Here you will find background information about relevant topics on leadership and participation from the background document (pdf) prepared to support local discussions.

Norsk: Bakgrunnsinformasjon for diskusjonen om ledelse og medvirkning

Main page: Discussion about leadership and participation

Background

The Board’s request

The Board has requested that the Rector ensure that a discussion on leadership and participation is carried out at NTNU (S-sak 51/25). More specifically, the Board asks that the following questions guide the discussion:

• How do current arrangements for participation and democracy function at NTNU?
• Which arenas and practices work well?
• In which areas is the perceived distance particularly large and challenging? Concrete examples are encouraged.
• Which measures should be implemented to strengthen employees’ and students’ influence on important decision-making processes? For example: How can the process leading up to the appointment of a rector be made more open and inclusive for employees and students?

The discussions will take place between February and April 2026.

Why discuss leadership and participation at NTNU?

The Basic Agreement for the Civil Service (Hovedavtalen) and the Working Environment Act (Arbeidsmiljøloven) emphasize the importance of involving employees and employee representatives in the development of the organization and its leadership practices. The laws and agreements provide a clear normative framework for broad participation, transparency, and constructive cooperation between employer and employees.

This spring’s discussion will also include students. The Board has stressed that it is important for students to contribute their perspectives and recommendations.

A well-functioning university democracy requires opportunities for both direct participation (direktemedvirkning) and co-determination (medbestemmelse). The internal discussions are intended primarily to explore how participation, openness, and trust can be strengthened in practice. They do not involve changes to the formal co-determination bodies. NTNU’s local adaptation agreement (Tilpasningsavtalen) to the Basic Agreement for the Civil Service was revised in summer 2025.

Engaging employees, students and leaders in discussions about how leadership and participation function in practice can enhance understanding of how the university is organized and governed. This process may highlight what works well, identify areas in need of improvement, and generate concrete proposals. The input will be valuable for the Board’s consideration of measures to reduce perceived distance and strengthen participation, and for its deliberations on questions concerning NTNU’s leadership model.

Relevant premises and topics

Academic freedom and freedom of expression

Academic freedom (Section 2-2 of the University and University Colleges Act) and freedom of expression (Section 100 of the Norwegian Constitution) are fundamental conditions for open exchanges of opinion on academic matters and for the development of the university. These rights also carry responsibilities. Leaders, employees and students share a responsibility to safeguard these values and contribute to a healthy climate for free expression at NTNU.

NTNU’s Strategy 2035 states that academic freedom is essential for NTNU to achieve its ambitions and fulfil its societal mission.

Governance and leadership in academia

Joint leadership, with an elected rector and a university director was the standard model at all Norwegian universities until 2016. In 2005, the University and University Colleges Act introduced the alternative of an appointed rector, which NTNU chose to adopt. From 2016 onward, the appointed-rector model combined with unitary leadership became the new standard. Under NTNU’s unitary leadership structure, the rector serves as both the academic and administrative head of the university. In the 2024 revision of the Act, the alternative model with an elected rector was retained. An institution board may, by simple majority, decide to change the leadership model. Today, among Norway’s 21 universities, only NMBU, UiO, UiB and UiA have elected rectors.

The Universities and University Colleges Act regulates governance and leadership at the institutional level. Institutions therefore have considerable freedom in organizing leadership at lower levels. For the sake of clarity in decision-making lines, it is generally advantageous to maintain unitary or joint leadership as a consistent principle across levels. Within the same leadership model, however, leaders may still be recruited either through appointment or election, as is the case at UiO.

Institutions may also choose whether to establish elected bodies at lower levels, and whether these bodies should have decision-making authority or an advisory role. The authority of leaders and elected bodies will always operate within the framework of decisions made at higher levels, as well as applicable legislation and agreement.

Below is a summary of the key differences between a model with an appointed versus an elected rector. Italics marks matters that are regulated in the University and University Colleges Act, Section 4 on organisation and administration at state institutions.

