Röskva wants information regarding enrolling in courses to be more easily accessible.
Röskva wants language requirements for courses to be more accessible. Many foreign students experience difficulties when it comes to getting an Ugla account because their application for a social security number has not been processed. Röskva wants the social security information to be available in order to make the process as easy for foreign students as possible.

Röskva wants to change the Icelandic immigration law with special consideration for the needs of students from countries outside the EES.
Röskva wants to change the Icelandic immigration laws with special consideration for the needs of foreign students. Students should be able to live in Iceland while studying without running into trouble with the bureaucracy. It‘s ironic that meanwhile the University of Iceland tries to attract as many foreign students as possible, the Icelandic government makes things more difficult than they have to be.
Röskva wants to accelerate the residence permit process for students who need it.
The Directorate of Immigration has three months to process residence permit applications, but no special rules about students. Foreign students have had and can have problems if there residence permit application is not processed before the start of term, despite having handed in their application to the university and Directorate of Immigration before the deadline. This means that a student has to apply for the proper permits three months in advance, but still has to wait for the University to respond to their application, which is given three months before the start of term. This is obviously not acceptable. Röskva thinks that the Directorate of Immigration and the University of Iceland should work together in creating resources and accelerating the residence permit application for those foreign students who need it.

Röskva wants the rules about advance support to be reconsidered
Students from non EU-countries need to own almost 100.000 ISK support for each month they intend to stay in Iceland. A student who intends to stay for the full school year needs to own at least 900.000 ISK in an Icelandic bank account or be able to prove sufficient support before arriving, which proves difficult for many students. These rules do not account for the fact that many students receive financial support from parents or relatives while staying abroad. Röskva wants to make these rules more flexible and make it easier to give special consideration to individual cases.

Röskva wants to continue to work with the International Office of Education in developing the buddy-system.
These past years the Student council in cooperation with International Office of Education has been developing a contact project, the so called buddy-system. The projects main goal is to assign every exchange student with an Icelandic contact and this has worked very well. Röskva puts much stock in continuing this project and developing it further. Röskva wants more supervision for the project and to make sure the Icelandic contacts are used to their full potential.

Röskva wants English translations.
Röskva thinks that neither the Student council nor the University of Iceland should publish any material without having it translated to English as well. Röskva thinks it would be a huge step towards equality between Icelandic and foreign students. Röskva wants all emails and information on Ugla and information screens to be translated into English.

Röskva wants the University to have an official policy regarding exams for foreign students.
Röskva wants the University to have a straight-forward policy when it comes to exams for students who do not speak Icelandic as a first language. Possibilities of having an English version of an exam alongside Icelandic questions, glossaries, longer exam time and/or the use of dictionaries should all be looked into. These things are very hazy and differ between departments and it is matter of urgency for the University to form an official policy in this matter.

Röskva wants to use the student associations and clubs to attract foreign students.
Röskva wants the student associations and clubs of the University to have their information in English too. Röskva believes that can attract foreign students because it makes the University’s social life more accessible. Röskva also thinks it extremely important to inform foreign students about their rights and duties and where they can turn if they feel that their rights have been in any way violated. Additionally Röskva wants foreign students to have more accessible information about political movements within the university and how they can become involved.

• Röskva wants better translations for Ugla, emails, hi.is and student.is.
• Röskva wants to expand and improve the buddy program for exchange students.
• Röskva wants better housing options for international students and to give them the chance to live with Icelanders if they want.
• Röskva wants to ease the rules for obtaining a visa to come to Iceland for those from outside the EEA.
• Röskva wants to give international students the chance to integrate better into the student life at HÍ.
• Röskva has led the student council for the past few years and worked hard for international students.

Here is some examples of what a Röskva led student council accomplished:

• It brought in the international officer.
• It brought in the equality officer for international students.
• It brought in the interests officer to look out for international students interests.
• It brought ESN closer to the Student Council and to work with the international officer.
• It worked for and got a doubling of student housing at the university.
• It got free bus passes for international students.
• Röskva believes in everyone’s right to education and this includes international students.
• Röskva believes student council should work for student issues even if they are outside of the university’s walls.
• When Röskva creates a policy about international students, it invites them to give their opinion and to get involved.
• Röskva believes that education should be the top priority of the new government in Iceland and that international students cannot be forgotten!

