Election of Department Board

Composition of the board

The composition of the department board is regulated in the department's Management and Administration Regulations. The board has nine members:

• Department Head
• Deputy Department Head
• Three representatives, with six deputy representatives, from the permanent academic staff. At least one of these three representatives must be from human geography and at lease one must be from sociology.
• One representative, with two deputy representatives, from the temporary academic staff. 
• Two student representatives, with four deputy representatives (elected at their own election meetings). 
  • Student representative for the disciplinary programs (Sociology and Human Geography). The disciplines alternate representation in the board by calendar year. The student from Sociology is the regular representative during 2024. Human Geography appoints one deputy for the same period.
  • Student representative for the interdisciplinary programs (KULKOM, OLA, UTVB). The interdisciplinary programs alternate representation in the board every third semester. Those programs that do not have regular representation in a given semester appoint one deputy each. The student from OLA is the regular representative spring 2024, KULKOM autumn 2024 and UTVB spring 2025.
• One representative, with two deputy representatives, from the technical-administrative staff.

The Department Head and Deputy Head are elected in a separate election. The election is held electronically. 

The Equality and Anti-Discrimination Act requires gender balance within the individual constituency. If two representatives are to be elected, both genders must be represented among the two and among the deputy representatives. 

How often are elections held?

Within the groups of permanent academic staff and technical-administrative staff, employees elect their representatives every four years.

Representatives for temporary academic staff and students are elected every year.

Who has the right to vote?

According to the University of Oslo's election regulations (in Norwegian), employees with at least a 50% position at the units holding elections, as well as Professor II, have voting rights. Your employment status on the day you cast your vote determines your voting rights. You can vote for candidates within your own voting group (in Norwegian).

What about those on research leave or abroad?

You will have access to vote electronically by logging in with your University of Oslo username and password. If you have internet access, you can propose candidates and cast your vote as usual. If you do not have internet access during the election period, please contact the Election Board or the Election Board’s secretary to cast your vote.

Who can nominate candidates?

Anyone with voting rights in the election can propose any eligible person within their own voting group. According to the University of Oslo's election regulations (in Norwegian), all salaried employees with at least a 50% position, as well as Professor II, have the right to vote.

Execution

The election is conducted electronically via the University of Oslo's election portal, with the exception of the students who arrange their own election meeting. 

• Elections at the University of Oslo
• Election regulations for the University of Oslo (in Norwegian)
• Management and Administration Regulations for the Department of Sociology and Human Geography