News

Rakel Anna Boulter was elected the new President of the Student Council of the University of Iceland (SHÍ) on April 19th. The election took place at a special election meeting of the council held online. The new Rights Office and the newly elected Student Council will formally take office after the exchange meeting in May.

Rakel Anna will graduate with a Bachelor degree in Comparative literature from the University of Iceland in June 2023. Alongside her studies, she has worked as a ranger at Vatnajökull National Park and Þingvellir national park, and at the office of the Environmental agency. Rakel also graduated from Menntaskólinn á Akureyri in 2019.

Last year, Rakel was the President of the School Council of the School of Humanities and a member of the Board of the Student Council and the Board of the School of Humanities. Rakel has also served as a student representative on the University Council’s Academic Affairs Committee. She has also been on the board of the Ranger association (Landvarðafélagið) for two years.

“The Student Council has been on a good journey in recent years and I am excited to lead that work forward. There are major issues on the agenda of the Ministry of Higher Education where the voice of students must be heard, such as the review of the education fund and the review of the universities’ funding model. There are interesting times ahead in the university community, which will undoubtedly undergo drastic changes because of artificial intelligence. This includes various challenges, but no less an opportunity to change and improve teaching methods and increase the quality of education” says Rakel Anna.

At the election meeting, the following representatives were also elected to the Student Rights Office:

Vice President: Dagmar Óladóttir

Interest representative: Rannveig Klara Guðmundsdóttir

Student Loan Representative: Gísli Laufeyjarson Höskuldsson

 

From left: Rakel Anna, Dagmar, Gísli, Rannveig.

Elections to the Student Council took place on March 22nd and 23rd, and the election results can be found on our website. 

Following the elections, a new Student Council elects its representatives for the Student Council’s rights office, as well as electing other members within the Council. The election meeting will be held on April 19th, 2023, at 17:00 in O-101.

According to paragraph 9 of the Student Council’s laws, the Council’s meetings are open to all students at the University of Iceland. 

At the election meeting it is possible to run for President, Vice-President, Student Interest Representative and Student Loan Fund Representative. Also for the Student Council’s standing committees and other positions on behalf of the Council. Those who are elected at the election meeting take office after the exchange meeting, cf. Article 4 of the Student Council’s law. Eligible for election to the Council’s rights office, committees and other positions are all those who have been registered at the University of Iceland in the last three years before the election meeting.

Office Elected at Student Council Office, in accordance with the Council law:

• The President of the Student Council 
• Vice-President of the Student Council
• Student Loan Fund Representative 
• Student Interest Representative

Committees, in accordance with the Council law:

• • Four representatives are elected for the Finance and Economic Affairs Committee, the International Affairs Committee, the Transportation and Environmental Affairs Committee, the Family Affairs Committee, the Cultural and Social Events Committee and the Amendments Committee. 
  • Two representatives are elected for the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Committee.

• Five representatives are elected to the Equal Rights Committee, one from each school and those members also sit on the equality committee within each school.

At the election meeting, only newly elected representatives of the Student Council have voting rights. If candidates are more than the number of positions, a proportional vote is necessary. If more than one person is elected in a specific election, the person who receives the most votes wins the position, then the person who comes next, and so on. 

Nominations for the positions must be submitted to the chair of the meeting, who is also the President of the Student Council, Rebekka Karlsdóttir, before the election meeting at shi@hi.is or at the meeting itself.

Please contact the office of the Student Council at shi@hi.is if you have questions regarding the meeting agenda.

Meeting agenda

1. Meeting begins
2. Election of the President of the Student Council 2022-2023 (voting)
3. Election of Vice President of the Student Council 2022-2023 (voting)
4. Election of the Interest Representative of Student Council 2022-2023 (voting)
5. Election of Student Loan Representative of the Student Council 2022-2023(voting)
6. Nominations for the Student Council’s schools by the organizations 2022-2023 (voting)
7. Nominations for the Student Council’s committees by the organizations 2022-2023 (voting)
8. Election of the Aurora Student council representative 2022-2023 (voting)
9. Election of vice-representatives of the Student Council 2022-2023 (voting)
10. Nominations for the University Assembly by the organizations 2022-2023 (voting)
11. Other issues

The meeting takes place in Icelandic.

