Laureamko’s advocacy team has continued to operate remotely during the Corona Spring. We have met with Laurea’s administration regularly and advanced our projects through Zoom meetings.
Spring 2020 has been exceptional for all of us, but Laureamko’s advocacy work has continued. One of Laureamko’s most important goals this spring has been to ensure that studies run smoothly despite these exceptional circumstances. In April, we distributed a national survey on the quality of distance education, which received about 450 responses from students at Laurea. Much has been reported on the results of the national survey, as more than half of the students who responded to the survey said that the state of emergency had increased their stress. At Laurea, 31.3% of the respondents said that their motivation had decreased and 38.8% said that their mental endurance had changed for the worse. We have been in dialogue with Laurea’s administration regarding the results of the survey, and together we have discussed solutions to support student well-being.
The advocacy team’s projects have progressed during the spring. Work on Laureamko’s equality plan is underway and a related equality survey has been distributed to students. The survey will allow us to better understand the state of equality at our university. The equality plan is due to be approved by the Council of Representatives in the fall.
Municipal advocacy has also been discussed in the past months. We have planned to contact Laurea’s campus municipalities with the intention of discussing student issues with municipal decision-makers during the fall. OPKU + ‘s city policy program will also be reviewed before the municipal elections, and on the basis of this, the planning of municipal election advocacy will begin in the fall.
FSHS reform is progressing on time and the topic has been discussed in several webinars during the spring. The selection methods for student members of the FSHS’s governing bodies are currently being debated, and discussion on this topic will continue until the fall.
This was a brief summary of what we have been up to this spring. Although it’s almost time for summer vacation, we are still there for a few weeks. Feel free to contact us if anything is on your mind. We will be happy to help!