This statement is written by the board of Luuppi ry, representing students of Mathematics, Statistical Data Analysis and Computer Science at the University of Tampere. The purpose of the statement is to highlight the serious shortcomings in the decision-making, information and implementation of the move of our degree programmes and to express our concern and disappointment about the impact on our students and our subject association. At the end of the submission, we also describe our demands for further action.
Decision-making process
The move of the degree programmes in Mathematics, Statistical Data Analysis and Computer Science to the Hervanta campus has been discussed by the ITC Faculty during 2021-2022, and the final decision on the move has been made by Dean Jyrki Vuorinen.
The move took place in January 2024 for the Computer Science degree programme and in autumn 2024 for the Mathematics and Statistical Data Analysis degree programme. A statement of the Faculty Council meeting of 2 December 2021 already highlighted the lack of consideration of the students' perspective. No precise timetable for the move was given either. The university has prepared the decision on the basis of the Facilities Plan by its own working group, in which there was no student or subject association representation.
Communication
Information on the decision and the related timetables has been very poor on the part of the university. Students have not been directly informed about the decision to move or its implementation at any stage of the process, but information has been circulated through uncertain rumours, even among teaching staff.
During the spring of 2024, numerous attempts were made to find out more about the decision-making process through direct contacts with various university bodies, but no information was obtained and the information had to be dug up from old minutes of various meetings. The responsibility for providing information on the change has therefore fallen entirely on the shoulders of student representatives and organisations, which is unreasonable, especially when the information available is so fragmented and vague.
New students in particular have been left in the dark about the future location of their degree programmes. For example, the University of Tampere's website for the Computer Science programme in March 2023 still shows the Central Campus as the campus, and there is no information about the change on the page (https://web.archive.org/web/20230322060900/https://www.tuni.fi/fi/tule-opiskelemaan/tietojenkasittelytieteiden-koulutus?navref=search--list).
For those starting in autumn 2023, the university also did not provide any information about the transfer of degree programmes to the Hervanta campus. As a result, many new students have, among other things, rented apartments in the city centre area without knowing that teaching will move to the Hervanta campus in the near future.
In February 2024, Luuppi commissioned a survey of its members regarding their knowledge of the move. Of the respondents, 73% were not aware of the exact timing of the move of their degree programme and 17% were not aware of the move at all. It is also worth noting that at that time, the teaching of computer science had already moved to the Hervanta campus, meaning that a large proportion of students did not even know that their degree programme had already moved. Overall, therefore, communication about the change has been a major failure.
Planning and implementation
There are many shortcomings in the planning and implementation of the move, particularly in the facilities on the Hervanta campus. The amount of association spaces on campus is not sufficient even for the current degree programmes due to the renovation of the campus and the already insufficient space capacity. As a result, Luuppi is only now, after a great deal of work, in the process of obtaining association space on the Hervanta campus. The association space is much needed by our membership, especially as new students start in the autumn.
In addition, the capacity of the student restaurants on the Hervanta campus is also currently inadequate, a point that was also raised, for example, at the Facilities Steering Group meeting in 4/2023. The migration of our degree programs will further increase the pressure on the capacity of the student restaurants on the Hervanta campus, especially given the significant number of transfer students.
Impact on us
Luuppi is the largest student organisation in terms of admission to the University of Tampere, 9.5% of the total admission to the university, and our activities are a very important part of the grouping and guidance of new students in particular. The short notice of the move, the very poor communication and the challenges of finding a dedicated association space make it substantially more difficult for our organisation to integrate into the Hervanta campus and its activities in many different areas.
Among other things, organising events, orientation week and tutoring, as well as interdisciplinary activities have become more difficult. The lack of campus facilities is not conducive to active face-to-face teaching and the lack of student consultation creates mistrust and a tense working atmosphere in the education policy area.
Follow-up
We therefore demand transparency in the decision-making process, planning and implementation, as well as the opportunity to influence and be consulted on future decisions that affect us. Student representatives in the administration should also be consulted on such major issues.
We also demand proper and immediate information about decisions and their impact on students.
Signatures
Luuppi ry