Nicolaj Jørn Mortensen: You need the courage and the will to represent your fellow students' interests
Nicolaj Jørn Mortensen: You need the courage and the will to represent your fellow students' interests
Name: Nicolaj Jørn Mortensen
Degree programme: History, 7th semester
Student representative on the Department Council at the Department of Politics and Society
What motivated you to get involved with the department council?
I was motivated by my fellow students who trusted my abilities to speak on their behalf. So, I ran with the goal of making the department better for us currently, and in the years to come.
What is the primary function of the department council?
The council's primary function is to advise the head of department on financial matters, research directions, research collaborations and sustainability, so that the head of department can make informed decisions on how the department should proceed.
What matters and topics specifically do you work on?
It can be anything like financial decisions, renovation of premises, research collaborations, well-being policy, gender equality and sustainability.
What does someone who’s considering running for one of AAU's governing bodies need to know?
You need the courage and the will to represent your fellow students' interests. You need to be prepared for an extra workload in addition to your student life.
What specifically is your role on the department council?
My role is to look after the interests of the students at the department. For example, it may be that the students can have more electives across degree programmes, new premises with better ventilation and better facilities for Friday bars and social spaces.
How much time do you typically devote to the department council?
The workload changes and sometimes a lot of decisions need to be made, which can mean 3-4 meetings within a couple of months. Other times, things are more quiet and the time between meetings is longer. Since I took started in January 2025, I’ve spent approximately 4-5 hours on meetings, 2-3 hours on reporting and 3-4 hours listening to what my fellow students would like me to bring up at the department council meetings.
What skills have you gained by being on the department council?
Through reporting, I’ve developed my skills in understanding complex organizational planning and rewriting it into something students can understand. I’ve gained a sense of what it means to be part of a larger organization and how its gears turn.