The regulations are based on the following laws, agreements and regulations: the Universities and Colleges Act, the Main Collective Agreement for the State, the Act on Civil Servants in the State, UiO's personnel regulations, election rules and procedural rules for the election or appointment of department head/ deputy head and UiO's Standard Regulations for Departments.
Table of Contents
- § 1 Department Entities
- § 2 Department Board
- § 3 Elections
- § 4 Head of Department
- § 5 The Deputy Head of Department
- § 6 Department Council
- § 7 Program Council for Study Programs
- § 8 Recruitment Committee
- § 9 Administrative Head of Department
- Commencement
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§ 1 Department Entities
The department has:
- A department board
- A head of department
- A deputy head of department
- An administration led by an administrative head of department
- A director of studies, program councils and program directors for all study programs and course conveners for all courses.
§ 2 Department Board
§ 2.1 Field of Authority
The department board is the highest governing body of the department. The board is responsible for establishing overall goals, priorities, and strategies for the department's activities, within the framework of applicable laws, regulations, and rules, as well as decisions made by the university or faculty board.
The board exercises its authority by adopting:
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Overall plans, principles, and priorities for the department's activities
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Long-term plans, with particular emphasis on research, education, and dissemination strategies
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Annual plans and budgets
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The department's internal organization into departments, subject groups, or similar, within the framework provided by the superior body
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Supplementary provisions to these regulations within the framework provided by the overlying agency.
The board is responsible for follow-up through:
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Approval of financial statements and annual reports
In addition, the board shall:
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Propose to the faculty a nomination committee for the election of the department head/deputy head in accordance with the university's rules and the faculty's clarifications and propose a recommendation in the event of the employment of a department head and deputy department head. The nomination committee consists of two academic staff members, one technical-administrative staff member, and one student.
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Appoint an election committee for the election of the department head/deputy head. The election committee consists of one academic staff member, one temporary academic staff member, one technical-administrative staff member, and one student.
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Make appointments for academic positions where the faculty has delegated this authority to the department.
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Make recommendations for academic appointments where the faculty has the authority to appoint.
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Appoint members to program councils for the psychology study programs.
All decisions of the department board are made by delegation from and on behalf of the university board.
§ 2.2 Composition
The department board is led by the department head with the deputy head as deputy, and has nine members:
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1 department head
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1 deputy department head
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3 representatives with 6 deputy representatives for the permanent academic staff. At least one of these three representatives for the permanent academic staff must be from the Human Geography discipline and at least one must be from the Sociology discipline.
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1 representative with 2 deputy representatives for the temporary academic staff, elected by and from the temporary academic staff at the department.
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2 student representatives with 2 deputy representatives
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1 representative with 2 deputy representatives for the technical and administrative staff at the department
§ 3 Elections
§ 3.1 Election of Department Head and Deputy Head of Department
The department head and deputy are elected, unless the university board, after conferring with the faculty/department board, decides that the department head shall be employed. The election shall comply with the election rules and procedural rules for the election or appointment of department head/ deputy head.
The department board can consider changes before new elections, at the time of the term's end or when/if a department head resigns.
The election of the department head/deputy head is conducted as a single election, unless the department board decides that the deputy head is appointed by the department head. The election of the department head/deputy head is held electronically and according to the weighting of voting groups determined by the university. Eligibility for the positions of department head/deputy department head is limited to the permanent academic staff with at least a 50% position. If only one proposal for a department head/deputy head is received within the deadline, the election committee will make this known and set an extended deadline for submitting proposals (cf. § 26 of UiO's election regulations).
If only one candidate proposal for department head/deputy head is received within the new deadline, the election committee declares the suggested candidates as elected. If additional candidates have been proposed, a direct election will be held according to the regulations in § 13 - 1 through § 13-10. The election committee can determine a new election day and timetable if necessary.
§ 3.2 Election of Department Board
The election of representatives from the various groups is based on the university's election rules. The department board may decide that the election for specific groups can be held as a ballot election or mail election. The student representatives can be elected in an election meeting.
The term of office for department board representatives is four years for representatives for the permanent academic staff and the technical- and administrative staff. For the temporary academic staff and student representatives, the term of office is one year.
The department head and deputy head, by virtue of their roles, become members of the department board. If they are already elected members of the department board, the first deputy representative for the permanent academic staff will become a regular member.
A representative or deputy representative resigns if their affiliation with the group or faculty ends.
§ 4 Head of Department
The department head is the highest leader of the department and leads the department's activities within the framework set by the university board, the faculty's plans, and instructions from the dean, as well as decisions made by the department board. The department head has overall responsibility and authority with regard to all tasks that are not explicitly within the scope of the department board's authority and has general authority to decide ongoing individual cases.
The department head is the leader of the department board. The department head is responsible for preparing proposals with suggestions for decisions in matters falling under the department board's authority (cf. § 2). The department head is responsible for implementing the decisions made by the department board.
The department head has responsibility for external networking, information, and contact with external partners.
The department head is responsible for the department's follow-up of the Quality system for educational activities at UiO. The department head must ensure that there is an updated overview of those who have a roll in the quality system.
The department head appoints program directors and members of the program councils.
The department head appoints the director of studies.
The department head exercises their authority by, amongst other things, delegating authority from their own field of authority to the deputy department head, the director of studies, the administrative department head and any other persons to whom the department head chooses to delegate authority.
The department head can be assigned tasks by the faculty.
§ 5 The Deputy Head of Department
The deputy head assumes the department head's responsibilities and authority when the department head is absent for an extended period. The deputy head is a deputy member of the department board, and beyond this has a more closely defined management function and tasks delegated by the department head.
§ 6 Department Council
Entities that do not have a board shall, according to UiO's Standard Regulations for Departments, establish an advisory body, a department council.
The Department of Sociology and Human Geography has a department board.
§ 7 Program Council for Study Programs
The department establishes program councils for all study programs leading to a bachelor's or master's degree. The program council is delegated by the coordinating responsibility for its study programs, cf. the Quality system for educational activities at UiO
The program council should process the academic frameworks, important priorities, and plans for quality assurance and quality development of the programs. Beyond this, the program council can delegate its tasks to the program director. Decisions about the ongoing operation should be delegated to the program director.
The program council should be composed to reflect the academic communities involved in the program and ensure student representation.
The entity that is responsible for a study program is the program owner. The department head appoints the program director and members of the program council.
Program councils at the department level report to the dean through the department head/director of studies.
§ 8 Recruitment committee
The department board can choose to establish a separate recruitment committee for the recruitment of academic staff for which the faculty has the hiring authority.
§ 9 Administrative Head of Department
The administrative department head ensures the management of the departments administrative and managerial work in consultation with and upon delegation from the department head.
The administrative department head is the secretary for the department board.
Commencement
These regulations came into effect on May 24, 2023.