Letter can be read below or downloaded here: Open Letter from Aalto Students to Student Organizations.

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From: Degree Students of Aalto University who do not speak Finnish
To: Student Organizations of Aalto University

Dear representatives of Aalto University student organizations,

Recently a discussion between the KY Board and a member of the International Degree Student Committee (IDSC, placed under AYY Board) about the involvement of  non-Finnish speaking students in student organizations in Aalto University triggered conversations within the community of degree students at Aalto. As a result, we, Degree Students who do not speak Finnish, are writing this open letter to all the student organizations in Aalto University for the three following reasons:

1. Define clearly “International Degree Students”
2. Claim why we need student organizations by our side
3. Explain what we believe should be done by these organizations

1- Define clearly International Degree Students
This letter is signed by International Degree Students of Aalto University. So that everyone has a clear understanding of what an International Degree Student is, we claim that we are  students just like all the national degree students. The main difference is that we, usually, are not fluent in the Finnish language. Ideally, we think that there should be no distinction between foreign students and Finnish students that have chosen to pursue international programs with English as their study language.

Despite what many think, not all of us came to Finland only to take advantage of a free education; some came because of the quality of life, others to develop Finland as a country – just to name a few reasons. This means that we naturally face different challenges and have different interests than exchange students, who are here for only about four months. We will live in Finland for at least two years and normally come here with perspectives of working, continuing in the country, and eventually becoming part of the Finnish society.

We live in Finland, normally as recent immigrants, and face several related challenges. The main ones touch upon social habits, labor market integration, and some other daily related issues. It is difficult being an immigrant anywhere, and with 19% of the parliament comprised of Basic Finns, it is no easier in Finland. That being said, we really hope that in Aalto we can achieve a more “international friendly” environment.

Now, before you conclude that the solution to our problems is to organize international parties and international career events, please keep on reading.

2- Claim why we need student organizations by our side
We truly believe that in order to offer the best return on investment for the Finnish tax payers sponsoring our education in Finland, our university and mainly our student organizations should facilitate us in two main topics:
a) Integration with Finnish Community. If Finland really wants us to continue in the country after our education, joining the labor force later on, there is no better way than through the creation of social ties with the local community. Currently – in most student organizations – orientation weeks, trainings, parties, sitsit, speksis, trips, excursions, events in general, have the bad habit of separating Finnish from foreign students. They normally name the separate event with the word “international” in front of it – which
unfortunately means that there will be few Finnish students present in the event.

We believe this to be a bad habit because it encourages foreign students to avoid mingling and integrating with their Finnish peers, and facilitates creating even stronger bonds within the international student community – people that are in the same immigrant condition – which forces a lock out between Finns and foreigners. Since each one of us came to Finland for a different reason, the formed group gets extremely volatile, with little chance of remaining in the country after the studies, without much social contact with
the local community.

b) Labor search. As we all know, you at the guilds, subject clubs, and interest clubs are a main connection between Aalto University students and potential employing companies. Given our immigrant conditions – not knowing where to search for work, the work searching culture, application habits, etc. – it becomes extremely hard for us to find a job in Finland. While with the Finnish education degree, for most of us, it gets much easier to find a job at our home countries. Since we are willing to avoid that, it is key for the Finnish economy that student organizations would help us, foreigners, to get a position in the labor market.

3- Explain what we believe should be done by these organizations
We believe that solving these problems mentioned above is not a dream and can actually be achieved by tackling two very simple actions:

• Provide comprehensive information in English about all the events, all the existing clubs and societies through all the communication media, regardless of the language in which the event will be held. We see it as an essential step towards internationalization. The rationale behind this is simple: as soon as foreign students know that an event is happening, they will be interested in joining. Otherwise the events will remain solely Finnish forever.
  We know that most of you will argue that you have no money to pay for translators, but we all know that not only do Finns in general possess a relatively high level of English, but that everyone involved in Aalto student organizations has satisfactory English skills and is able to write an English version of their marketing call for events or happenings.