Leadership and participation has been on the agenda at several institutions in later years. The NMBU and the UiA chose the model with elected rector, while UiT chose to keep the model of appointed rector. On assignment from NTNU, Technopolis conducted a mapping of leadership models at ten Norwegian and Nordic universities. Reports and cases to the boards describe among other things advantages and disadvantages of the two models.

• Mapping Report Technopolis 2025 (in Norwegian)
• Board case University of Agder (UiA) 2022 (in Norwegian)
• Pros and cons of alternative models of governance - report to the Board NMBU Norwegian University of Life Sciences 2020 (in Norwegian)
• Board case UiT The Arctic University of Norway 2020 (in Norwegian)

Governance and leadership at NTNU

According to the Universities and University Colleges Act (Sections 4-5 and 4-6), the institution is led by the rector. NTNU has an appointed rector and an external chair of the board. In this model, the rector serves as the appointing authority. Alternatively, the Board may choose an elected Rector, in which case the university director becomes the appointing authority.

NTNU introduced unitary leadershipas its overarching model in 2005. Unitary leadership means that the Rector, Deans, Heads of Department have overall responsibility for the full portfolio of their respective units. The aim was to establish a more decisive organizational structure with clear reporting and instruction lines (Board Cases S-sak 17/05 and S-sak 34/03). At the department level, a key motivation was to strengthen academic leadership (Board Cases K34/03 and K-sak 2018/98).

In 2013, NTNU introduced appointed heads of department as the general rule. One advantage was that appointed heads would have leadership responsibilities as their primary role. Appointment processes involving participation from elected representatives, followed by final approval from the faculty board, were also regarded as important quality-assurance mechanisms that supported the recruitment of qualified and suitable candidates. In 2021, the Moen Committee proposed 25 improvements to leadership recruitment processes, many of which were implemented during the 2024–2025 recruitment cycle.

The Universities and University Colleges Act specifies that the board determines the institution’s internal organization at all levels. The board also decides whether the rector is appointed (unitary leadership) or appointed by election (joint leadership). NTNU has a consistent system of appointed leaders at all three levels: rector, deans and heads of department.

There is flexibility within the current model - for example, by making the process of appointing a rector more transparent and inclusive. Across the Nordic region, there are also examples of hybrid leadership models that combine elected and appointed leaders.

• Board cases S-sak 17/05 and S-sak 34/03 (in Norwegian)
• Report from Moen Committee on leadership recruitment processes (in Norwegian)
• Evaluating NTNUs governance and leadership, report Rokkansenteret 2008 (in Norwegian)

University democracy at NTNU

The Universities and University Colleges Act (Sections 4-1 to 4-4) regulates the election of employee and student representatives to institutional boards. Institutions themselves may decide whether to establish elected bodies at lower organizational levels.

According to NTNU's governance regulations, all faculties must have faculty boards, while departments may choose among the following structures: Department Board, Department Council or Extended Management Group.

Students exert influence through student democracy and through their representation on boards, councils and committees.

Elected bodies at lower levels have decision-making authority within the framework set by higher-level decisions, legislation and regulations. Typical areas include budgets, staffing matters, and study plans. Department boards have decision-making authority, while extended management groups function as advisory bodies.

The system of extended management group was introduced in 2013, and today around half of the departments use this arrangement. Departments must also ensure genuine participation through: “All staff (open) meetings” and “Forums for employees in teaching and research positions”.

The FAFO report (S-sak 15/21, Svalund et al., 2020) showed that employees generally experience good influence over their daily work. At the same time, several areas for improvement were identified:

• the need for better internal communication
• greater transparency in processes
• strengthening a culture of participation
• more suitable local participation structures
• considerable potential for reducing the perceived distance between level 3 (departments) and level 1 (central management)

The Board instructed the Rector to continue working on these improvements. Follow-up measures have included:

• strengthening internal communication
• systematic efforts to improve the quality and relevance of the IDF-LOSAM meetings
• a new local adaptation agreement (Tilpasningsavtalen, 2025)
• structured working environment processes through the ARK-survey
• initiatives to better include international staff, such as language support and mentoring schemes
• increased emphasis on cooperation and co-determination in the leadership development programme (åremålslederprogrammet, from 2025)

• FAFO-report on employees’ experience of co-determination and participation (in Norwegian)
• Presentation of the report (in Norwegian)
• Board Case S-sak 15/2023: Employee participation at NTNU – current issues and further development (in Norwegian)*Board case S-sak 15/2023 – protocol (in Norwegian)

Employee participation regarding work conditions

A distinction is commonly made between:

• Co-determination (medbestemmelse), exercised through elected employee representatives
• Direct participation (direkte medvirkning), which gives employees self-determination regarding how work is organized and how tasks are carried out in their own work areas.

