Elected principle – an all-to-rare victory
Elected principle – an all-to-rare victory
It is rare that things happen in the world that can be considered a victory. Introduction to tuition fees for international students, cuts in government grants to NMBU, covid, Ukraine, Gaza and Vollskogen. Losses on both large and small levels. A loss for me, a loss for you, a loss for the community; a loss for Samfunnet. All in all, the world is a little shit these days.
Writer: Martin Hansebråten
Translator: Ingrid Bjørnevik Nygaard
The world is also increasingly more uncertain. Trump is president, and is continuing with all his tirades about foreigners, Greenland, Panama and Gaza. What is true, and what is just a lie? Nobody really knows, but I doubt there will be peace in the Middle East and that America will be great again. California is burning away, while the world community as we know it is threatened by ecological collapse. AI takes over, and the memories of the writer can now be replaced by Sikt-KI – NMBUs recommended singularity.
However, in this sea of things going wrong, there is one bright spot; The board of the University has finally got its act together and returned to the democracy principle-model. A small victory for the democracy in a time where it generally is in bad shape. One must praise all the students, staff and organizations that has worked to change the system.
The problem of a hired principle has been many. After the system of a hired principle was introduced in 2014, not a single principle has stayed throughout their term. It has generally been disagreements, and it has not been certain that the principal knows anything about the core operations of the institution. But that is not really the issue for me. The problem is that it’s undemocratic. There is one or another generic board that decides who will be the top representative at NMBU. Are they any better at determine who will run this place? No, to be honest, I think they are just as bad at choosing a leader of the University board as the average employee and student.
Returning to an elected principle, did not come without a fight. There was plenty that thought it took too much work and was hard to pull through when one is already in a difficult position. It is weird how democracy never fits in difficult positions. But it is in these times that it is important with someone with trust among employees. An elected principle has a mandate and can therefore make some difficult choices. Without an elected principle, no one has a mandate to do anything.
Will Jens fix the world? No. Will there be conflicts with all the family homes in Vollskogen? Yes. Will NMBU go bankrupt? Maybe, but now we can at least choose who will run this university to the ground. Good choice!
