What do student representatives, or hallopeds, do?
Hallopeds represent students on TEK's Board and Committees and TEK members on Akava Students Delegation (in Finnish). Student representatives ensure that students' voices are heard loud and clear throughout TEK.
The committees play an important role in TEK: they act as advisers and experts to the board in their specific fields. Student representatives are appointed for one year only, although the terms of the committees are otherwise three years. The committees meet around 6-10 times a year and the role of the hallopeds is to bring the student point-of-view to the meetings and to inform the other hallopeds of the decisions taken at the meetings.
Why apply?
As a student representative, you'll be able to make a concrete difference in your union and build networks that will be invaluable for your future. You'll get to know both really experienced TEK members and other student influencers from all over Finland. You'll also get to delve deeper into the topics of your own committee.
All your meeting-related expenses will be reimbursed (e.g. travel and accommodation expenses). Most of the meetings are in Helsinki. In addition, you can participate in events organized for student representatives such as TEK's halloped training, the Student Advocacy Seminar and the Saimaa-ilmiö event.
All TEK student members are eligible to apply. No previous experience in a similar role is required. More important than experience is enthusiasm and motivation to get involved, make a difference and learn new things. Please note, that the primary working language of the committees is Finnish.
To which institutions are hallopeds appointed and how many?
A total of 26 full student representatives + 17 alternates are appointed annually to the TEK administration. The working language is Finnish.
The TEK Board has one representative and one alternate, whose term of office is one calendar year.
The TEK committees have 16 full student representatives and 16 alternates as follows:
- Three full student representatives and three alternate representatives are elected to the Education Committee for a period of one year.
- The Member Community Committee, the Municipal Committee, the Technology and Innovation Committee, the Work Life Committee, the State Committee, the Private Sector Committee, the University Committee and the Entrepreneurship Committee shall each elect one full student representative and one alternate. The student alternates may attend the meetings if they wish.
- Five representatives will be elected to the Youth Committee. Unlike the other student representatives, they will serve on the committee for the entire three-year term (2027–2029).
In addition, local representatives to the Youth Committee and the Council are elected through local associations. If you are interested in these positions, please contact your local association:
University of Tampere: Tampere Teekkarit (in Finnish)
University of Turku/Åbo Akademi: Teekkarikomissio (in Finnish)
In addition, two representatives from TEK are elected to the DIA student selection steering group.
Four representatives from TEK will be elected to the Akavan opiskelijoiden valtuuskunta ('Akava Students Delegation'). Akava Students (in Finnish) is responsible for representing the interests of students and recent graduates within Akava.
- Akavan opiskelijoiden valtuuskunta is a body operating under the Akava Board. It brings together all Akava member organizations that have student activities. TEK is one of these member organizations. The Delegation meets 3-4 times a year.
- The activities of Akava Students are managed by the Akava Students Board, which consists of a Chair, a Vice Chair, and 4-8 Board members. Under the leadership of its Chair and Vice Chair, the Board prepares and implements the decisions made by the Delegation.
- The Akava Students Board will be elected at the Delegation meeting on 16 November 2026. At the meeting, the Delegation will elect a Chair, a Vice Chair, and the Board for Akava Students for the year 2027. If you are interested in applying for TEK's mandate in the Akava Students Board election, or if you would like more information, please contact TEK's Policy Adviser on Student Affairs Ida Parkkinen by 31 October 2026.
Do you have questions regarding TEK’s student representative activities?
Ida Parkkinen
