Caroline Sundberg is the new chairperson of the Swedish National Union of Students.
At the Swedish National Union of Students’ (SFS) general assembly in Trollhättan last weekend, Caroline Sundberg was elected the new chairperson. At the moment, she is vice president at the Social Sciences Student Union in Lund and has a double bachelor in political science and gender studies. She will replace Rebecka Stenkvist as chairperson.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet, but it is very nice to have been elected”, Caroline Sandberg says.
Reinforced member support
This summer, she will move to Stockholm and start working for all of Sweden’s students. SFS general assembly voted for a harder stance on housing policy and would also like to prioritize the university colleges’ extent and available courses. The most important focus question for 2015-16 is pedagogy, as was decided at the general assembly.
“For me, it is important that we give everyone the conditions to study. Issues relating to pedagogy, distribution of resources, and students’ means to sick leave require more work”, Caroline Sundberg says.
SFS has received criticism for a lack of member support. How will that be improved?
“We have worked on that more lately, but it could get better. The member unions should feel that it is their umbrella organization.
How is that being done in a tangible way?
“Through working teams, where the member unions can join and produce advocacy material. By making the records more accessible and taking votes on factual matters via the intranet”, Caroline Sundberg says.
New policy
Apart from Caroline Sundberg, two other students from Lund will also be part of SFS board. Sebastian Persson from The Social Sciences Student Union and Malin Fredén Axelsson from Corpus Medicum were elected. The current Vice-chairperson Johan Alvfors was reelected for his position.
“It’s going to be great working with Johan, I’m looking forward to it. The fact that he has been there a year creates continuity and stability in the organization”, Caroline Sundberg says.
What will you manage to accomplish at the Social Sciences Student Union before you leave?
“I will pull off a new policy that will hopefully be implemented by the faculty. It is a policy regarding the minimum length of extended time at exams for students granted pedagogical support. It is under consideration by the faculty now, and Lund could be the first university in the country to implement it”, she says.
Text: Carl-Johan Kullving
Translation: Lina Johansson
