Election promises

Venstrealliansen (V), Morbus Medicus (MM), Moderat Gruppe (MG), Fakultetslistene (Fak), Sosialdemokratene (SD), Grøn Liste (GL)

– How will students notice that their political group of choice is elected:

V: We will not abstain from voicing our opinions when we disagree with somebody, either that would be the Ministry of Education and Research or UiO Administration.

MM: We will bring information from the Student Parliament back to the Faculty of Medicine. We aim at frequent news bulletins regarding Parliament activities.

MG: Focus on quality. Minister of Education and Research is to be pressured to deliver funds so that the academic quality can be improved. It shall be easier to go abroad. Career centres have to be established at the larger faculties.

SD: We aspire to work for: refurbishment of residences and special adjustments of these, improved dental and health services at the Foundation for Student Life in Oslo (SiO), and improved academic funding.

GL: More sorting of rubbish is wanted, and organic goods must be available and used for cooking in the cafeterias.

– What do you think is most important: That UiO gets more students, or that enough resources are spent on each student for the education to be top of the line?

V: The point is not necessarily to attract more students to UiO, but rather to keep an open door for everyone who wants to have a go.

MM: It is irresponsible to accept students if resources are too scarce to offer them a proper programme of high quality. The broad political consensus regarding downsizing education and research has to be broken down.

MG: That education keeps a high standard! Good teaching and guidance have to be safeguarded. UiO cannot accept more students without getting more resources.

SD: High quality is not a determined criterion, but the current offer is a minimum. SD wants to provide as many as possible with an offer within the current framework at UiO.

Fak: This is about the will to give priority to higher education from a political point of view, and Fak. will not bend before the Ministry keeps up with election promises.

GL: Academic quality could definitely improve, and GL is set to work actively to achieve this. But that will not happen by closing the University.

– Should UiO practise radical gender quotas, moderate gender quotas or neither of the above?

V: Radical gender quotas. We hold that units with, for instance, less than 30 per cent women «have to» hire a woman in the event that there are qualified female applicants.

MM: Please, may we get another question. Possibly: Is there an alternative between moderate and no gender quotas?

MG: Moderate gender quotas are provided by law and must be used. Radical gender quotas are discriminatory because you hire on the basis of gender, not professional skills.

SD: Radical gender quotas as a temporary means until the gender balance has been radically improved! Moderate gender quotas have been unsuccessful. New measures are necessary.

Fak: Academic diversity is an advantage, and several of our representatives have always and will always promote and support somewhat radical proposals that work against gender discrimination.

GL: UiO should practise moderate gender quotas.

– Should SiO/UiO boycott Israel?

V: Yes! It is about time the welfare state marks its repugnance towards the apartheid state of Israel in an unambiguous manner.

MM: Membership of SiO is a precondition in order to be able to take exams. This is as close as we get to having tuition fees. SiO should take the consequences by staying politically objective.

MG: No. Dialogue, not isolation, is the key. We have to signal openness and mutual understanding.

SD: Paying a semester fee to SiO is obligatory. You should therefore be careful and avoid political derogatory decisions.

Fak: UiO and SiO shall be inclusive. Subsequently, student politicians should not decide on boycotts that some would have difficulties in supporting.

GL: No. Interests in international politics are super, but as a student politician you should not be spending your resources on that.

– Should the current marking system (A-F) for Master’s degree programmes be replaced by Pass/Fail?

V: Yes. If you have passed your Bachelor’s compliant with the requirements for being accepted onto a Master’s, the guidance should be good enough to avoid writing such a poor dissertation.

MM: They know best themselves. We are quite happy with Pass/Fail and have spent the last two years fighting to keep this arrangement.

MG: A marking system is important to keep so that it would be possible to separate students. Obtaining a good mark should mean something.

SD: Definitely. There is a whole range of modules that could easily survive the transition from marks to Pass/Fail. This is particularly the case for higher levels.

Fak: The departments have obviously not succeeded in establishing a just marking system for dissertations. We expect the University to properly deal with the matter before the marking system is definitely obsolete.

GL: No. Problems regarding marking inflation should be solved otherwise.

– What should the Government focus on in the next Budget as regards students?

V: Grants. We have to increase allowances for living expenses without turning students into financial slaves. Furthermore, we need more funds allocated to student housing, kindergartens and teaching.

MM: The Government could provide all researching students and our scientific friends with a glimmer of optimism by transferring NOK 60 billion to the Research Fund, hence following up on election promises.

MG: More resources to improve quality of teaching.

SD: Two things: academic funding should be increased considerably, and a considerable amount should be invested in quality improvement and equalisation between teacher and student at larger universities.

Fak: Refurbishment of the Preclinical Dentistry building to get more study halls, increased funding and more scientific staff members. Better academic funding and more student accommodation.

GL: Student accommodation, travel grants, public transport discounts, more invested in teaching and allowances to cover living expenses.