The Nation is run by the landskap through the board, commissions and committees.
– the Nation’s bylaws § 2:1
In the paragraph above the term landskap is used, a word which in olden times was used analogously with nation, which is Latin in origin. A landskap was composed of a number of coutrymen. Thus, landskap originally simply meant the Nation. However, confusion is ripe, as landskap is used exclusively to mean the meetings where decisions regarding the Nation are made. These meetings were mandatory for all contrymen (a word still used for the Nation’s members), until the 1960s, so the separation of the Nation and its assembly is quite new.
In the present day, the landskap – the members’ meeting – is conducted three times per year. All members are summoned in the Nation’s magazine Landskapsposten and all are welcome to attend the meeting. The landskap makes all important decisions not delegated to the board or one of the commissions. All functionaries of the nation, for example, are elected by the landskap. Traditionally, there is a dinner party (landskapssexa) after the meeting.
Activities & Work
The landskap chooses a board of directors to lead the Nation and to keep its affairs in order. Its executive officer is titled First Curator and is also the Nation’s chief representative and chairperson of the landskap. Apart from the First Curator, the board is comprised mainly of alumni, not students, and thus most everyday work at the Nation is delegated to seven committees that report to the board, each comprised of students. Authority over a certain part of the running of the Nation is vested in each committee, which are free to govern their areas quite freely, within the – usually financial – framework set by the board. These committees are:
The Program committee; responsible for entertainment, such as the Pub, Club, gasks, balls, lunch, café and other events; headed by the Second Curator.
The Library committee; runs the Nation’s library, reading rooms, archives, photo archives and art collection; headed by the Librarian.
The Sports committee; responsible for the physical development of the members and functions as the board of the separate association V-Dala IF; headed by the Sports secretary.
The Contact committee; runs internal social affairs of the Nation, such as guidance of new members (recentiorer) and hosting parties; headed by the Contact secretary.
The International committee; responsible for maintaining a relationship with our sister nations and reception of exchange students; headed by the International secretary.
The Information committee; manages the Nation’s channels of information, such as the magazine Landskapsposten and this website; headed by the Information secretary under the First Curator’s supervision.
Unlike the everyday activity of the Nation, economic management is not delegated to a committee, but handled by the board. The Working committee does handle everyday financial matters, but is not actually a committee as it is recruited exclusively within the board. Two members of the board have special financial responsibilities: an elected Treasurer who deals with investments and a hired Manager of economy and property who runs everyday finances and maintenance of the Nation house.
Commissions
Set apart from the Nation’s activities and management, three commissions appointed by the landskap handle issues not delegated to the board: an electoral commission which prepares most elections before the landskap meets, an Inspection commission which makes sure that the board and the committees follow the bylaws and a Scholarship commission to handle all scholarship-related matters – investigation and decisions.
