An issue that is raised time and again is that various organizations and companies want access to university and college premises. The universities can of course rent out their premises to all sorts of organizations, associations and companies if the university wants to. However, it happens that universities deny outsiders the use of the premises. Not least the student unions of the political parties tend to raise the issue at regular intervals, frustrated at not being able to operate on campus without permission from the respective university.
We will clarify what applies and why. We also want to describe the alternatives to the current rules. The idea is not to conduct a legal investigation – that has government office and National Agency for Higher Education already done. The purpose is primarily to clarify more pedagogically what has already been said. However, the text concludes with a question about student associations' rights to common spaces that has not been previously addressed.
Student associations have the right to use teaching facilities
Association life is a natural part of the university environment. Students have the right to organize themselves in associations and student unions. These associations in turn have the right to use the university's premises. This is an important principle for internal democracy at universities and is reflected in a provision in the Higher Education Ordinance:
A university is obliged to allow a democratically structured association of students at the university to use the teaching premises for a gathering that the association arranges for its members, if the gathering is held for information, expression of opinion or other similar purpose or for the performance of an artistic work. Anyone who has been invited by the association to participate in the gathering may not be refused access to the meeting premises. (Chapter 1, Section 13, HF)
Student associations therefore have the right to use teaching facilities for activities that are for the association's members.
They also have the right to invite guests from outside. This does not mean that student associations can invite to general gatherings that are open to anyone. The activities should mainly be for the students, but it is possible to invite speakers, debaters, artists and the like to participate.
The higher education institution may only restrict this right if there is reason to believe that a serious disturbance of order will occur or something contrary to the law will occur, or if it violates the higher education institution's commitment to third parties.
Universities are not public places
At the same time, universities and colleges are not public places. Regardless of whether the higher education institutions are state-owned or have a private principal, the premises are mainly for research, teaching and other higher education activities. Today, higher education institutions can deny external organizations the use of the higher education institutions' premises. The higher education institution can also deny outsiders access to the premises. The same applies to other forms of education. The general public, parties or companies have no right to access schools either.
There may be good reasons to limit who has the right to use university premises. Companies may want to market their products. Employers may want to recruit students for jobs. Associations and trade unions may be interested in recruiting members. Political parties may be interested in recruiting votes on campus. If all actors were given access to the premises, students would soon be drowned in brands and messages.
What about political and trade union associations that organize students?
Recently, a student union expressed that they have the right to use university premises with reference to the provision in the HF.
It is not only student associations that have been critical. In 2011, The Swedish Academic Association SSR submitted a letter to the then National Agency for Higher Education. (today's University Chancellor's Office). The Swedish Academic Union (SSR) requested a review of whether trade unions have the right to use university premises to recruit members.
The National Agency for Higher Education further assessed that neither the Academic Association of SSR nor its student council were associations/organizations at a university, and that they were therefore not entitled to teaching premises according to the provision in the HF.
There are generally great similarities between the right for student associations and trade unions to operate at a higher education institution. The right to unionize is based on the employees at the workplace. Trade unions can visit workplaces to meet their members. However, they cannot come to a workplace and recruit members if they currently lack a membership base. Membership recruitment must take place in another way. (There are also regional safety representatives who have the right to visit workplaces where they have members, but then on issues related to the work environment. However, the regional safety representatives do not have the right to represent employees at workplaces that have safety committees – and all universities and colleges in Sweden are so large that they must have a safety committee.)
Similarly, the right of students to organize originates from the students at each higher education institution. Students have the right to form associations. Student unions are basically an ordinary association, which, however, has applied for and been granted student union status for a given period. The higher education institutions are obliged to provide premises to all student associations that bring together students at the higher education institution, regardless of whether the association has student union status or not. The Swedish Agency for Higher Education wrote this in response to the letter from the Swedish Association of Academics SSR:
In conclusion, the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education would like to emphasize that the rules in Chapter 1, Section 13 of the Higher Education Ordinance do not mean that only student unions at a higher education institution have the right to use the teaching facilities. The rules apply to all democratic associations for students organized at a particular higher education institution. By forming an association for students at a higher education institution, associations with purposes other than student unions can also gain access to the higher education institution's teaching facilities.
The parties' student unions can still participate
Student unions have expressed frustration at not being allowed to participate in the political conversation with students at universities and colleges. However, there are ways forward.
As we have mentioned, a student association at the university can always invite the political student unions to debates and the like. If the students at the university want to, then there is nothing to prevent the student unions from working in such contexts. The student unions themselves can contact student unions or other student associations and suggest content for future activities.
Student unions can also form associations at the respective university. By forming local student associations, they would be given the right to use teaching facilities and organize activities where they also invite other students at the university. It is of course the case that student unions allow this type of local association within their organizations. Some parties may need to review their statutes for this purpose. This may be perceived as rigid, but is hardly unreasonable. The alternative is to abandon the generally reasonable principle that university premises are for research, education and other higher education activities.
Association life at universities and colleges takes place on the students' premises. It is better for student unions to embrace that principle than for colleges to open their premises to an arbitrary influx of interested parties who want the students' attention.
Do student associations have the right to premises other than teaching premises?
However, there is an issue that has not been addressed in previous letters. The Swedish National Agency for Higher Education assessed that the Swedish Association of Academics (SSR) wanted to use the public areas of the higher education institutions, such as foyers and corridors, which is not supported in the Swedish Higher Education Act, even for student associations. In the case of external organizations, this does not play a major role, since they are not covered by the right to teaching premises. But what does this mean for student associations and student unions?
The Higher Education Ordinance gives student associations the right to use teaching premises, but does not specify the right to organize activities in common areas such as entrances, corridors or other areas that are not directly used for teaching. Judging from the legislation alone, it therefore appears that the rights of student associations are strictly limited to teaching premises. At first glance, universities seem to have the option of denying student associations the opportunity to organize activities such as membership recruitment or information campaigns in public areas.
If a university were to deny student unions the use of common spaces, however, it would be very difficult to market, for example, lectures or cultural events aimed at the university's students. It would also be very difficult for student unions to hold union elections with a satisfactory turnout if student unions were not allowed to appear visibly on campus.
It may be argued that some use of the public spaces of higher education institutions is necessary for students to be able to organize themselves in the way required to exercise satisfactory student influence. In order to exercise influence, it may be necessary to mobilize students who are not already actively involved in an association or issue. In that case, it is possible to argue that the higher education institution is obliged to provide premises with reference to the students' right to exercise influence according to Chapter 1, Section 4 of the Higher Education Act.
Such a right to mobilize students on issues related to education must reasonably be granted to student unions, which are the main organizations within formalized student influence. But the right to mobilize students on educational issues cannot be unique to student unions. Student unions are associations of students who are appointed as student unions for a three-year period, after which a new assessment must be made. Several associations that are student unions can apply for student union status in competition. A basic requirement is that the purpose of the associations is to monitor and participate in the development of education and the conditions for studies at the university. If several associations meet the other requirements set for a student union, the question is decided by who represents the most students. Reasonably, all associations whose primary purpose is to monitor and participate in educational issues must be given fair conditions to recruit members.
It is unclear how far this reasoning can be taken or whether it has any legal bearing at all. So far, there do not seem to be any examples of universities that have banned student unions from recruiting members, something that would be unacceptable according to most. However, there have been cases where universities have banned political demonstrations, and opinions differ on whether such a ban should be possible. Regardless of what one thinks about the matter, there is a problem of drawing boundaries.