A committed voice for temporary employees

Why do you run for election?

- I want to run for the election because I will be a committed voice for the temporary employees, such that we feel included in the important decisions at the university.

What are the three most important issues you want to address if you are elected to the University Board?

- I want to strengthen the relationship between UiAdoc and the University Board. In this way, one can continue the important work of improving how both international and Norwegian temporary employees experience working at the university. I think it is very important to have a good working environment, and I will work hard on issues that have an impact on this. I am also concerned with gender equality and have personally experienced being a girl among a vast majority of men, in a society that needs a push to achieve increased diversity - also in academia (and especially in technology). I want to work for the following three issues if I get elected:

• Psychosocial environment: In our job situation, our well-being is essential for top performance. I want to contribute to a better understanding and facilitation of the social aspect of the temporary employees at the university. Among other things, this includes better communication and inclusion in the workplace. For example, it was clear in the report "Extensions for PhDs and Postdocs at UiA - Survey Report" conducted by UiAdoc (org. For PhDs and postdocs), that the communication between UiA and the temporary employees led to confusion. In other words, it is important to have clear communication, and to make sure that all important information is also communicated to our international colleagues in a good way. I want temporary employees to feel like full members of the community at UiA, where they are considered and included both in lunches and in important meetings.

• Temporary positions: I want to work for increased security in temporary positions. I think we need to focus on managing temporary positions better. Temporality creates a great deal of uncertainty for the employee in relation to all aspects of life. The university should therefore strive for a higher proportion of permanent positions or promises of permanent positions after the end of temporary periods. For me, it is important that the focus is on the employee feeling safe in the position they have been assigned, and that there is a dialogue and a clear signal about what is expected to happen after the temporary period.

• Equal treatment: I want to work for fair treatment of temporary employees. It is important that temporary employees are given the same prerequisites to carry out their work as what permanent employees do. This can be a facilitation in relation to, for example, office facilities, psychosocial health services, course offers and rights in connection with Covid-19.

What qualities/skills do you have that will make your colleagues vote for you?

 - I am a person who can be trusted and who is easy to get in touch with. I have for a long time been involved in both politics and students' everyday lives, for example have I been a deputy representative for the municipal council in Porsgrunn and a student representative for the ICT master's program at UiA. I have also been responsible for finances in a student organization at UiA. I want to be a clear voice for my temporary colleagues at the university and will do my best to maintain our interests.

Some facts about you

- I am a PhD student at the Department of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at UiA. I am affiliated with the CAIR research group, and study machine learning algorithms in artificial intelligence. For the last two semesters, I have taught courses in electronics engineering at the university, and I am very pleased with this work.

Education:

• 2019-: PhD at the Department of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), UiA
• 2017-2020: Integrated master / PhD in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), M.Sc., UiA
• 2014-2017: Electronics, B.Sc., UiA

Work experience:

• PhD Research Fellow, UiA, 2019-
• Part-time work as a Consultant, Bouvet, 2019-
• Seller, Mester Grønn AS at Lillesand Senter, 2016-2020
• Summer job as Data Scientist, Agder Energi, 2019
• Summer job as a software developer, Kongsberg Maritime, 2018
• Seller, Gullfunn AS at Odden Senteret, 2014-2016
• Assistant Chef, Telemark Hospital, 2013-2015
• Teaching assistant in mathematics, Porsgrunn upper secondary school, 2013-2014
• Summer job as a cleaner, Telemark Hospital, 2011-2012

Previous board experience:

• Finance Manager, Sameiet Ramshaugveien, 2018-
• Deputy Student Representative, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), master, UiA 2017-2018
• Student Representative, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), bachelor, UiA 2017-2018
• Deputy member of Arbeiderpartiet in the municipal council election, Porsgrunn municipality, 2015-2019
• Finance Manager, IAESTE Grimstad 2014-2016