The matter in summary: The Board of Trustees at the University of Stavanger has spent NOK 165,000 on a holiday to Rhodes for nine people, which has caused controversy. The Student Parliament believes this is the wrong use of the money, as it could have benefited more students. The sponsor leader defends the expense, saying that it is a reward for the work the sponsor board has done. Students news has spoken to believe the holiday is far beyond what the board of trustees should have avoided. The board of sponsors has spent more than four times the budget that was approved for the trip. There is concern that this sets a precedent for future boards. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – It’s hair-raising. This is the wrong use of the money, says Isak Molnes. He sits in the parliament of the University of Stavanger (UiS). – This is money that could give next year’s sponsored child a better week. UiS’ board of trustees has chosen to spend NOK 165,000 on a holiday trip. They have booked a trip to Rhodes in Greece for nine people. The NOK 165,000 corresponds to NOK 18,000 per person participating. Stavanger Aftenblad wrote about the case first. Four times over budget – They should have come to parliament and asked for a holiday, then of course parliament could have fixed it. They go behind our backs and choose to spend a ridiculously high sum that is more than four times what was actually budgeted, says Molnes. The hotel the board of sponsors will travel to is the Rhodes Bay Hotel & Spa on Rhodes in Greece. Photo: Screenshot from the hotel’s website Parliament had approved a budget where the board could go on a trip for NOK 40,000. The board has thus spent more than four times that. – Fadderuka is not about making money. It is about giving sponsored children and new students a good start to their studies, he says. Leiv Kåre Larsen is sponsor manager at UiS and the person behind the trip to Rhodes. He says the trip is to reward those who sit on the board of sponsors. – The budget referred to was approved before the summer holidays. Instead of stopping work, we continued to work on raising more money and cutting expenses. This is because we knew that the sponsor board had debts from previous years, which we wanted to reduce. Leiv Kåre Larsen believes it would not have been fair for Fadder 2024 if the entire profit went to next year’s sponsor week. Photo: Privat According to Larsen, the sponsoring board was clearly told that they had no equity and that they also had debts that had to be paid off over time. – We have managed to pay off the entire debt in just this one year. We have given Fadder 2025 equity that we did not have. – It is not next year’s board of trustees that has received this money. It’s us, he says. – Sounds expensive for a fun trip Students news has spoken to believe that the holiday is far more than what the board of trustees should have avoided. – I don’t think it’s quite right, because I understood that it was quite far over the budget, says Magnus Bilsberg. Lars Melby Karlsen wishes more of the money went to creating an even better godfather week. Photo: Jonas Kroken Sævereide / news He points out that it is a holiday that he himself could not afford, and he believes that the board of sponsors should have put the list lower. – There was a lot of money back then. That money should have gone to something else, in my opinion. Slightly better artists on the godfather week, for example, says Lars Melby Karlsen. He sits with his friends in the canteen at UiS, and when asked if the trip is deserved, everyone answers in unison: No. Maria Langeland believes they deserve a reward for the work they have done, but had never imagined that the price would be so high. – Although the board of sponsors does a very good job of arranging, it sounded very expensive for a fun trip. Maria Langeland believes the board of sponsors has done a good job, but is shocked by the high sum they have spent on holiday. Photo: Jonas Kroken Sævereide / news – Creates a precedent for future boards Molnes in parliament believes the justification does not measure up. – It is too subjective to say that we deserve it. None of the other boards, who have worked insanely hard and made a profit very often, have considered the idea that we can use the profit on ourselves. Every year, UiS awards financial support to the board of sponsors. – Apart from a sum earmarked for security measures related to the implementation of the sponsor festival, it is up to the board and their superior body, the Student Parliament, to decide how the money will be used, says Karoline Holmboe Høibo, director of organization and infrastructure at UiS. She points out that the board of sponsors does not report to UiS on an ongoing basis about the use of the funds. – If we in parliament end up just nodding and smiling and letting this go, it creates a precedent for future boards to do the same, says Molnes. Published 03.10.2024, at 18.01 Updated 04.10.2024, at 11.44
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The Board of Trustees at the University of Stavanger spent the profits on a southern holiday and a luxury hotel – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