• Enable and encourage non-Finnish students to join clubs, organizations’ boards and committees. The discouraging message that new students get during the first week of their studies is usually as follows: “we have this great club X, but unfortunately the language of all activities and meetings is Finnish”. As consequence, international students are discouraged to even try being a part of the active Aalto student community. Thus, we feel that the message above lacks the following very important phrase: “but you are welcome to  join, and we will see what we can do”. As soon as the clubs themselves are willing to undergo minimal changes in order to accept non-Finnish speakers, the barriers to internationalization will be reduced by those “insider” foreign members, as it has happened with AYY Kehy.
  Finally, as the number of international students has massively increased in the past years and is about to raise even more in the near future, we feel that they should be given the possibility to be represented in the governing of organizations, similar to what has happened in AYY representative council this year.

Thank you for reading until here!

This letter was written in order to make you aware of the situation that foreign degree students face in Aalto University. To conclude this text we would like to thank those organizations of Aalto that have already shown effort in integrating us into their communities. Foreign students are more integrated today in the Finnish university life than they were two years ago. And indeed there are organizations, for example ADS, AMCA, KY Finance, Aaltoes, and AYY Representative council, that provide a great level of service for Aalto students regardless of their mother tongue.

However, the problems described above remain unsolved and we would like to invite all the students and representatives of all the organizations concerned to an open discussion, both through emails and meetings. Our next International Degree Student Committee meeting will be held on March 28th at 16:00 at TF, Otakaari 22. Feel free to join and share with us your opinions and concerns.

Kind regards, with the best of hope, from the students:
Written by: Bernardo Clementino (MSc, Strategy) and Andrei Kalesnik (BSc, Finance)

