Volda University College has appointed a student representative

03. september 2019 - Oppdatert 03. september 2019

Volda University College has for the first time appointed a student representative. - It means safety for the students and a good person to seek advice and support in various matters, says Trym Rimmen, leader of the student parliament.

On 1st of August, Sindre Rødne Dueland University College of Volda (HVO) became its first student ombud. On Friday, he visited HVO for the first time and met with representatives from the leadership and the student parliament.

- It is very nice that the college has a student representative in place, and we are happy to be able to collaborate on this with the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL), says Odd Helge Mjellem Tonheim, pro-rector at HVO.

Students' rights

The Student Ombud is a collaboration between HVL and HVO, where 20 per cent of the positions fall into HVO. Rødne Dueland will soon be in the same position at the University of Bergen, but will continue to help with cases for students at HVL and HVO until a replacement is in place. When the new agent is in place, he or she will have their assigned working days in Volda, and will be available on e-mail and telephone all the time.

A student representative will be something new for both students and employees at HVO. We think it is advisable for Rødne Dueland to explain the role himself:

- The primary part of the role is to give the students advice and guidance on how to safeguard their rights as students. It may be necessary to explain why decisions on applications for judgments or complaints from the college have become as they have become. Then I can assess whether the case is enough to go ahead and give advice.

Safe legal assistance

The Student Ombudsman cannot be a party to a case between the student and the college, only to be advisory to the student. It will say that the Ombudsman cannot write a letter or a complaint to the university college on behalf of one or more students. The Ombudsman shall be independent of the college and vice versa.

From 1st of August , all the colleges and universities in the country were required to have a student representative. Pro-Rector Mjellem Tonheim looks on the positive side that the students can have such a resource to ask for advice.

- It is good for the students to have legal competence to use, when in doubt or disagreement with decisions from the university college. It is not always us as a university college doing everything right, and in this way a student ombud is a safety for both the students and the college. A win-win situation, says the Pro-Rector.

Reply on Facebook

Rødne Dueland says that he received very many different questions from the students, which he appreciated. - No questions are too small and none too big. If I cannot answer, I can show the person further. Whether one is in a feeling of being treated badly or disagrees with one being treated by the college, the student ombudsman is the right person.
Often, there may be brief guidance needed to resolve the problem, and for this reason Rødne Dueland is noted that it should be easy to obtain the agent. He himself gives a lot of feedback via the conversation function on Facebook, and also uses a lot of e-mail. If you want a physical meeting with the ombud, it must be agreed on beforehand.