Would you like this office?

For the first time, university students will be able to stand as rectoral candidates.

Publisert Sist oppdatert

The election for the Rector of the University of Oslo 2009

  • In order to stand as a rectoral candidate, one needs official support from at least 20 eligible voters
  • Nobody can sign more than one suggestion.
  • All students are entitled to vote, and the student vote counts for 25 percent. The academic staff’s vote counts for 58 percent, while technical and administrative staff have a vote that counts for 17 percent.
  • The election will take place from March 30th to April 2nd 2009. This is the first time that a rector will be elected by an electronic vote (www.uio.no).
  • The new rector will take office on August 1st 2009.
  • Nominations for candidates can be sent to rektor-valg|at|admin.uio.no by Febuary 16th 2009 at four PM.

Between the 30th of March and the 2nd of April, the election for the Rector of the University of Oslo (UiO) will take place. When Geir Ellingsrud was elected in 2005, only permanent employees could be nominated. The new act relating to universities and university colleges now allows anyone with a petition signed by at least 20 eligible voters to stand.

This means that even students can stand as candidates. It is then natural for us to ask the most powerful student among us, Leader of the Student Parliament Heine Skipenes, if he is ready to become rector?

– I don’t think that i will be standing as a candidate, but I encourage everyone to stand with lists and nominate relevant people. The more candidates, the more exciting the election will be, he says.

Skipenes has clear views on what kind of qualities a rector should possess.

– It is important that he or she unites the organization and creates a healthy cooperation between students and staff. A good rector is someone who can lead and who wants to lead, and someone who makes clear statements. And of course, the Student Parliament wants a rector who will speak up for the students, Skipenes says.

Harald Baldersheim, professor of Political Science, is leader of the election board. He believes that it is important for a good election that there should be at least two candidates for the post. Even though no one has announced that they are standing for election as yet, Baldersheim is not worried.

– There has always been a lot of interest around the rector elections at UiO, as far as I can remember. At the last election we had five candidates, and in 2001 there were two. The benefit of launching one’s candidacy early, is that one has more time to campaign, Baldersheim says.

Too radical

In 1999, Professor Emeritus at the Department of Nutrition Kaare Norum won the election. He does not think that a student will win the election, but believes that a student could make a good candidate for pro-rector.

– I would probably not say that a student could become rector – that would be a bit too radical. However, I have had some very positive experiences with students who sat on the university’s executive committee when I was dean, and those on the university board when I was rector. The student organizations breed many good leaders who take a sensible view of things. A mature student who has previously made a mark in positions of trust could do a good job as pro-rector. It is an amusing thought, Norum says.

Norum himself was active in student politics. In 1958, he was student representative on the university’s executive committee.

– Do you think that a student could bring something new to the role of pro-rector?

– It depends on who he or she runs with. It is a team effort, and a rectoral candidate from the Faculty of Social Sciences would for example often choose a pro-rector candidate with a background from the natural sciences. It is not easy to say without knowing what kind of constellation it would be.

Do not want an election

While the rector at UiO is elected through a nomination process and a ballot, the rector at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim is hired by the board without a general election. Bjørnar Kvernevik, leader of the Student Parliament at NTNU, is pleased with this arrangement.

– We want the best candidate for the job to be hired, and the different qualities that the candidates possess do not always emerge during the course of a campaign. At the same time, there is often a low level of student participation at elections. Here, a student is on the board that hires the rector, and we believe that this leads to students having just as much influence as in an election situation.

Heine Skipenes believes that this kind of arrangement reduces the influence of students considerably. The leader of the Student Parliament at the University of Bergen, Helene Christiansen, also believes that rectors should be elected.

– The process becomes more open, and candidates are forced to express their goals and intentions for the period clearly during their campaign. Also, the fact that the candidate has been elected gives them an additional form of accountability, Christiansen says.

Leader of the Student Parliament Heine Skipenes finds this exciting.

– Personally, I am as excited as a child regarding this election, he says.

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