A selection of rights from the governing documents

About Student Unions

"A student union shall have the primary purpose of overseeing and participating in the development of education and the conditions for studies at the university." - Higher Education Act Chapter 4, § 9

"KTH annually provides compensation to the student organization that has the status of a student union to promote student influence." – KTH Procedural Regulations

"The university may issue regulations on how a student union at the university should report its activities and its membercount." - Student Union Ordinance, Paragraph 6.

**Who Do We Represent?**

"A student representative shall also represent students who are not members of a union." – Student Union Ordinance

"KTH recommends that student influence is exercised by a doctoral student in matters that are significant for doctoral students' education and situation and that are prepared and decided upon by the institution's management groups." – Guidelines on Student Influence. This means that we often have a doctoral student representative from the doctoral chapter in central meeting forums at KTH.

**About Course Evaluation**

"The university shall provide students participating in or completing a course with an opportunity to express their experiences and opinions about the course through a course evaluation organized by the university." – Chapter 1, § 14 of the Higher Education Ordinance

"The university shall compile the course evaluations and inform about the results and any decisions resulting from the course evaluations. The results shall be made available to the students." – Chapter 1, § 14 of the Higher Education Ordinance

—---------RESTEN ÄR SKRIVET AV CHAT GPT OCH INTE KONTROLLERAT—--------

**About Representation in Decision-Making**

"Students have the right to be represented when decisions are made or preparations are made that are significant for education or the students' situation." Chapter 2, § 7 of the Higher Education Act

"Students should also be given the opportunity for representation in bodies working with program and quality issues at all levels" - Guidelines on Student Influence

"Questions about budget, resources, organization, and administration, for example, can also be significant for education or the students' situation." - Guidelines on Student Influence

"If a decision is to be made or preparations are to be carried out by a single person, information shall be provided to and consultations shall take place with a student representative well in advance of the decision or completion of the preparations." - Higher Education Ordinance

**We Choose Our Representatives**

"A student union at a university may appoint members of the board who students have the right to appoint under Chapter 2, § 4 of the Higher Education Act (1992:1434). A student union at a university may also appoint and dismiss representatives as referred to in Chapter 2, § 7 of the Higher Education Act." – Student Union Ordinance

"THS shall inform KTH of any changes in the student representatives who have been appointed." – Guidelines on Student Influence

"If there is no appointed student representative, the information shall, as a general rule, be sent to THS seven calendar days before the decision is to be made or the preparation is to be completed." – Guidelines on Student Representation

**KTH Facilitates Student Influence**

"KTH shall work to ensure that students take an active part in the work to further develop education." – Higher Education Act, Chapter 1, § 4a

"The head of school is responsible for, in consultation with THS, deciding on procedures for student influence and for developing student influence with THS's sections at the school level." – Guidelines for Student Influence

"Student representatives shall be given the opportunity to participate in the work and to participate in discussions and decisions in the same way as other members. The group's chair or convener is responsible for sending documents well in advance of a meeting to provide student representatives with the opportunity to prepare and participate in discussions and decisions. The chair or convener is responsible for providing a new student representative with an introduction to the group's tasks and working methods." – Guidelines for Student Influence

"KTH shall facilitate for students to take on trust assignments on behalf of THS. Execution of assignments as a student representative is considered valid absence from scheduled teaching and examining course elements provided that it can be carried out at another time. The course responsible teacher is responsible in such cases for offering the student representative the opportunity to participate in the teaching element or examining element at another time during the same course round." – Guidelines for Student Influence

**About Documentation and Follow-Up**

"In the decision document, it shall be indicated whether consultations with a student representative have taken place and, if so, how information was provided." – Guidelines on Student Representation

"Follow-up on how student influence works at the basic level, advanced level, and research level shall be carried out at the end of the semester. The head of school is responsible for procedures for following up on student influence at the school. The follow-up shall be documented and archived." – Guidelines for Student Influence

**Laws**

[Higher Education Act](https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/hogskolelag-1992134_sfs-1992-1434)

This law deals with what constitutes a university and similar institutions. It is where the union's right to be involved in decision-making and preparations is established. The Higher Education Act is general in nature, and the Higher Education Ordinance is often more interesting.

Student's right to exercise influence (Chapter 1, § 4a) and the right to representation when decisions are made or preparations are made (Chapter 2, § 7).

[Higher Education Ordinance](https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/hogskoleforordning-1993819_sfs-1993-819)

Specifies more details about what constitutes a university and what obligations it has. A couple of interesting sections are:

Course evaluations (Chapter 1, § 14)

Details about student representation (Chapter 2, § 14)

Rules for the employment of teachers (Chapter 4) and doctoral students (Chapter 5)

Requirements for the content of course syllabi (Chapter 6, § 15)

Correction (Chapter 6, § 23) and reconsideration (Chapter 6, § 24) of grades (see also the Administrative Procedure Act § 26 correction of typographical errors and § 27 reconsideration of decisions).

[Administrative Procedure Act](https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/forvaltningslag-2017703_sfs-2017-703)

Deals mostly with authorities' obligations towards individuals. The most interesting parts are probably:

Correction of typographical errors (§ 26) and reconsideration of decisions (§ 27). This often comes up in connection with grading issues.

The authorities' duty to provide services (§ 4 and § 5), which includes the obligation for teachers to respond to emails.

[Student Union Ordinance](https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/studentkarsforordning-2003326_sfs-2003-326)

Not as exciting as it sounds, but it defines what is required to be a student