All students are organized through their local Student Democracy by the Universitets- og Høgskoleloven(The Law of Norwegian Higher Education) by having 20% student participation in all decision-making bodies at NMBU. The student democracy at NMBU therefore consists of elected students on all levels, from individual groups for the subjects at your faculty, to the central level at the university.
The Student Council
Through your chosen class representative, who is elected at Stud001 (a 2 hour course the first week of the autumn semester), you are represented in The Student Council at your faculty.
At each faculty there is a Student Council that deals with what concerns students at the representative faculty, lead by two student representatives elected at the Term Meeting (Allmøte). The Term Meeting is one of the top decision-making arenas in your faculty. Here all students at the faculty have attending, proposal and voting rights. This is where the Student Council and Student Parliament representatives are elected. All students have a right to speak on Student Parliament meetings, but only the student representatives have the right to suggest and vote. It is therefore important that you attend the Term Meeting of your faculty to choose your student representative.
What issues are dealt with depends on the content of the case. If you are dissatisfied with the curriculum of a subject, your course of study or a physical learning environment, the Student Council is the place to go. Here are union representatives for different reference groups at your faculty who work with matters specific to your faculty. The Student Council also includes representatives from The faculty board, which take matters further at your faculty.
The Student Parliament
The Student Parliament is the highest decision-making student body at NMBU. They consists of 25 representatives from all over the university, here are all faculties represented. These representatives will together adopt the student policy on NMBU. Studentting meets three times during the semester. Studenttingets Arbeidsutvalg represents the students between Studentting. The Student Parliament is the central part of the Student Democracy and addresses issues that apply to all students at NMBU. Examples of cases dealt with, is the learning environment, campus policy, student welfare and student residence. The Student Parliament are elected students who defend your rights and represent you in all matters at NMBU. The Student Parliament organizes elected students at all levels at NMBU.
The Student Board
The Student Board is the Student Parliaments working group, and is supposed to represent their politics and their opinions to the leaders of NMBU. The committee consists of 3 representatives in addition to the secretary of the organization, the positions are full time.
The Student Democracy
The Student Democracy includes all representatives in the organization, including The Student Parliament, Student Council, Student Board, and all student representatives in all boards.
As a student at NMBU you are a citizen of NMBU. That means you have rights and obligations that are mutual for all citizens. This is a premise for your participation. It means that you as a citizen not only have certain rights, but that you can change and influence them. This is important for academia's independence, credibility and existence.
It is YOU as a student who decides who will represent you.
English/Norwegian terms:
The Student Parliament = Studenttinget
The Student Board = Studenttingets Arbeidsutvalg
Student council = Studentråd
Faculty board = Fakultetsstyret
General assembly = allmøte