You can now apply for grants in the fourth and final allocation of the Student Fund this school year.

The application form can be found here and we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the fund, especially its laws and code of practice before applying. The application deadline is until 12:00pm on April 11th 2023. Late applications will automatically be turned away. 

Diagnostic and maintenance grants will be granted in this allocation.

Any questions can be directed to Dagný Þóra Óskarsdóttir, the fund’s chairperson. She can be reached by email at studentasjodur@hi.is.

Elections to the Student Council of the University of Iceland took place on March 22 and 23. The total voter turnout was 32.54%. The following members were elected to the Student Council:

School of Social Sciences

• Arna Dís Heiðarsdóttir (Röskva)
• Daníel Hjörvar Guðmundsson (Vaka)
• Emilía Björt Írisard. Bachmann (Röskva)
• Júlíus Viggó Ólafsson (Vaka)
• Kristmundur Pétursson (Röskva)

School of Health Sciences:

• Sigríður Helga Kárdal Ásgeirsd. (Röskva)
• Daníel Thor Myer (Röskva)
• Elísabet Sara Gísladóttir (Vaka)

School of Education:

• Júlíana Dögg Önnudóttir Chipa (Vaka)
• Tanja Sigmundsdóttir (Röskva)
• Dagbjört Ósk Jóhannsdóttir (Röskva)

School of Engineering and Natural Sciences:

• María Rós Kaldalóns (Röskva)
• Davíð Ásmundsson (Röskva)
• Eiður Snær Unnarsson (Vaka)

School of Humanities:

• Guðni Thorlacius (Röskva)
• Júlía Karín Kjartansdóttir (Röskva)
• Steinunn Kristín Guðnadóttir (Röskva)

More detailed election results can be found here.

Elections to the student council will take place on Wednesday 22nd and Thursday 23rd of next March. There, the students of each academic field will elect a representative in the Student Council for one year. The elections are electronic and take place at Uglunn. The opening hours of the voting system at Ugla will be from 09:00 on March 22 to 18:00 on March 23.

The deadline for turning in the list of candidates was at 18:00 on March 12. There are two lists of candidates at all of the Schools, but in addition one individual candidacy in the School of Humanities.

Candidates for Student Council 2023 are as follows:

School of Social Sciences

Röskva

1. Arna Dís Heiðarsdóttir, stjórnmálafræði
2. Emilía Björt Írisardóttir Bachmann, lögfræði
3. Kristmundur Pétursson, félagsráðgjöf
4. Lars Davíð Gunnarsson, viðskiptafræði
5. Katha Aþena G. Þorsteinsdóttir, félagsfræði

Vaka

1. Daníel Hjörvar Guðmundsson, lögfræði
2. Júlíus Viggó Ólafsson, hagfræði
3. Signý Pála Pálsdóttir, stjórnmálafræði
4. Magnús Daði Eyjólfsson, viðskiptafræði
5. Jóhanna Freyja Ásgeirsdóttir, félagsráðgjöf

School of Health Sciences

Röskva

1. Sigríður Helga Kárdal Ásgeirsdóttir, sálfræði
2. Daníel Thor Myer, læknisfræði
3. Kristrún Vala Ólafsdóttir, hjúkrunarfræði

Vaka

1. Elísabet Sara Gísladóttir, lífeindafræði
2. Margrét Hörn Jóhannsdóttir, næringarfræði
3. Magnús Geir Kjartansson, lífeindafræði

School of Humanities

Einstaklingsframboð

Daníel Daníelsson, ritlist

Röskva

1. Guðni Thorlacius, heimspeki
2. Júlía Karín Kjartansdóttir, íslenska
3. Steinunn Kristín Guðnadóttir, enska

Vaka

1. Magnús Orri Magnússon, heimspeki
2. Gunndís Eva Reykdal Baldursdóttir, margmiðlunarfræði
3. Sólveig Franklínsdóttir, guðfræði

School of Education

Röskva

1. Tanja Sigmundsdóttir, tómstunda- og félagsmálafræði
2. Dagbjört Ósk Jóhannsdóttir, grunnskólakennsla með áherslu á erlend tungumál
3. Lena Stefánsdóttir, þroskaþjálfafræði

