Organisation of the language committee

A language committee has existed at KTH since 2010. The Faculty Council decided on March 6, 2024, to establish the Language Committee as an advisory and permanent committee to the Faculty Council. The Language Committee consists of five faculty representatives appointed by the Faculty Council; one representative from the administrative support appointed by the university director; and two student representatives, one of whom is a doctoral student, appointed by THS (Tekniska Högskolans Studentkår). One of the faculty representatives shall be appointed by the Faculty Council as chairperson. The Language Committee may call in additional members. (Faculty Council decision, V-2024-0005)

Members of the language committee

• Viggo Kann, EECS, chairperson
• Tor Sandqvist, ABE
• Johan Silfwerbrand, ABE
• Pelin Sahlén, CBH
• Susanna Zeitler Lyne, ITM
• Gerald Q. (Chip) Maguire Jr, EECS (co-opted member)
• Ida Pinho, ITM (co-opted member)
• Jesper Fleetwood, THS (2024)
• Charlie Börjesson and Mattias Åstrand, the PhD student chapter of THS
• Gunilla Iverfelt, VS
• Elizabeth Keller, ITM, secretary

Manifesto of the language committee

The language committee should:

1. define which new activities are required for the policy to be implemented and estimate the costs,
2. disseminate information on the policy inside and outside KTH,
3. monitor language issues at KTH and in society so that the policy is kept up-to-date,
4. act as a resource when important decisions with language issues are to be taken at KTH,
5. collect data on how language is used at KTH, for example language of instruction in courses at different levels, language of course literature, language in degree projects and theses, language at thesis defences and docent lectures, language competence of international students, PhD students and teachers,
6. conduct investigations that may effect the language policy in the future, for example new students' and teachers' desires for language competence, the industry's desire for language competence of engineers.

History

The language committee (Språkkommittén) was appointed by the President in 2010 and worked until the end of 2012. From 2013 the responsibility for the language committee was moved to the School of Education and Communication in Engineering Science (ECE). The new language committee should consist of a chairperson, appointed by ECE, four members appointed by the faculty council, and two students appointed by THS.

The Faculty Council decided on March 6, 2024, to establish the Language Committee as an advisory and permanent committee to the Faculty Council. The Language Committee consists of five faculty representatives appointed by the Faculty Council; one representative from the administrative support appointed by the university director; and two student representatives, one of whom is a doctoral student, appointed by THS (Tekniska Högskolans Studentkår). One of the faculty representatives shall be appointed by the Faculty Council as chairperson. The Language Committee may call in additional members.

The current term for the members of the language committee extends until March 31, 2026.

The activities of the language committee are described in a separate web page.