ARTICLES OF ASSOCIASION

§ 1 Organization

• 1-1 The name of the organization is Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal.

• 1-2 Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal is an independent and volunteer-run organization that will facilitate cultural activities for the students in Sogndal.

• 1-3 The organization is affiliated with the University of Western Norway, campus Sogndal.

• 1-4 The student community in Sogndal is party-politically independent.

• 1-5 The Student community in Sogndal is an organization that works for the rights of LGBTQ+ people, and that marks our support.

 

§ 2 Purpose

• 2-1 Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal shall work to improve the quality of studies through student social activities. The purpose of the Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal is to develop social contact between the students and the rest of the university and research community in Sogndal.

§ 3 Definitions

• 3-1 Member: All persons with membership rights who have paid the membership fee for the current semester.

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• 3-2 Membership certificate: Digital proof of membership.

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• 3-3 Internal member: Member of a subgroup who participates in the subgroup's activity in line with the subgroup's current guidelines. The division manager and subgroup manager are responsible for the existence of specific guidelines.

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• 3-4 Voluntary: Voluntary means members who have signed a contract with the Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal, and comply with the duties and rights set out in this contract. Or is an internal member of a subgroup in division operations, division events or division information.

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• 3-5 General Assembly: The General Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal.

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• 3-6 The board: The board is the supreme decision-making body of Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal between the General Assemblies. The board must oversee operations in accordance with Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal's statutes and governing documents.

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• 3-7 Temporary guardian: A board member who sits temporarily in his position. A set member, elected by the board, does not have voting rights.​

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• 3-8 The manhole cover: The Dogs manhole cover purchased by the information manager in 2019.

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• 3-9 Assets: Assets include objects and rights that have asset value in the organisation.

 

§ 4. Target form

• 4-1 Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal is an organization that is linguistically neutral. Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal uses Nynorsk. All written material must alternate between the target forms so that neither of the two target forms is represented by less than 25 per cent. All written submissions must have a response to the target format used in the submitted submission.

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§ 5. Quota

• 5-1 The membership fee must be paid when you buy membership at the Student Association in Sogndal, cf. the purchase conditions for different types of membership that the Student Association in Sogndal offers. The membership fee must be determined by the General Assembly each year.

 

§ 6 Membership

• 6-1 All students, employees and board members at Høgskulen på Vestlandet (HVL), employees and board members of the Student Association of Western Norway (SAMAN), Vestlandsforsking and students at Sogndal FolkeHøgskule who are over 18 years of age have the right to be members of Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal . Those who are permanent members must activate their membership every semester. Spouses/cohabitants of the aforementioned have the right to be members. Studentsamfunnet offers half membership to international students and internship students who are in Sogndal for part of the year. The board can also grant membership rights to persons who wish to be members, but do not meet the requirements set out in this section, as long as it does not conflict with other articles of association.

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• 6-2 Members are all persons with membership rights and who have paid the membership fee for the current semester. Members are also those with permanent membership who have activated their membership for the semester, by applying to the board. Support membership is not counted as an ordinary member. When you use the membership benefits of Studentsamfunnet, you must show a valid membership certificate. Misuse of membership card leads to exclusion.

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• 6-3 All members of the Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal must participate in membership duty once during a semester. If the membership duty is not carried out, this will mean that you lose your membership. Employees at HVL, Vestlandsforsking, SAMAN as well as permanent members of Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal are exempt from the requirement for membership duty. The board is responsible for ensuring that there are concrete regulations, whereby various positions of trust in Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal can be exempted from membership guard.

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• 6-4 Persons who are not members have access to certain events, but must pay a higher ticket price than members.

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• 6-5 All former board members of the Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal who have held a seat on the board for an entire election period, or have been voted in at an extraordinary general election, are permanent members.

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• 6-6 The board of Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal is authorized to grant permanent membership to persons who have made a special effort for the Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal.

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• 6-7 Persons who have been granted perpetual membership are exempt from the requirement for membership in section 6-2.

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§ 7 Volunteers

 

• 7-1 Volunteers' obligations, rights and allowances applications are regulated by job instructions according to their own guidelines. The board is responsible for drafting and any changes to job instructions in consultation with the group's member.

• 7-2 The volunteers are organized by the board into groups that will take care of the various tasks connected to Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal.​

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§ 8. The General Assembly

• 8-1 The General Assembly is the highest body of the Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal. It set up guidelines for the coming period.

• 8-2 Everyone who can be a member (cf. § 6-1.) of Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal has the right to attend the General Assembly. All members have the right to speak, make proposals and vote. All attendees have the right to speak and can be granted the right to make proposals by a general majority in the General Assembly.

• 8-3 Time limits.