Vaka

1. Júlíana Dögg Önnudóttir Chipa, tómstunda- og félagsmálafræði
2. Sveinn Ægir Birgisson, grunnskólakennsla með áherslu á stærðfræði
3. Alex Elí Schweitz Jakobsson, tómstunda- og félagsmálafræði

School of Engineering and Natural Sciences

Röskva

1. María Rós Kaldalóns, hugbúnaðarverkfræði
2. Davíð Ásmundsson, verkfræðileg eðlisfræði
3. Fjóla María Sigurðardóttir, jarðeðlisfræði

Vaka

4. Eiður Snær Unnarsson, umhverfis- og byggingarverkfræði
5. Þorri Jökull Þorsteinsson, vélaverkfræði
6. María Árnadóttir, vélaverkfræði

The Student Council has approved the following rules when it comes to communication with voters and other candidates in the upcoming Student Council elections.

1. Voters‘ rights to a secret election should be protected throughout. Under no circumstances should a voter be made to prove they have voted or to show their ballot.
2. It is impermissible to host events during the time of ongoing elections that infringe on voters‘ rights to a secret election.
3. Parties are not permitted to direct voters to rearrange candidates in order to influence the election results and get more of their candidates elected than would have been secured through a straight-forward vote for the party‘s list of canditates, this is in accordance with the 33rd article of the Student Council laws regarding the election process.
4. Distributing election material within the University is permitted. When it comes to such a distribution, the university‘s rules should be followed, i.e. by employing boards and areas that explicitly allow posters and other such materials.
5. An organised distribution of election material in the university‘s buildings during election days is impermissible.
6. Any kind of destruction of other candidates and/or parties election material is impermissible.
7. The sharing of derogatory and hurtful comments is impermissible.

Minor infractions are those infractions that violate the overarching goal of a fair election without being considered particularly hurtful or done with malicious intent.

Major infractions include any sharing of derogatory or hurtful comments or malicious intent when it comes to breaking the laws of the Student Council and/or a brotherly election. If a major infraction occurs, the electoral commission will hand over a written reminder and publish said reminder on Facebook and/or Twitter.

The electoral commission will endeavour to resolve minor infractions without the need of a formal reminder. If minor infractions occur repeatedly, despite a verbal reminder, the electoral commission will hand over a written reminder and publish said reminder on Facebook and/or Twitter.

This list of infractions is not exhaustive. The electoral commission reserves the right to handle any unforseen potential infraction in what they consider to be an appropriate manner.

Approved by the Student Council on March 6 2023.

Years’ long battle for students’ interests has finally paid off!

 

Having to wait several long months before being allowed to sit a retake or sick exam is now ancient history! The authorisation to schedule the autumn semester’s sick exams for May has now been abolished and taken out of the university’s rules, thanks to the tireless efforts of the Student Council and the university council’s student representatives!

 

This means that, starting next academic year, all retake and sick exams for the autumn semester will be sat in December and January.

 

This was done through changing the university’s rules at a university council meeting last February 2.

 

This change was based on a proposal drafted by Rebekka Karlsdóttir, then a Student Council member and currently the president of the Student Council, and Ingvar Þóroddsson, and proposed to the Student Council on October 20 2021. The proposal suggested that the Student Council and the university council’s student representatives unite their efforts to bring about a change in the university’s rules so that they no longer allow the autumn semester’s sick exams to be sat in May. The then student representatives of the university council, Isabel Alejandra Díaz and Jessý Jónsdóttir, followed up on this by putting forth a proposal detailing this change within the university council, alongside Student Council members from the School of Social Sciences.

 

The Student Council would like to thank all those who contributed to this victory in achieving equal rights of students, regardless of faculty.

The Student Council’s next meeting will be held on March 8th in classroom L-101 at 17:00.

According to paragraph 9 of the Student Council’s laws, the Council’s meetings are open to all students at the University of Iceland. Students who are not members of the Student Council may therefore attend meetings and listen to discussions within the Council.

Please contact the office of the Student Council at shi@hi.is if you have any questions regarding the meeting or the agenda. Furthermore, all students are welcome to contact the office with inquiries about their rights.

