All good things must come to an end, and for many of the members of ESU’s elected team 2008-2009, next month will see their mandate draw to a close as a new team gears up to steer the organisation into the first half of 2010.
The ESU 2009-10 team was elected at the 56th Board Meeting which took place in Brussels at the end of April.  A number of motivated student representatives were elected by official representatives from ESU’s 47 member unions who gathered to vote in the public figures of the organisation for the year ahead.

This guard change will be complimented by the continuation of some existing team members who were re-elected for a second term, including ESU Chairperson Ligia Deca, and the Executive Committee member Alma Joensen.

The new line-up for 2009-10 will therefore look as follows:

Chairperson: Ligia Deca (re-elected)
Vice-Chairperson: Allan Päll, from Estonian NUS, EUL
Executive Committee: Alma Joensen (re-elected), Andrea Bläettler, from Swiss union,  VSS-UNES-USU, Bert Vandenkendelaere, from Belgium Flemish union, VVS.
Academic Affairs Committee: Daniela Bartolo, from Maltese national union of students KSU, Kristine Bak-Nielsen, from Danish union, DSF, Robert Santa, from Romanian union, ANOSR, and Love Hansson, from Swedish union, SFS.
The Student Union Development Committee, which coordinates and delivers ESU’s capacity building work in Europe and beyond, will be composed of  Valentina Boskovic, from Serbian union, SUS, and Matej Hotovcin from Slovakian union, SRVS.
The Social Affairs Committee will continue with two of its existing members, Jenny Björk and Inge Gielis, whose mandates have been extended until December, and with two new members – Yonatan Green, from Israeli national union of students, NUIS, and Igors Grigorjevs, from Latvian union, LSA.
The Administration Committee will now be known as the Committee for Internal Development, and will continue to consist of David Troxler from Swiss NUS, VSS-UNES-USU while the search continues for a second member.

The change in personnel means we will say goodbye to a number of valuable and extremely commited student representatives at the end of June.  These include:

Anita Līce – Vice-chairperson
Olav Øye –Executive Committee
Bruno Carapinha – Executive Committee
Liam Burns – Academic Affairs Committee
Alessia Cacciagrano – Academic Affairs Committee
Mark Scriha – Academic Affairs Committee
Antigoni Ioannidou – Administration Committee
Jens Jungblut – Student Union Development Committee
Kate Chachava – Student Union Development Committee

We also said a sad goodbye to our Financial Officer, Christine Scholz, earlier this month.  Having dedicated several  years to ESU, she will surely be remembered for her valuable contributions as both and elected representative and a staff member.
All of the departing ESU team will be greatly missed, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of them for their dedication and commitment to creating a better educational future for all.

“The next year will be decisive in both the consolidation and the redefinition of ESU as the European voice of students. The newly elected representatives have to further build the organisation internally and better respond to the needs of the national unions of students, especially in these times of crisis, while, at the same time, keeping the external reputation that makes ESU a decisive stakeholder in higher education.” said Ligia Deca, ESU Chairperson.

What we can surely say is that we look forward to at least an equally productive and successful term with the new ESU elite in the year ahead.  We invite you all to contact them for the matters connected to their area of work and we wish them good luck!