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Regulations

Regulations for the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, the University of Bergen.


CHAPTER IN THE DEPARTMENT ORGANS

§ 1. The Department organs

The Department shall have:
1) Full time Head of Department
2) Assistant Head of Department
3) Studies Manager
4) Research Director
5) Department Council
6) Research Committee
7) Educational Committee
8) Leader Group

§ 2. Head of Department

The Head of Department is responsible for the Institute as a whole with regard to daily operations, strategic choices and priorities, personnel and the use of resources. The Head of Department also has overall responsibility for education and research-related results.

The Head of Department is the final instance in matters concerning the engagement of new employees.

§ 3. Assistant Head of Department

The Assistant Head of Department is appointed by the Head of Department from among the permanent scientific employees. The Assistant Head of Department shall function as the Head of Departments deputy.

The Assistant Head of Department shall attend the meetings of the Institutes Educational Committee on a permanent basis.

§ 4. Studies Manager

The Department has one Studies Manager and until further notice two Studies Co-ordinators, one for each of the subjects in the two disciplines.
The Studies Co-ordinators organise the tutoring in co-operation with Study Consultants. The Studies Manager leads the Institutes Educational Committee and is responsible for the preparation and following up of the matters treated thereunder.

§ 5. Research Director

The Department has one Research Director who leads the Institutes Research Committee and is responsible for following up the matter dealt with thereunder.

§ 6. Institute Council

The Department Council shall work in the best interests of the Department, represent employees and students interests and viewpoints and contribute to meeting the needs of employees and students for information in matters concerning the Department.

The Council decides which cases it shall engage in and comment on, but these should primarily be of a fundamental nature.

The Council can comment, but all decisions are advisory and not binding.

The Council shall have an independent, advisory function in relation to the Head of Department. The Head of Department does not sit on the Council but shall normally attend meetings and shall have the right to speak and advise. The head of Department call also call the Department Council to meeting to request advice in cases of principal character or in cases that will have a major effect on the Department.

Among cases the Council should comment on are:
- The Annual Budget and Accounts
- HES plan of action and HES Report
- The Research Report and other strategy and result documents prepared by the Institute
- Any restructuring or reorganisation plans
- The Assessment of extended temporary appointment of the Head of Department

Period of service, election and composition
The Councils period of services is the same as the elected period for the governing organs at the UiB and elections to the Council and its composition shall be in accordance with the rules for election (for the election to Institute Boards) at UiB.

Group A shall have 8 representatives, while groups B, C, and D shall have 2 representatives each. The elected Council shall as far as possible represent equal representation from the Information and Media environments.

The Council shall have a Chairman and a Vice Chairman. These shall be elected from among the permanent employees representatives in the Council in a statutory meeting. If a minimum of one members of the Council so wishes, the election shall be by written ballot. Members who have been proposed as Chairman can also vote. If several candidates are proposed, the candidate receiving the next highest number of votes shall be Vice Chairman.

Employees and students at the Department shall be informed of who has been elected as members of the Council at the latest two weeks from the date of the election.

The Safety Delegate has the right to attend and speak in Council meetings, and shall be summoned to attend in the same way as the elected members.

The Head of Department shall receive case documents and minutes in the same way as elected members. In extra-ordinary cases the Council Chairman can call meetings with the exclusion of the Head of Department. The Head of Department shall nonetheless receive the summons to attend, the agenda and the minutes of the meeting.

The Council shall meet at least once per term.

Summons to attend and minutes
The leader of the Institutes Election Committee shall summon members to attend the statutory meeting, otherwise the Chairman of the Council shall issue the summons to attend. The Council Chairman shall call in the Council if:

- The Chairman deems this to be necessary.
- The Head of Department deems this to be necessary.
- A minimum of 3 members have requested this in writing.

The summons to attend and agenda shall be prepared by the Office Manager or Council Chairman and shall be made available to the members of the Council, the Head of Department and the Safety Delegate a minimum of three days prior to the date of the meeting. The agenda shall be made known to the staff.

The office Manager or Council Chairman shall take minutes of the meetings. The minutes shall be approved through circulation, and after approval shall be available to students and employees at the Department.

§ 7. The Research Committee

The Research Committee is a forum for developing the Institutes research strategy and expertise.

The Committee discusses the main areas of the Departments research activities, priorities in the advertising of vacant positions and the development of areas of focus. It also assesses measures and initiatives with the aim of ensuring the best possible internal professional communication and the best possible dissemination externally of the Departments research, contact with other research environments, conferences, guest researcher residences and similar.

The Committee assesses the Institutes resources on an ongoing basis such as TV channels, newspapers, magazines/journals, professional literature, and so forth.

The Committee shall have inspectorate rights of degree students working conditions.

The Committee shall advise the Head Department regarding applications for research funds prior to the deadlines on March 1st and September 1st.

Composition
The Head of Department shall normally participate in the Committees meetings and shall appoint a Research Director as leader of the Committee. The Research Director is responsible for preparing and following up items that are being handled by the Research Committee.  The Head of Department shall also appoint 3 other members from A and a Vice Chairman for the Committee amongst these. Group B has one member, who is appointed by the group itself. Each member of the Committee has a deputy.

The Office Manager is the Committees Secretary, and participates with the right to speak and present proposals.

Nordicoms documentarian has permanent observer status in the Research Committee.

Members of the Committee are elected for the same period as the elected period for the governing organs at the UiB.

§ 8. The Educational Committee

The Educational Committee shall plan and evaluate the Institutes tutoring in all subjects and levels. The Educational Committee is also responsible for matters concerning examinations.

The Educational Committee has a responsibility to follow up information activities in relation to the students. This includes information provided via the Institutes net pages.

The Educational Committee reaches decisions in all matters that concern day to day educational matters. Cases that require changes in the regulations or the redistribution of resources, such as changes in the curriculum or the development of new subjects, shall be prepared by the Educational Committee, but put before the Head of Department.

Composition
The Educational Committee consists of the Institutes Assistant Head of Department, the Studies Manager, who is the Committees Chairman, two Study Co-ordinators and a representative from Group D. The Studies Manager is responsible for the preparation and  following up of cases handled by the Committee.

The Office Manager, Studies Consultants and a representative for the technical staff shall attend the meetings of the Committee and have the right to speak and submit proposals.

One of the Studies Consultants shall function as the Committees Secretary and shall be responsible for the practical preparations in addition to the daily following up and practical preparation in connection with tutoring.

Members of the Committee are elected for the same period as the elected period for the governing organs at the UiB.

§ 9. Leader Group

The Leader group consists of the Head of Department, Assistant Head of Department, Research Director Studies Manager and the Office Manager. It may also be necessary to call in the head of the technical staff.

The Institutes Leader Group shall normally meet 2 to 4 times monthly to co-ordinate the management and administration of the Institutes activities.

The Office Manager functions as the Leader Groups Secretary and shall ensure that the agenda and adopted resolutions are made known to the employees and students representatives.

Belongs to