The Ordinary General Meeting must be held before the end of April.​

1. 21 days before the General Assembly, the first notice must be sent out to all members. This must contain the date, time and information on how to submit proposals to the General Assembly.

2. 14 days before the General Assembly, all matters and changes to the articles of association that you wish to raise must be brought to the attention of the board.

3. 7 days before the General Assembly, the agenda and rules of procedure must be submitted.

4. The protocol of the General Meeting must be made public as soon as it has been approved by the protocol signatories, and no later than four weeks after the end of the General Assembly.

• 8-4 Amendments to the Articles of Association

Amendments to the articles of association are adopted by the General Assembly and must be done with a 2/3 majority. The general meeting decides when the changes to the articles of association will come into effect, and no later than 6 months after the general assembly. Amendments to the articles of association that members want to bring forward at the General Assembly must be sent to the board no later than 14 days before the General Assembly. Only proposed amendments to the articles of association that have been submitted before this deadline can be taken up at the General Assembly.​

• 8-5 Agenda

• The general assembly shall include the following matters:

• Selection of meeting leader and referee

• Approval of summons and agenda

• Annual report

• Accounts for the previous accounting period, dues rates for the coming period, as recommended by the board.

• Amendments to the articles of association.

• Approval of the board's report from the work on the action plan.

• Approval of the action plan for the coming board period

• Choice of:

  • Chairman of the board

  • Chairman deputy

  • Financial manager

  • Event manager

  • Operations manager

  • Information manager

  • Board member Creative

• Incoming cases.​

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• 8-6 Extraordinary General Assembly

1. The board can call an extraordinary general assembly.

2. At least 10% of the members, by written application, can demand that the board convene an extraordinary general Assembly.

3. Requirements for an extraordinary General Assembly must include an overview of which matters require handling. If it is not stated what matters are to be dealt with, the demand for an extraordinary General Assembly is not regarded as valid.

4. The board calls an extraordinary general assembly with at least 14 days' notice.

5. An extraordinary general assembly must only deal with the matter(s) that make an extraordinary general assembly necessary.

6. If a demand for an extraordinary general meeting is considered valid, the board must convene an extraordinary general meeting without undue delay

 

§ 9 Elections

• 9-1 All members are eligible, unless otherwise stated in the articles of association or mandate.

 

• 9-2 Method of election

1. All choices are personal choices. Block selection is not permitted.

2. No candidate can be promoted against their will. If the candidate is not present during the election, confirmation of the candidacy must be submitted to the board before the General Assembly

3. Voting can be done in writing, or by acclamation if there is only one candidate.

4. If the election is invalid, a new election must take place.

 

• 9-3 Election method in the case of written election:

If the election is conducted in writing, use a ballot paper, and votes are cast after the candidates have been presented. Only nominated candidates can be put on the ballot.

Candidates you wish to vote for are written on the ballot paper in priority order and numbered 1, 2, 3 etc., where 1 is the highest priority. Ballots containing names other than the candidates' and unnumbered ballots will be thrown away.

When counting, first priority is given a weight figure of 1/1, 2nd priority is a weight figure of 1/3, 3rd priority is a weight figure of 1/5, 4th priority is a weight figure of 1/7, 5. Etc.

The weighted figures are added up to the candidates' number of votes. The candidate with the highest number of votes is elected. In the event of a tie, the election is carried out again. If there is still a tie after the second election round, the election will be decided by drawing lots.

 

• 9-4 Candidates for office must have at least 1/3 of the votes to be elected.

 

• 9-5  If the General Assembly is unable to elect persons to one or more positions on the board, the General Assembly has the option of inserting a substitute in the position or positions that are missing. No more than three substitutes can sit on a board at the same time.

 

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§ 10 Election committee

• 10-1 The board shall, before the end of February, set up an Election Committee to prepare elections for the General Assembly. If supplementation is needed for the board in November/December, the board must set up an election committee in October.

 

• 10-2 Composition

The selection committee shall be composed of:

At least two representatives from each gender

A first-year student

A subgroup leader

A representative from an external student organization in Sogndal.

A representative on behalf of the current board.

The election committee constitutes itself, and at the first meeting there must be an election of the leader of the election committee.

The representative from the sitting board cannot stand as leader of the selection committee.

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• 10-3 The election committee shall, no later than 9 days before the General Assembly, present to the board lists of relevant candidates for the various board positions. All current and interested candidates must be on the list. The selection committee ranks these at its own discretion. The general assembly can require a written election.

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• 10-4 The electoral committee for elections

The election committee cannot stand for election.

 

• 10-5 Report

Two weeks after the general meeting, the election committee must deliver an evaluation report of its work.

 

§ 11 The board

• 11-1 Operating time

Board members are elected for one year. Board members who wish to sit on the board longer can, if they wish, stand for re-election. Board members elected at the general meeting take up their posts on 1 June. Board members who step down from their position after the spring semester remain in their position until and including 31 May.