Voting vill take place electronically on the Ugla (ugla.hi.is) for the first time this year.

How do the university elections work?
University elections can seem quite complicated – and indeed some are – which is why Röskva wants to explain them better.
The Student Council is elected every year and the University Council every two years.  This year, students will vote for who represents them in both of these Councils.
The Student Council is the most complicated.  It is composed of 20 members, 2 from the University Council and 18 voted from lists provided by the parties.  Each party has 2 lists of candidates: one is the same as last year and one that is new.  Half the members of the Student Council come from each list.  This insures that half the Student Council returns from the previous year.  If, for example, 1 party gets 51% of the vote, it gets 5 of the 9 old seats and 5 of the 9 new seats making a total of 10 of 18 while the other party then gets 8 of 18.

Student Council
The Student Council applies itself to protect, defend and increase the rights, interests and benefits of students at the University of Iceland.  Among the projects it deals with within the university are helping student facilities, publishing the student newspaper (Stúdentablaðið), working for the students standard of living and organizing social activities.  Also, the Student Council evaluates parliamentary bills revolving around University of Iceland students (regarding tuition for example), cooperating with other student movements, working with university officials for student housing and getting free bus passes for students.  The Student Council, led by Röskva, is unafraid to let its voice be heard regarding social issues to make a better Iceland for students.  In the Council, 20 students get together on a monthly basis to discuss various issues and establish policies and committees put the will of the Council into action and work on the projects.

Are you an international student?  Look at Röskva’s programme for international affairs.

Röskva wants to improve the situation of international students at HÍ!

International students are a large part of the student population at the University of Iceland which, like national students, have interests and rights that need to be protected. There are also some special issues regarding the rights of international students that the local students don’t have, e.g. difficulties with getting personal identification numbers (kennitala), residence permits, translations to English etc. Röskva finds it of vast importance that means for international students to search assistance with such issues and others are improved. For these reasons SHI, under the lead of Röskva, hired an Interests officer and an Equal rights officer for international students last year, both international students themselves. Also, a working group for the matters of international students at the University of Iceland was created. This group of people is now also ESN Reykjavik.
However, improvements can still be made and that’s why Röskva wants the development of the two positions for international students to be continued as well as finding more ways to guard the rights of international students at the University of Iceland and raise awareness of this assistance among international students.

Röskva wants the Icelandic immigration laws to be reconsidered when it comes to students from countries outside of the EU

Röskva wants the Icelandic immigration laws to be changed so that they consider the special position of students. Those that want to come to Iceland to study should be able to do so – no matter where they are from!

Röskva wants students to get the fast treatment they need

The Icelandic directorate of immigration has, according to laws, three months , to handle residence permits and there are no exceptions for students. International students from outside the EU which need visas can find therefor find themselves in the situation where they haven’t received their permit before the start of the semester. Even though they hand in their application to the University and the directorate long before the deadline they are in many cases still waiting for their permit to come through just days or hours before they are due to arrive in Iceland!

Röskva wants the rules regarding the secure financial support to be changed

Students outside the EU have to proof that they have a secure financial support for the period of time he intends to stay in Iceland – a secure financial support according to this rule in the immigration laws, is a little less then 100.000 ISK for every month. This means that a student intending to study at HI for one school year has to have at least 900.000 ISK in his/ her bank account or proof that income, before arriving. This can be difficult for many students and Röskva wants these rules to be reconsidered so that they are more flexible with regard to individual cases. Many students are for an example being supported by their families which means that in the current system, they wouldn’t be able to proof secure financial support.

Röskva wants more communication with the diractorate of immigration

Today, all communication between a student and the Icelandic directorate of immigration goes through the University. When e.g. renewing a study permit and every day counts it can cause unnecessary complications and misunderstandings, that the student is not able to have direct contact with the directorate and follow the process of his own case. Although the University of course needs to be involved, it is also important that the student can at least get direct answers and communicate with people at the directorate himself.

