Do you want to influence what happens at your department? Then now is the time to stand for election in the spring elections to the department forums at Health.

2018.03.08 | Sabina Bjerre Hansen

If you want to influence the academic decisions at your department, then now is the time to stand for election to the departmental forums. Photo: Health Communication.

 Elections to the departmental forums at Health will take place on 16 and 17 May 2018. Both employees and students at the faculty have the opportunity to stand in the election. As a member of a department forum, you will sit at the table when important academic decisions are made. 

How do you stand for election?

If you want to stand for election, the first thing you must do is check that you are eligible to stand and entitled to vote. This can be seen in the election lists which have been published on the departments’ websites.   

• Department of Biomedicine
• Department of Clinical Medicine
• Department of Public Health
• Department of Dentistry and Oral Health
• Department of Forensic Medicine – please contact Secretariat Manager Lis Dupont Birkler

If you have not been registered on the electoral roll and wish to be registered, you must notify the secretariat manager at your department.

If you wish to stand for election, you must fill in a nomination form for the election during the period 3 - 17 April. You can find the form on your department's website.

The election will be held electronically and you can vote via www.mit.au.dk. The election results will be announced on 24 May 2018 and the newly elected members will take up office on 1 July 2018.

You can also see the schedule for the coming election on Health's staff page and read about the holding of the elections in the article New framework for elections to the department forums.

What is a department forum?

The most important task of a department forum is to create space for idea generation, quality, transparency and legitimacy in all decisions on academic issues. A department forum must also safeguard the department's academic and social identity and coherence.

Through continuous and timely involvement, the department head should ensure co-determination in respect of academic issues. He or she must therefore discuss important issues within research, talent development, knowledge exchange and education with his or her department forum.

Additional facts

• A department forum must have no more than 25 members.
• The department head is chair.
• The forum must comprise representatives from among the academic staff, including PhD students and pre-graduate students, together with members of the technical and administrative staff.
• Members of academic staff and technical and administrative staff members are elected for a four-year period, while PhD students and pre-graduate students are elected for two years at a time. 

If you want to find out more about the election, you can read Health’s recently updated Election circular for department forums.