Endorsed by the following 184 students:
A.M. Ahsan Feroz, Geoinformatics
Adalgisa Santos, MA in INTERNATIONAL Design Business Management
Ahmed Alhaddad, MS Electrical Engineering
Ajay Ramaseshan, MSc Machine Learning and Data Mining
Aleksandra Penkova, Master’s in International Business Communication
Alexander Grigorievskiy, M. Sc in Machine Learning and Data Mining
Amee Amin, M Sc in Nanotechnology
Amjad Alkodsi MSc in systems biology
Ana Sofia Gloria, Master’s in International Business Communication
Anahita Rashidfarokhi, MSc Creative Sustainability-Real Estate
Anastasia Syroegina, 1st Year BSc
Anastasia Trofimova, Master’s in International Business
Anil MV, MS in Communication Engineering
Anja Schlepper, Bachelor in International Business
Anna Muchenikova, MA Graphic Design
Apurva Jaiswal, Masters in Mobile Computing- Services and Security
Arno Noteboom, Master in Strategy
Arsham Mazaheri, Doctoral candidate in Marine Engineering
Ashkan Shabnavard, MA International Design Business Management
Ashvin Srinivasan, MSc in communications engineering
Aslihan Oguz, MA Creative Sustainability
Ásthildur Skúladóttir, Mastesr in International Business Communication
Atif Alam Khan, MSc. Micro-and Nanotechnology
Bijay Baniya, Master’s in Entrepreneurship
Bikesh Raj Upreti Msc. Information Service Management
Bikramjit Singh, Master’s in Radio Communications
Bimal Babu Upadhyaya, M.Sc. in Computational and Systems Biology (euSYSBIO)
Brenda Victoria Vértiz Márquez, MA Creative Sustainability
Bryukhanov Yegor, Bachelor’s in International Business
Carina Pixner, Master’s in Accounting
Carolina Gonçalves, MSc in Bioengineering.
Caroline Knappers, MA in Creative sustainability
Chen Wang, Master in networking business
Chi Le, BSc Finance
Chi Phan, BSc Finance
Christian Zischler, Master’s in Marketing
Daria Baryshnikova, Master’s in Service Management and Engineering
Da-Woon Chung, MA Industrial and Strategic Design
Deniz Uner, MA Furniture Design
Diep Nguyen, BSc Econ and Business administration
Dung Nguyen, BSc Finance
Dung Vu, 1st Year BSc
Duong Le, 1st Year BSc
Ekaterina Pashinova, MA, Furniture Design
Eleonora Ivanova, Master’s in Information and Service Management
ErdeM TutaL, MA Industrial & Strategic Design
Evgenia Romanova, 1st Year BSc
Fabricio Puerto, Master’s in Entrepreneurship
Faraz Ahmed Khan, MS International Design Business Managemement
Fawad Ud Din, Masters in Communication Ecosystem
Federico Poggioli, MA Industrial and Strategic Design
Fei Peng, Ms. in International Business Communication
Furniture Design
G. Amjad Hussain MSc Electrical Engineering
Geethu Vijayaraghavan , MS Digital Signal Processing
Giang Thu Nguyen, Master’s in Information and Service Management
Gitanjali Sachdeva , MS in Nordic Security and Mobile Computing
Goeun Shin, MA Industrial and strategic design
Gopi Krishna, MSc, Bioproducts Technology
Gospel Oparaocha, Master in Entrepreneurship
Guanyi Zhong, MS of Service Design and Engineering
Hamidreza Shariatmadari ,MSc in Radio Communications
Hang Le, 1st Year BSc
Hoang Thao Minh, Bachelor’s in International Business
Hoang Tran, 1st Year BSc
Hongbo Xu, Post-doc in Electronics Integration and Reliability
Hui He, Master’s in Information and Service Management
Huy Nguyen, BSc Finance
Huyen Nguyen, 1st Year BSc
Hye Jin Ahn, Furniture Design
Hyun-Jin Kim, MA in International Design Business Management
Ibrahim Elkadi MSc in Communications Ecosystems
Inder Singh Sehra , MS in Mechanical Engineering
Jiyong Byun, 1st Year BSc
Juan Carlos Duarte, MA New Media
Julia Popova, Master’s in Marketing
Kapil Maheshwari – MSc. Communication Engineering.
Kathleen Pekkola, Master’s in International Design Business Management
Kathrin Hartmann, Master’s in Information and Service Management
Kestutis Januskevicius, M.Sc. in Geoinformatics
Khalid Hasan , M.SC in Radio Communication
Kiran Santhosh , MS in Electrical Engineering
Koustubh Tilve Msc. Service Deisgn and Engineering
Kranthi Kumar Nallamothu, MSc Machine Learning and Data Mining
Leeyoung Song, Bachelor’s in Business Technology
Lin Pei, MA Industrial and strategic design
Macarena Pallares, Msc. in Strategy
Mai Phuong Dung, 1st Year BSc
Maria Boychenko, Master’s in Information and Service Management
Maria Matlouthi, MSc in Service Management and Engineering
Marina Zubtsova Master in Economics
Maxim Valkov, Master in Entrepreneurship