Genuine participation refers to employees’ rights and responsibilities to influence their own working situation. This occurs through dialogue with leaders, participation in local processes, and contributions to development and improvement activities.

The Working Environment Act clarifies the requirements for employee participation (Section 4-2) and employees’ duty to participate (Section 2-3)

Although the provisions are primarily aimed at the working environment, in practice they involve participation in the general development of the workplace. Through the work environment surveys and the follow-up of these, employees and units are invited, among other things, to discuss and develop measures to improve “participation and information flow” and the “exercise of leadership” within their own unit. These are important areas for direct participation and for the development of the organization.

The Basic Agreement for the Civil Service aims to:

• provide employees with genuine influence over the organization of their workplace and the development of working methods
• serve as a tool for developing leadership, co-determination and the working environment
• ensure that individual employees have opportunities for professional and personal development; work must therefore be structured and arranged in such a way as to make use of the employees’ knowledge and expertise
• promote cooperation that supports flexible and user-oriented services, a satisfactory working environment, sound leadership, improved performance and positive relations with the public

Chapter 11 of NTNUs Local Adaptation Agreement (//Tilpasningsavtalen//) emphasizes that:

• employees should have direct influence over how their work is organized and how their working methods are developed
• leaders at all levels must facilitate direct participation (direktemedvirkning)
• employees must receive early information and be given opportunity to express their views before decisions are made

Participation may also include involvement in project groups, committees, and similar bodies.

Co-determination at NTNU

The government and the confederations of government employees’ unions have established the Basic Agreement to create the best possible basis for cooperation between the parties at all levels (principal purpose, Section 1). The right to co-determination is primarily exercised through elected employee representatives.

• Participation and co-determination at NTNU

NTNU’s adaptation agreement to the Basic Agreement in the Civil service was revised by a joint working group in 2025. According to this agreement, employee participation takes place through:

• Central Cooperation Committee - IDF-SESAM at the institutional level
• Local Co-operation Committee - IDF-LOSAM at the faculty level
• ÅSAM and GSAM at the campuses in Ålesund and Gjøvik

In matters related to the working environment, employees also exercise representative influence through their safety representatives and elected employee representatives in:

• Workplace Environment Committee - AMU at the institutional level
• LAMU at the faculty level
• SAMU locally in Gjøvik and Ålesund

Student participation at NTNU

Through the student government, students can help develop NTNU as an educational institution, and work to ensure that students’ voices are heard in matters related to educational quality, campus development, accommodation, the learning environment, and similar issues.

Students elect two of the eleven members of the NTNU Board (elections are held each spring). Two of the faculty representatives (FTV) are members of the faculty board/museum board, and two of the department representatives (ITV) are members of the department board/extended management group.

The Student Parliament (Studenttinget) is the highest decision-making body for NTNU students (elections are held each autumn). The Student Parliament issues statements on behalf of all students at NTNU and is composed of representatives reflecting the full breadth of the university. There are also local student parliaments in Gjøvik and Ålesund. The Student Parliament appoints student representatives to permanent NTNU committees that deal with student- and education-related matters, such as NTNUs Education Committee (Utdanningsutvalget), NTNU’s Learning Environment Committee (Læringsmiljøutvalget), NTNU’s administrative committees for teacher education, engineering and Master of Science programmes, and the Committee for Student Affairs.

At the faculties and departments, the elected student representatives speak on behalf of students in relevant matters that affect students locally. Elections for faculty representatives and department representatives are held in both spring and autumn.

Students also participate in quality assurance of education through reference groups at course level and programme representatives at the study programme level.

• Student government at NTNU