What advocacy?

From time to time, every student comes across the term advocacy, which, however, gets buried down under more pressing issues in their daily priorities. After all, it is also thought that advocating is already taken care of by more interested people, when in reality you are the only one who knows your own needs.

So what exactly is this advocating? The term itself already gives a small indication of its purpose, but much remains in the fog as well. Advocacy in a short and concise manner means promoting students’ interests and monitoring the realisation of interests, as well as influencing matters that are important to the student. Student benefits may include, for example, the meaningfulness of studying, obtaining high-quality education, easier housing options, better transport connections between home and school, and the functionality of health care.

Advocacy is handled at many different levels, such as the activities of the Student Union of the University of Helsinki, HYY, and the faculty organisation Biosfääri and its subject organisations. Despite this, it may seem that the effects of advocating are not visible in practice. This text aims to look in the right direction with a view to highlighting the issue; ‘How is advocacy shown?’

The Education Policy Committee of the Student Union of the University of Helsinki, or HYY’s Kopo Committee for short, aims to develop teaching and study administration in order to ensure that studies go as smoothly as possible from an independent and secure student to an insecure and needy student. The Education Policy Committee influences education policy, i.e. matters related to the education of the population, for example, by monitoring the cultural right of everyone living in Finland to equal opportunity to receive higher education in accordance with their abilities and needs without being deprived of it. In cooperation with the student representatives of the faculties and the Board of Directors, the Education Policy Committee shares good practices and promotes the achievement of jointly selected goals, such as improving the guidance of studies and developing digital teaching methods.

On behalf of Biosfääri, advocacy is responded to by organizing study evenings, study coffees and preparatory events for working life. Communicating with student representatives elected to the Board of Directors of the Faculty and the study coordinators of the member organisations of Biosfääri enables the rapid movement of the latest knowledge and reacting to current issues in the form of statements.

Depending on the need, study evenings are an event that focuses on information sharing and discussion. The themes may include, for example, the operations of the university administration and matters affecting it, as well as the quality and practical implementation of teaching. Biosfääri’s study coordinators are present at the study evening, which makes it possible to implement a larger whole. The evening of studies is open to listen to matters affecting one’s own future and to participate in the discussion itself.

The study coffees have been designed in support of the aforementioned study evenings to help students approach study leaders with questions weighing on their minds during coffee sessions or a joint lunch. The purpose of the event is to highlight essential issues that facilitate the student’s university life, such as solutions to study arrangements, course overlaps and exam opportunities. Coffees also have the opportunity to communicate with the student representatives of the faculty board, hallopeds, if necessary.

Student representatives of the faculty’s governing bodies bring out the students’ point of view when the government makes decisions on matters concerning the faculty, institutions and study programmes, thus seeking to make matters more in the interests of the students.