New electoral college in place

"I'm very grateful for the trust placed in me by those who nominated me and then by the electoral college in electing me as chair," says Sanna Koskiniemi.

The term of office for the new electoral college runs from 7 October 2025 to 14 September 2028. The new vice-chair is Professor Hans Karlsson from the Mathematics and Computer Science Section and the Department of Information Technology, who is also one of the members of the new nomination committee. In total, the electoral college consists of 31 electors with personal deputies.

“It will be very exciting to get to know Hans Karlsson and work with him, says Sanna Koskiniemi. There will also be close cooperation with Anna Rosling and Jörgen Olsson, chair and vice-chair of the nomination committee. We have worked together a little before, so I think we will make a good team.”

Proposing candidates

The task of the electoral college is to prepare and propose candidates for the new faculty management. This involves gathering information about how the current faculty management has performed. The nomination committee is also tasked with proposing new candidates. Alternatively, sitting candidates may be proposed for re-election.

“The nomination committee consists of one member and one deputy from each section who continuously talk to their electors during this process and anchor all decisions. So it’s not just the nomination committee’s ideas that come to the fore, but those of the entire faculty,” says Sanna Koskiniemi.

Conducting elections

The electoral college is also responsible for conducting elections of other members of the Disciplinary Domain Board for the coming term of office. A term of office is three years, and the the elected persons normally remain in office for the entire period.

“However, people may fall ill or need to decline their assignment and resign for other reasons. In that case, we have to find a new candidate. There are also some positions in the employment committee that we elect a little later during the term of office.”

According to Sanna Koskiniemi, good and clear collegial processes are of great importance in order to reach well-founded decisions that everyone deem satisfying.

“I think we should cherish our collegiality and make the most of this opportunity to discuss how we want things at the faculty.”

Opportunity for improvement

Something she thinks will be particularly interesting is the reporting from the current faculty management and the upcoming discussions with the electors.

"These discussions also highlight what hasn’t worked well. This gives us electors, but also those who are running for various positions, an opportunity to think about how we can do things better in the next term," says Sanna Koskiniemi.

She wants to encourage more people to run for election as electors and take part in the election process.

“If you get to see how the work is conducted, you’ll have more confidence in your faculty management and the faculty as a whole.”

Anneli Björkman