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University of Copenhagen
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Politics
University elections 2023 — It decides what the rector does, and how the money is spent. The Board is the most powerful governing body of the university, and you can help decide who should have a seat in it.
Elections are being held for the Board of the University of Copenhagen. You can vote between 20 and 24 November. But what does the Board of the University actually do? And can you vote for it? Here are the short answers.
The Board is the University’s highest authority. Its mandate is to safeguard the University’s interests as a research and education institution. This means that the members determine the guidelines for how the university is organized and developed. This involves setting the University of Copenhagen’s annual budget.
University elections 2023
Elections are taking place at the University of Copenhagen. There are elections for:
It is the Board that appoints the rector and decides what he or she should do with their working day. The Board has also drafted what is known as rector instructions, which the rector must comply with in his or her daily activities.
The Board does not normally intervene in day-to-day decisions around the university. But if a particularly troublesome case arises, it may take action.
READ ALSO: Your guide to the 2023 university elections
The 11-member Board at the University of Copenhagen consists of six external (appointed) members and five internal (elected) members. As a group they should have experience and knowledge of research, research-based education, as well as knowledge dissemination and exchange. In the Board there are both people from the business world, academic staff, and students. The chairman of the the Board is Merete Eldrup.
The internal members consist of one representative for technical and administrative personnel (abbreviated in Danish to ‘TAP’), two representatives for scientific staff (abbreviated in Danish to ‘VIP’), and two student representatives.
The TAP and VIP representatives are elected for a four-year term and may be re-elected once. The student representatives are elected for a two-year term, with one of the student representatives up for election every year.
Up for election this year is one of the two student places, a representative from the technical and administrative staff (TAP) and two representatives from the scientific staff (VIP).
Did you know that…
… the external members of the Board appointed since 1/1 2022 get a DKK 80,400 a year remuneration for their work. The chairman gets a good deal more that that: DKK 268,200 per year.
No remuneration is paid to members elected by students and staff. Employee representatives may however get a personal salary supplement if the university deems it appropriate and the board work is not carried out during ordinary working hours.
Students can vote on different lists: The Student Council, Free Forum, Conservative Students and the Economics Council.
See all candidates for the entire university election process here. The candidates for the Board are listed from page 14.
The new student-elected member of the University Board will be announced along with the rest of the results of the university elections on 25 November. The candidates who are elected will begin their work on the Board at the beginning of next year.
You can vote via KUnet here. (Go through the KUnet log in process. Click on ‘Click here and vote in the UCPH elections‘ then ‘Klik for at gå til stemmeseddel‘ – then ‘Fold alle lister ud‘ – then choose and click a name, then confirm with ‘Stem på den angivne liste/kandidat‘.)