Current Rector Sunniva Whittaker, who has led UiA since 1 August 2019, will step down in the summer after serving the maximum number of permitted terms (two terms, eight years). Pro-Rector Hans Kjetil Lysgård, who has served in a team with Whittaker since 2023, and prior to that as Vice-Rector from 2019, will also complete his term at the same time.
The Rector and Pro-Rector run as a pair in the elections at UiA. To be eligible for election, the rector candidate must hold full professor qualifications, while the pro-rector candidate must hold a minimum of associate professor qualifications. Both must be fluent in a Scandinavian language. The new rectorate will take office on 1 August 2027.
Looking forward for an engaging race for office
In the previous election in 2023, Whittaker was re-elected unopposed. This time, the management, the trade unions, and the central election committee at UiA – which holds main responsibility for conducting the rector election – all express a strong desire for an active and engaging campaign with multiple candidate pairs on the ballot.
The election timline
In the same meeting, the University Board endorsed the election committee's proposed timeline for the upcoming election process. The timeline is currently as follows:
Autumn 2026:
• 23 November: The election is officially announced.
• 23 November: The staff electoral roll is published and made available for verification (deadline for appeals is 15 February 2027).
Spring 2027:
• 4 January – 24 January: Period for nominating candidates.
• 27 January – Period for approving candidates.
• 28 January – 28 February: Campaign period and candidate presentations.
• 8 February: The student electoral roll is published (deadline for appeals is 15 February).
• 1 March – 8 March: First round of voting (deadline for appeals is 15 March).
• 17 March – 30 March: Potential second round of voting if no candidate pair achieves more than 50% of the weighted votes in the first round.
How the votes are weighted
When the votes are counted, a fixed allocation formula determines the result:
• Staff (combined): Accounts for 72% of the total result. All staff members have equal voting weight, regardless of whether they are academic or technical-administrative staff.
• Students: Accounts for 28% of the total result.
Only four have an elected rector
Today, four of the eleven universities in Norway have a system with a democratically elected rector:
• University of Agder (UiA)
• University of Oslo (UiO)
• University of Bergen (UiB)
• Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)
The remaining seven currently use the model with an appointed rector and an external chair of the board appointed by the ministry.
The two rector models
The main difference between the two rector models lies in whom the rector reports to, and who chairs the University Board.
Where the rector is elected by students and staff, as is the case at UiA, he or she simultaneously serves as the chair of the University Board. The rector is thus both the academic and political leader of the institution, while a university director manages the day-to-day administrative operations.
Where the rector is appointed by the University Board, he or she acts as the chief executive officer (CEO) for the entire institution. This is currently the primary model for university governance in Norway. The rector still holds the highest academic and political role at the institution but is subordinate to the board in this model. The board is instead chaired by an external chairperson appointed by the Ministry of Education and Research.