Associations in AYY’s association register receive a number of services and benefits aimed at associations. Some of the services are only aimed at associations in the first list. Read more about the services.

Each association in the register must submit an association notice annually. This serves to demonstrate that the association is still active and meets the requirements set by the Association Regulation. If the association amends its rules, it must immediately notify the Organisation Specialist who then checks that the conditions for inclusion in the register are met also after the amendments.

The majority of the associations in AYY’s association register are part of the first list.

To be included in the first list, associations must meet the following conditions:

• The association must have at least seven members.
• At least 60%, and at least seven (7), of the association members entitled to vote must also be members of AYY (does not apply to choirs or orchestras).
• The association rules must not restrict the opportunity of Student Union members to become association members entitled to vote: AYY members must not be discriminated against.
• When the association is discontinued or suspended, its funds must be transferred to the Student Union, to another first-list association within AYY or the student nation Teknologföreningen, or to a fund or foundation whose aim is to support the operations of the Aalto community or its members.

Exceptions to the conditions are possible by Representative Council decision.

There are also special status associations in the first list of the association register.

Associations may be granted special status if they

• meet the requirements set for inclusion in the first list
• comprehensively represent students of one or several degree programmes or a clearly special target group
• advocate their interests in the degree programmes, departments, faculties, at the University and in professional contexts
• keep in touch with the industries and other societal operators
• coordinate their activities with other special status associations and the Student Union
• contribute to the guidance and integration of their own student group into the academic community together with the Student Union and other special status associations
• promote versatile Student Union activities

Associations must apply for special status separately, and its granting is decided by the Student Union’s Representative Council. Special status associations also have certain   reserved for them alone.

To apply for special status, an association must submit a freely-formatted application and their current rules. The application and its attachments are submitted to the Organisation Sector, who will go through the documents. If necessary, the Organisation Sector will ask for additional information from the applicant so that the application can be processed in a meeting of the Student Union’s Board. After processing it, the Board presents the application to the Representative Council, who decides whether to grant special status or not. Because the process has multiple stages and special status applications are not considered urgent by the sector, processing an application takes around 1–3 months depending on the time of the year and the frequency of Representative Council meetings.

More information on the application process is available from the Organisation Sector.

 

Associations can be accepted into the second list of the association register if their operations are student activities and if it has at least seven (7) Student Union members as its members. Associations in the second list have the opportunity to use mailing lists and the Otax server as well as   that are not reserved for associations in the first list or special status associations. That is, associations in the second list are not eligible to apply for operating or start-up grants from AYY, for example.

Associations in AYY’s association register are obliged to inform the Organisation Specialist about rule amendments immediately. This ensures that the association continues to meet the requirements set by the Association Regulation (pdf) even after the rule amendments and is entitled to remain in AYY’s association register.

The amendment of association rules proceeds as follows:

• new rules are prepared
• rules are submitted to the Organisation Specialist to be checked and commented on
• possible changes are made to the draft
• new rules are approved as per the association’s current rules
• PRH is notified of the rule amendments (registered associations)
• Organisation Specialist is notified if PRH demands further amendment of the rules
• approved rules are uploaded into the TAHLO system, and the Organisation Specialist is informed of this
• new rules of a registered association come into force once PRH has approved them

When amending the rules, it is advisable to take advantage of AYY’s model rules (pdf). The rules should be checked by the Organisation Specialist already before the first meeting in which they are to be approved. The Organisation Specialist can give advice on many technical issues regarding rules and help the association prepare rules that have no gaps or inconsistencies. If the rules are amended before AYY’s review and AYY suggests changes, there is more work for the association as the amended rules must be accepted again in consecutive meetings. There will particularly be trouble if the association no longer meets the conditions of AYY’s Association Regulation after the rule amendments.

 

Each association in AYY’s association register must submit an association notice into AYY’s TAHLO system annually by the end of March. Usually, there is around one month, from the beginning to the end of March, during which to submit the association notice. The association notice must contain at least a list of the association’s Board members and officials, a freely-formatted annual report, an operational plan, the current rules and a direct email address for the Board as well as the association’s number of members and information on how many of the association’s members are also members of the Student Union.

You will always be notified in advance about the association notice and submitting it in the association newsletter.

Additions to the association register are decided upon by the AYY Board.

Applying for inclusion in the register proceeds as follows:

1. Fill in a separate notification form.
2. Wait for further instructions from the Organisation Sector. NOTE! Check your junk mail, as messages from the TAHLO system might get caught in the filters.
3. Following the instructions, add the association’s information into the TAHLO system and/or act according to other instructions. In the system, you add the association’s basic information, registration details, contact details, languages, bank details and contact details for the Board, operational facilities and, in the attachments, the rules (under rules) as well as the charter and minutes from the founding meetings (under other attachments as one pdf document).
4. Notify the Organisation Sector according to the given instructions once all of the requested information has been submitted into the system.
5. The Organisation Sector goes through all of the information and attachments added into the system and checks whether the association qualifies for inclusion in either the first or the second list in the Student Union’s association register.
6. If everything is in order, the Organisation Sector forwards the application and its attachments to be processed by the Board.

Make sure to always follow the given instructions. This makes the process quicker for everyone!

It can take a while to be added into the association register, depending on how busy the Organisation Sector is and, for example, the necessary rule amendments. To smooth the process, it is advisable to contact the Organisation Sector before applying to the register, i.e. when the association is being founded, so that the rules can be made to comply with the Association Regulation in one go.

An association can leave AYY’s association register at any time by submitting a written notice to the Student Union Board or the Organisation Sector.

If the association no longer complies with the requirements of the Association Regulation, the Board can decide to remove the association from the register altogether or to transfer it into a lower list. The Board can also remove an association from the register if it fails to submit the association notice in two consecutive years.