Röskva wants to continue the development of the “buddy –project”

The buddy project is a project that the Students Council and the International Office are responsible for together, where every exchange student coming to Iceland gets an Icelandic “buddy” . This is not only to assist the international students arriving in Iceland but also for more integration between local and international students. Röskva was responsible for taking this project even further but one of the roles of the new working group on matter of international students/ESN is to organize joint events for the buddies and the exchange students which had never been done before. Röskva wants to continue the buddy project to be developed even further with ESN and the International office.

Röskva wants more English translations

Röskva has been a leading force when it comes to English translations. We have made an effort translating our published material into English and have been doing the same within the Students‘ Council . More needs to be done none the less; the student.is web page has still very limited English translations which needs to be improved and Röskva wants to change that in the coming year. More importantly, the University itself should step up when it comes to English translation and make sure that all the announcements and e-mails sent are translated.

Röskva wants the University to develop a strategy for non-Icelandic speaking studens

At the moment it seems to differ from faculty to faculty what rules they have regarding non-Icelandic speakers. There shouldn’t be a discrepancy in the rights given to these students between courses, departments and faculties which is why the University needs to develop a strategy, for an example for English translations of exams, allowing students to bring dictionaries, longer time to finish exams etc.

Röskva wants continued cooperation between ESN and SHI

Last year Röskva made it a goal to improve the cooperation with ESN. By appointing the then chairperson of ESN as the International officer of SHI an important step was taken in that direction.
At the same time a working group on the matters of international students was created by the international committee of SHI, where representatives of SHI have a place along with both local and international members of the student body. This group is now also ESN Reykjavik. This way  the continued functioning of ESN Reykjavik has been ensured (which was in a risk of being discontinued before) and the cooperation with SHI has certainly improved! Röskva wants this cooperation to continue and that more students within the University are able to work on the matters of international students without being representatives of the Students’ Council.

Röskva wants to increased cooperation between SHI and international students’ organizations

The importance of international cooperation between students’ unions is incredible. Iceland is a part of various international processes and strategies such as the Bologna process and the Lisbon strategy which affect education in Iceland directly. Röskva realizes this and wants to continue the close cooperation with the international umbrella organizations SHI is a member of – ESU (the European students’ Union) and NOM (the network of Nordic and Baltic students’ unions). Röskva not only wants to maintain the cooperation but to increase SHI’s responsibilities within these organizations by accepting places in working groups and participate in various campaigns.

Röskva wants the students associations of HI to get a list of the international students within their department

It would be much easier for the students’ associations within the departments to approach and communicate with the international students if they received a list of the international students within their department from the University in the beginning of each semester. It’s important to give international students the opportunity to meet local students within their departments or courses and it would also give the Icelandic students a chance to get associate more with the international students.

Röskva wants more new Icelanders in Higher Education

Röskva wants to find ways so that new citizens in Iceland increasingly seek higher education, for an example by cooperating with the ministry of education and shcools at different levels when it comes to introducing the possibilities within higher education to younger students. Röskva also wants a research to be made of the amount of new Icelandic citizens attending university and what steps can be taken to assist them accessing education ,e.g. by providing more free Icelandic lessons.

Röskva wants a student representative in every committee that deals with the Bologna Process

One of the conditions of the Bologna Process is that there is a student representative in every committee that deals with the implementation of the process. Röskva wants to ensure that this is being done but recently members of the SHI from Röskva got in contact with the ministry of education and pushed for this. Following that a student representative is now a member of a consultative committee that deals with implementing Bologna in Iceland. Röskva wants to continue ensuring that students are involved and being represented in education affairs in Iceland.

Röskva wants more mobile students

For better education at The University of Iceland, the University needs to be in good contact with foreign universities. That contact is ensured with more exchange agreements which increase the diversity of the education which is an important factor for the development of the society in Iceland at large. That’s why Röskva wants more exchange contracts at the University of Iceland. It is still far too common within different departments that returning students can’t get their credits evaluated – even after the implementation of the ECTS system in Iceland. Röskva demands that this is changed so that every student at the University of Iceland has the opportunity to go abroad for a period without having to delay gradation.

Röskva wants HÍ to continue developing international cooperation

Röskva is pleased that the University is making an effort to develop international cooperation by making agreements with foreign universities like it recently did in Beijing. However, much more needs to be done. Röskva wants the University of Iceland to develop more joint degrees with foreign universities.