 

• 11-2 The board consists of:

  • Chairman of the board

  • Chairman deputy

  • Financial manager

  • Event manager

  • Operations manager

  • Information manager

  • Board member Creative

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• 11-3 Authority 

The board is the highest body between the General Assemblies and must ensure that decisions taken at the General Assemblies are implemented. The board takes decisions with a simple majority. Each of the board members has one vote. In the event of an equal number of votes, the leader has a double vote.

 

• 11-4 If a board member withdraws from the board, the board has the opportunity to insert a substitute until the next ordinary general meeting.

 

§ 12 Strategy and Action Plan

• 12-1 Strategy plan

The student community in Sogndal must operate according to a long-term strategic plan. This must be rolled out at the General Assembly every 3 years.

Changes to the strategic plan must be decided at the general meeting.

 

• 12-2 Action plan

The board of the Student Association in Sogndal will work according to an action plan. This must be rolled out at the annual general meeting

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§ 13 Divisions and Subgroups

 

• 13-1 The divisions

• 13-1-1 The divisions

The student community in Sogndal has 4 divisions. These are:

Division Operations

Division Events

Division Information

Creative Division

 

• 13-1-2

The leaders of the divisions are; Board member Operations, Board member Events, Board member Information and Board member Creative. These have the main operational responsibility and the financial follow-up responsibility for the divisions at Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal.

 

 

• 13-1-3

The leaders of the divisions are also responsible for initiating and facilitating new activities that naturally fall under the divisions.

 

• 13-1-4

Subgroup leaders are elected democratically with a general majority of the members in the subgroup, and then approved by the board. The booking manager and the UGL Bar and guard are elected directly by the board of Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal.

 

• 13-1-5

The leaders of the divisions have the right to attend and speak at all meetings in the division's subgroups.

 

• 13-2 Division Operations

• 13-2-1

Division Operation has these subgroups:

Bar and guard

The cafe group

Culture cafe

The Sound and Light Group

The janitors

The DJ group

 

 

• 13-2-2

The leaders of the subgroups in the Operations Division are appointed by and have financial responsibility towards the board. The leaders, in collaboration with Board Member Operations, are responsible for recruitment and the day-to-day running of the subgroups.

 

• 13-3 Division Event

• 13-3-1

The Events division has these subgroups:

Booking

Artist host

Festkulturgengen

The quiz gang

The event division also has Vekao.

• 13-3-2

The leaders of the subgroups in the Events Division are appointed by and have financial responsibility towards the board. The leaders, in collaboration with Board member Event, are responsible for recruitment and the day-to-day running of the subgroups.

 

• 13-4 Division Creative

• 13-4-1

The Creative Division has these subgroups:

The band group

The dance group

Meiografen

RPG

Song

Theatre

 

• 13-4-2

The leaders of the subgroups in the Creative Division are appointed by and have financial responsibility towards the board. The leaders, in collaboration with board member Kreativ, are responsible for recruitment and the day-to-day running of the subgroups.

 

• 13-5 Division Information

• 13-5-1

Division Information has these subgroups:

Blest

The IT group

 

• 13-5-2

The leaders of the sub-groups in the Information Division are appointed by and have financial responsibility towards the board. The leaders, in collaboration with Board member Information, are responsible for recruitment and the day-to-day running of the subgroups.

 

• 13-6 Division meeting

Each division, with all associated subgroup leaders and associated board members, should always have divisional meetings. The divisional meeting shall function as an ideas and information forum.

 

• 13-7 Evaluation seminar

At the end of each semester, the board must call all subgroup leaders to a joint evaluation seminar where the last half year is thoroughly evaluated. This seminar should also make plans for the next six months.

 

§ 14 General practitioner ruling

• 14-1 Exclusions

No members of, or sympathizers of, organizations that stand for a clear Nazi, racist or discriminatory stance, have the right to become members of Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal. The board has the right to exclude members who have such a position, and individuals who stand for or express Nazi, racist or discriminatory positions.

 

• 14-2 The manhole cover

The manhole cover must be easily visible to employees during the office's opening hours. If the manhole cover is to be stored in a place where it is not visible, this can only happen with a majority at the General Assembly.

 

• 14-3 Dissolution

Dissolution of Studentsamfunnet i Sogndal can only take place with a 3/4 majority at the General Assembly. In that case, the assets shall accrue to the Student Council of Western Norway, Region North for the benefit of the students in Sogndal's welfare.

 

• 14-4 Implementation

These articles of association come into force from 19 April 2023, and from that time replace old articles of association.

always have divisional meetings. The divisional meeting shall function as an ideas and information forum.

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