible for the fee that a student representative receives for his work. As a student representative, you need to contact the convenor for the committee if you have questions about this. 

The training opportunity that the Linnaeus Union invites together with the University Office is also paid for, also by LNU. 

In 2021, there were new Local Rules for student representation, new decisions regarding the remuneration for student representatives were also established. The new fee will apply from 1 January 2023.

You will find the decision and details of how the time is calculated hereIt also includes information about travel expenses.

The Local Regulations is in Swedish, and to be found here Read more

Meeting 1-2 hours 350 SEK

Meetings 3-4 hours 600 SEK

Meetings 5-6 hours 850 SEK

Meetings 7-8 hours 1100 SEK

Position descriptions

Do you have questions about student representatives och student safety representatives?