Medical sciences student union

About the Medical Sciences Student Union

It is regulated by Swedish law that every student at a university must be a member of a student union (SFS 1983: 18 §4). The membership is further regulated through decisions taken by the university board. Each individual student must be a member of the student union of the faculty where he/she undergoes most of his/her education. Post graduate students follow the same rules as regular students. An incoming exchange student pays the same membership fee as domestic students.

The student union has representatives in almost all councils, committees and boards within the university where we try to influence and watch over important issues that concern students interests. The student union also gives advice and support to individual students that may for example feel discriminated or treated unfairly in some other manner. The student union also work in close cooperation with Umeås municipality.
 
Apart from that there is "Kårhuset Villan" which is the student unions house where kick offs and private parties are arranged as well as an "after study pub" every Friday. The house is also open for students certain Saturday after 21:30.

Organisation I: The four union sections

There are four sections/association that are part of the Medical Sciences Student Union  – the four union sections/associations are as follows:

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• >> The Association of Graduate Students  (Doktorandföreningen) – consisting all the graduate students in the faculty.

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• >> The Health Sciences Association  (Hälsovetenskapliga sektionen)
  – consisting students in physical therapy, occupational therapy, nursing and biomedical analytics.

  
   
  

  >> The Medical Association  (Medicinska föreningen)
  – consisting students in medicine, speech therapy, psychotherapy and biomedicine.

  
   

• >> The Odontological Association  (Odontologiska föreningen)
  – consisting all students studying to be a dentist, dental hygienist and dental technicians

Organisation II:  Student Senate and Executive Committee, president and staff 

The members of each association elect their representatives for the union's highest deciding body (the Student Senate/legislative council ) at the larger meetings that each hold during the spring semester for a period of one year. (The members also elect their own association  Committee at the same time.)

The student senate The Student Senate consists of 21 delegates and the same amount of deputies. Meetings are held three times each semester. The Student Senate is headed by a chairman and the meetings are announced on bulletin boards in advance, according to the union constitution, two weeks before the meeting at strategic places around campus.   All members of the union have the right to attend and speak at the student senate meetings as well as the right to write a private member bill. The bills are to be sent to the Executive Committe at least ten days before the meeting of the Senate.

Executive committé The Student Senate elects nine members for an Executive Committee of the student union for a period of one year. The Executive Committee is headed by a chairman, who is also the President of the student union. The president is the union's representative on the board of Umeå University.

The Executive Committee is responsible for the finances and member services of the union but it is the Student Senate that has the final say in decision making. To its help, the committee has a Staff of employees. The Executive Committees members are appointed as student union representatives in boards and councils of Umeå University.

History of the student union

Originally, medical and odontological progams were the first in Umeå and Scharinska villan was the only union house that was leased to students by the local municipality. The Medical and Odontological Associations started up as the first student union in Umeå called Umeå Student Union which later came to include all students at Umeå University regardless of their discipline. Eventually the thought of having a union house on campus came up and Corona was built.

The Medical Sciences Student Union was founded the 1:st of June 1998 under the name Corpus as a result of differences in interest of the members from the then one union, Umeå Student Union. This has led to the three Student Unions that currently exist in Umeå, namely the Medical Sciences Student Union, the Student Union of Science and Technology and Umeå Student Union.

The Medical Sciences Student Union's organization has no affiliations with political parties unlike Umeå Student Union and is a free-standing union from the university. The students of the Faculty of Medicine represented by other students of the Faculty of Medicine are obligated by law to belong to the Medical Sciences Student Union.

The union house - a short history

At the same time the Medical Sciences Student Union was founded the union was also given the responsibility for the union house called "Kårhuset Villan" by the municipality and a separate committee was appointed to run the various activities in the house. The student union house is beautifully situated in the old hospital park behind the chopper-landing spot.

In the beginning of the separation there was considerable amount of confusion from students as well as the university from the thought of having different unions, which is understandable. According to the activity resume from the first year with seperate unions, it was described as a struggle to reach the acknowledgement that they considered as their right as well as getting a fair distribution of the representative seats that was given to all students. Another complication was for example the economic situation of the first year and the regulation of members, since all members previously paid their fees to the one and only union they knew of, Umeå Student Union, which resulted in problems of regulations of fees.