The central Equal Opportunities Officer and her representative are elected by all female members of the Hochschule Niederrhein (students, employees, professors) in accordance with the election regulations of the Hochschule Niederrhein. And if you now rightly have the impression that this election does not comply with the principles of equality, you are right. However, the Equal Opportunities Commission discussed this issue in 2020 and came to the conclusion that the work of the Equal Opportunities Officer is predominantly in the area of promoting women. For this reason, the Equal Opportunities Commission spoke out against expanding the number of eligible voters and decided to discuss this topic on a regular basis.
The election itself is organized by the election committee and the term of office is four years.

Any member of The Hochschule Niederrhein who meets the legal requirements can stand for election as Central Equal Opportunities Officer: "The professional qualifications of the Equal Opportunities Officer should meet the comprehensive requirements of her tasks; this requires either a university degree or other professional qualifications proven in individual cases."

The equal opportunities representatives in the faculties are appointed by the respective faculty council. As a rule, a faculty has a Faculty Gender Equality Officer and a representative.
If you are interested in working as a faculty equal opportunities officer, simply contact the local representatives.

The members of the Equal Opportunities Commission are elected by the Senate, with the exception of the Central Equal Opportunities Officer and her deputy (who are members by virtue of office).
University members are informed of the new election in good time before the end of a term of office and are asked to stand for election if they are interested in the work of the Equal Opportunities Commission.
The Equal Opportunities Commission is made up of female and male members of the various groups at The Hochschule Niederrhein:

• one female professor and one male professor,
• one female academic employee and one male academic employee,
• one member of technical and administrative staff and
• one student.

The term of office of the Equal Opportunities Commission is four years - with the exception of the student members, whose term of office is only one year.