Megan johnson, masters in service engineering
Mengshu Tang BSc Finance
Merina Maharjan, MSc in Service Management and Engineering
Michael Walker, Master’s in Strategy
Mikelis Studers, MSc in Communications Engineering
Mikko Hänninen, 1st Year BSc
Minh Quang Duong. Bachelor’s in International Business
Minjia Wang, MA Applied art and design
Mirja Heikkilä, Bsc. in Business Technology
Mohamed Eldishnawy, Master’s in Communications Ecosystem
Mohammad Hovaidi Ardestani, Msc Networking Technology
Mohammad Hovaidi Ardestani, Msc Networking Technology
Mônica Matsuda Kivivirta, MSc. in Bioproduct Technology
Mu Kim, MA Industrial and Strategic Design
Mudassar Abbas – MSc. Machine Learning and Data Mining
Mukul Joshi, Msc. Electrical Engineering
Myunggi Suh, MA programme in Furniture design
Nadezhda Lutckaia, Bachelor’s in International Business
Nguyen My Tran, Master’s in Strategy
Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Master in Finance
Nicholas Baroncelli Torretta, Master in Creative Sustainability
Nirmal Raman, euSysBio Masters Programme
Norbert Juhász, Master’s in International Business
Olga Anufriyeva, MSc in Process Systems Engineering
Olga Drochkova, Master’s in Entrepreneurship
Olga Lavrusheva, Master’s in Marketing
Palash Sarkar, MS in Process Systems Engineering
Pardeep Maheshwaree, Masters in Strategy
Patrick Marscholl, Master in Strategy
Peng CHEN, Master’s in Strategy
Peng Xu, MSc. & BSc. Economics
Peta Martin, MSc International Design Business Management
Pouria Khademolhosseini, MA International Design Business Management
Pradeep Mallya, Master’s in Radio Communications
Pyry Virtanen, 1st Year BSc
Qinghang Meng, Master in Management
Qiushuang Wang, Master in Finance
Quan Xueying, Master’s in Information and Service Management
Raheel Farhat, Masters in Service management and engineering
Rakibul Islam Rony, Msc Student, Radio Communications
Rasib Hassan Khan, M.Sc. in Security and Mobile Computing
Regina Casteleijn-Osorno, Masters in Entrepreneurship
Ricardo Castillo MSc Service Management and Engineering
Rinat Landman, M.s.c in process system engineering
Roland Morath, Master’s in Finance
Roland Mouawad, master programme in Service Management and Engineering
Rong Wu, Master in ISM
Rui Li, Master in Accounting
Sabin Sathyan, MS in Electrical Engineering
Sagar Parmar, Masters program in Service Management and Engineering
Saman Bahrampoor, M.Sc in Micro-Nanotechnologies
Sarada Kuppa – MSc. Process System Engineering
Sarang Ganoo MA Industrial and Strategic Design
Satish Bysany, MSc in Communications Engineering
Sekar Purwanto Bachelors in International Business
Selam Kebede, Masters in Communication Ecosystem
Sen Bao, Msc in Service Management and Engineering
Shakti Dash, MA New Media
Shan Gao MS in Process Engineering
Shengjun Shi, MA Industrial and Strategic Design
Sourav Mandal, MS in Communications Ecosystems
Subash Khanal, Master’s Programme in Radio Science and Engineering
Subhradeep Kayal, MSc (Hons.) in Machine Learning and Data Mining
Sujil Kodathoor, MA Creative Sustainability
Swaminathan Vasanth Rajaraman , M.Sc in Mobile Computing
Tara krishna, MSc Process Systems Engineering
Tian Yu, Msc in Entrepreneurship
Tin Franovic, M.Sc. in Computational and Systems Biology (euSYSBIO)
Tran Thanh Ha, Bachelor in Business Technology
Tuan Dao, 1st Year BSc
Tuan Vu, MSc. Service Management and Engineering
Udit Anand, Masters in Mobile Computing- Services and Security
Uma Maheshwari Jagadeesa Pandian MSc Service Management and Engineering
Usman Tahir Virk, Msc. Radio Science and Engineering
Wang Dong MSc in Finance
Vasuki Durairaj Master’s in Micro- and Nanotechnology
Wayne Lin Youming, Master in Mobile Computing- Services and Security
Vera Moshina, master’s in Entrepreneurship
Veronika Georgieva, M.Sc. in International Business
Vicente Abril, MSc in Entrepreneurship
Viktorija Lofvinga, Master’s in Information and Service Management
Vitalija Petrulaitiene, M.Sc. Real Estate Investment & Finance
Vu Hoang Hiep. BA in International Business
Xi chen, Master’s in Economics
Yijie Li, BSc, Finance
Yizhou Liu, MSc Finance
Yu Chen, master in finance
Zaur Jamilov BSc in Economics
Zhang Huawei MSc Finance
Zhang Li, 1st Year BSc
Zhang Yuying, Master’s in Bioproduct
Ziwei Wang, master’s in financeOpen Letter from Aalto Students to Student Organizations