Nord University is handling the cheating case against Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap). In handling the case, the university must follow its own guidelines for dealing with cheating cases. The university has 11,000 students, and usually suspects cheating in connection with assignments being handed in. The examiner then handles the case by contacting the academically responsible and administrative case manager, according to the guidelines. news has been given access to documents which show that the case was raised to a higher level. The tops of the university management held five different meetings on the matter after news and other media revealed text similarity in Kjerkol’s master’s thesis on Saturday 20 January. Nord University has also appointed new experts to make a new assessment of the task. Such an appointment is not mentioned in the guidelines of the university. Vice-chancellor and political adviser in meeting On Monday 22 January, the first working day after the case broke in the media, three meetings were held about the Kjerkol case with several from the management at Nord University. In one of the meetings, Ingvild Kjerkol, her political advisor Per Anders Langerød and her co-author of the master’s thesis participated in order to receive an “oral briefing” from the university’s vice-chancellor, dean and examiner. – Since it has been emphasized that Kjerkol is treated as a completely ordinary student, one can ask why Kjerkol receives such treatment, says Professor Gisle Selnes at the University of Bergen to news. He believes that Nord University has gone beyond the normal guidelines for how cheating and plagiarism cases should be dealt with, and that the Minister of Health has thus received special treatment. IN KJERKOL MEETING I: Rector Hanne Solheim Hansen at Nord University was briefed on the Kjerkol case on Monday morning at 8 o’clock, after the case broke at the weekend. Photo: Nord universitet The overview Nord universitet has sent to news shows how the case was the topic of three management meetings on the Monday after the case became known: From 08.00 to 09.00 almost the entire university’s management had a meeting about the Kjerkol case: In the minutes of the meeting, which news has access to , it is emphasized that the university must follow normal guidelines for cheating cases and that media inquiries must be followed up. Those participating in the meeting are Hanne Solheim Hansen (rector), Levi Gårseth-Nesbakk (pro-rector), Ketil Eiane (pro-rector), Anne Ringen Pedersen (director of studies), Tor Dybdal-Holthe (communications manager), Andreas Førde (communications manager), Brynjar Jørstad (examination leader) and two employees in the communications unit. From 13.00 to 13.45 Levi Gårseth-Nesbakk (pro vice-chancellor), Anne Ringen Pedersen (director of studies) and Elisabeth Carine Ljunggren (dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences) met. The purpose was “oral orientation to the dean at the Faculty of Social Sciences”. From 15:00 to 15:30, Vice-Chancellor Gårseth-Nesbakk, Director of Studies Ringen Pedersen and Head of Examinations Jørstad met with Ingvil Kjerkol and her political advisor Per Anders Torvik Langerød. Kjerkol’s co-author of the thesis also participated. The purpose was “oral briefing to those involved about further proceedings that follow from Nords’ normal process”. The next day, January 23, another meeting was held on the matter. Vice-rector Gårseth-Nesbakk, director of studies Pedersen, dean Ljunggren, subject group leader Elin Bjørve and the two examiners who approved Kjerkol’s master’s thesis in 2021 participated. IN KJERKOL MEETING II: Dean Elisabeth Ljunggren participated in three meetings about the handling of the Kjerkol case. Photo: Roger Grostad / Roger Grostad In the days that followed, Nord University appointed two new professionals to reassess Kjerkol’s master’s thesis. The two were associate professor Anne Kamilla Lund at Nord University and professor Lars Klemsdal at the University of Oslo. On 29 January, a separate “start-up meeting” was held with the two. Exam leader Brynjar Jørstad and dean Elisabeth Ljunggren also took part in the meeting. Stunned that the management is participating Literature professor Gisle Selnes at the University of Bergen believes that the series of management meetings at the university and the appointment of new professionals testify to unusual treatment. DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT: Professor Gisle Selnes at the University of Bergen believes there is no doubt that Ingvild Kjerkol receives special treatment. Photo: ISMAIL BURAK AKKAN / news – In other cases, you would not have done this if you heard about the muff with a three-year-old master’s thesis. The proceedings do not testify that Kjerkol is treated as a normal student. Selnes refers to how Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has repeatedly emphasized precisely that Kjerkol should be treated like any other student, and have the same rights and duties as a student. – This is a relationship between student and university formally speaking, and then it is important to follow those regulations, Støre told news on Monday 22 January. Selnes believes it is not credible to present Kjerkol’s case as any other. – It is of course a special case, but giving the impression that it is not is a double communication that does not seem credible. He also reacts to the fact that the university management has held a separate meeting with Kjerkol, her co-author, and her political advisor. – The only thing I can think of is that an ordinary student would certainly not have received it. That’s probably what you can say without starting to speculate on motives. – I can’t imagine that you would be called to such a meeting if you did not have a very special position. – Have largely followed the guidelines Vice Chancellor Levi Gårseth-Nesbakk at Nord University acknowledges that the case is special, but believes that this is because the suspicion of cheating arose several years after the assignment was submitted, and that the case arose after an external suspicion. He says it is a situation they have little experience with at the university. IN KJERKOL MEETING III: Pro-rector Levi Gårseth-Nesbakk says the Kjerkol case is special because it concerns a task that is several years old. Photo: Lars-Bjørn Martinsen / news – When there are externally driven suspicions, after a student has finished and received his diploma, then you have to do some things differently, says Gårseth-Nesbakk. – There is no different treatment based on name or position. The only difference is whether you discover things in the ordinary censorship process, or whether you discover it after they have passed and received a certificate. – So you have gone beyond the normal guidelines? – To a large extent, the university has followed the guidelines, but the entrance makes the matter a little different. We have looked at what other universities do in such situations, and it is common for outsiders to come in and assess a case when you look at it again. We chose to do that. He says that the matter arose in an “external track”, which also explains the high level of meeting activity at the university. – It was to take a position on the things we assessed differently in an externally generated case than in the ordinary censorship, nothing else. – But why was Kjerkol’s political adviser present at the one meeting? – I have no further comment on that than what we have said before. news has been in contact with both the original examiners and the two professionals who have reassessed the assignment. None of them wants to comment on the case, and points out that it is under consideration. Ingvild Kjerkol did not want to answer questions about her master’s thesis when she met news earlier today.
ttn-69
Kjerkol and the adviser met with the university management about plagiarism accusations – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
