Kåravgifter och service - en kartläggning av studentkårernas arbete med distansstudenter

Abstract

The object of this report is to survey the work carried out by Swedish student unions in taking care of the interests of distance students as a part of their activities. The main focus of the report is to look at one of the problems concerning distance students and student unions. In Sweden student union membership is mandatory by law. This means that distance students, who study at various seats of learning, are often forced to join a number of student unions without necessarily getting better service as a result. Another aim of the report is to map the student union membership fees, and to see if distance studies qualify students for reduced membership fees. The survey took place during June and July 2005, and comprises all regulated student unions. However the percentage of answers is not comprehensive and information concerning a number of small and medium-sized student unions is not available. The results show at many student unions are aware that the needs of distance students vary from those of campus students, and that special methods must be applied to satisfy these needs. This awareness is reflected not least in the fact that many student unions reduce their membership fees for distance students. Furthermore there are a number of good examples of student unions which have found various ways to tackle the problem of membership in multiple student unions.