Meeting agenda

1. Meeting begins 17:00 
2. Vote/approval on minutes from last meeting  (Vote) 17:00-17:05
3. Announcements and issues ahead 17:05-17:20
4. Presentation of Sprettur  17:20 – 17:35
5. Presentation of distance learning at UI 17:35 – 17:55
6. Intermission 17:55 – 18:05
7. Proposal for the appointment of SC’s representatives at the National Assembly of the National Union of Icelandic Students (Vote) 18:05 – 18:15
8. Legislative amendments to the Student Council’s Law (Vote) 18:15-19:00
9. Other issues 19:00 – 19:10

The meeting takes place in Icelandic.

The Student Council’s next meeting will be held on February 14th in Fenjamýri, Gróska, at 17:00.

According to paragraph 9 of the Student Council’s laws, the Council’s meetings are open to all students at the University of Iceland. Students who are not members of the Student Council may therefore attend meetings and listen to discussions within the Council.

Please contact the office of the Student Council at shi@hi.is if you have any questions regarding the meeting or the agenda. Furthermore, all students are welcome to contact the office with inquiries about their rights.

Meeting agenda

1. Meeting begins 17:00
2. Vote/approval on minutes from last meeting 17:00 – 17:05
3. Announcements and issues ahead 17:05 – 17:20
4. Presentation of Vísindagarðar  17:20 – 17:35
5. Presentation of distance learning at UI 17:35 – 17:50 
6. Proposal for special resources for students with a foreign background (vote) 17:50-18:00 
7. Suggestions on how to increase electoral participation (vote) 18:00-18:15
8. Update on the Student Council’s financial plan for 2022-2023 (vote) 18:15-18:25
9. Intermission 18:25-18:35
10. The Student council’s Financial statements 2021-22, 18:35-18:45
11. Transportation and parking at UI 18:45-19:05
12. Propasal regarding accessibility at the student cellar (vote)  19:05-19:15
13. Propasal regarding better accessibility of information for parents in UI (vote) 19:15-19:20
14. Propasal regarding Háma in Saga and the house of health sciences (vote) 19:25-19:35
15. Proposal for improved study facilities for students at the Faculty of Humanities (vote) 19:35-19:45 
16. Propasal regarding allocation rules at the Student housing (vote) 19:00 – 19:10
17. The Student Council’s nomination for Iceland’s Youth Representative to the United Nations in the field of human rights (vote) 19:45-19:50
18. Other issues 19:50-20:00 
19. Recorded issues

The meeting takes place in Icelandic.

The Student Council’s School of Activities – Spring of 2024

The Student Council of The University of the Iceland hosts an activity school for children of HÍ-students born between 2019-2023. The sessions take place in the University’s gym at Sæmundargata (next to HT) next Saturdays, and each session is 40 minutes. The School of Activities starts Saturday, 3rd of February and it assumed there will be a total of 8 sessions.The children are divided into two groups depending on their age – maximum occupancy is 20 children for each group. The younger group (2022, 2023) 8:45 – 9:25, and older group (2019-2021) 9:30 – 10:10. Light refreshments will be offered at the end of each session sponsored by Holle. *Note that all children must be registered to participate. 

Click here to register a child for SHÍ’s School of Activities 2024

The goal of SHÍ’s Schools of Activities is to give children a platform to improve their exercising abilities, coordination, and well-being. Obstacle courses are a big part of the curriculum, and there is an emphasis on teamwork, consideration, and social growth. 

Price per child is 3.500ISK, but there is a 500ISK sibling-discount – price for 2 siblings would, therefore, be 6.500ISK. If siblings fall into different age groups, it is possible to request that the younger child participates with the older group.

Parents are active during sessions by assisting their children. With that, they receive an important opportunity to get to know their children even better in unusual situations. Instructions on how to pay will be sent out shortly after the registration is approved. We will approve registrations via email. Registrations will be handled in the order that they arrive. If there is full occupancy, registrations will be put on a waiting list. 

If there are any questions, do not hesitate to contact us through mail – shi@hi.is – or through a message on Facebook (Stúdentaráð Háskóla Íslands).