Bringing order to chaos

The problems in the Studies Administration office peaked last year with students being de-registered by mistake, uncertainty about whether exams had been passed or not, and classrooms being double booked. Problems which were mostly caused by the STADS and Syllabus IT systems.

“We’ve been working like maniacs to eradicate all the things that caused problems last year. I can’t guarantee that there won’t be any difficulties in future. There are bound to be some problems when 7,000 new students have to be registered at the start of a new academic year. But there were so many things that went wrong last year that everything got out of hand,” explains Maria Volf Lindhardt. She continues:

“STADS is working better now. It’s still pretty awkward, but at least it works. And people have grown used to using it as well. The Syllabus room-booking system is still causing problems, but it’s not as bad as last year,” she promises.

Better service for users

One of the things that have been changed is the way joint services are organised in the back office, while subject-related guidance in the main academic areas will remain the same. Gitte Pedersen Viftrup, chief consultant for information, support and guidance at the AU Studies Administration office, explains how the students will be affected by the changes.

“The students should soon notice the changes because the support and guidance we provide in all areas will become more flexible and efficient,” she says.

One of the focal points involves creating fewer access points for the students.

“We are trying to gather as many support and guidance functions as possible under the same roof, which should mean that the students have clearer and better access to all the guidance options on offer. For instance, special-needs support for disabled students, support and counselling for students from Greenland, and help for elite sportsmen and sportswomen will all be under the same roof at the information and guidance centre on Fredrik Nielsens Vej in Aarhus,” she explains. She continues:

“The new form of organisation also enables us to work more closely alongside Studievalg Østjylland (a studies guidance centre in Aarhus), helping us to provide the right guidance for students when they choose their degree programmes.”

Central office for grants

But the best bit of news is probably the plans to set up a central office where students can get personal advice about their grants.

“At the moment the general guidance service for grants is located at the student studies guidance office, supplemented by a telephone hotline. But for a long time now the students have been asking for a central grants desk where they can take their questions and have relevant documents assessed by case workers who are experts in this area. We’re now trying to give them what they want,” reports Gitte Pedersen Viftrup.

She promises that the students will all be informed once everything has fallen into place.

Voxpop:

Have you had any problems with the Studies Administration office? And what does good administrative service in this area mean to you? Omnibus has asked three BSS students.

		Mia Brøndum, studying for a BSc in Sustainability (4th semester) “No, I haven’t had any major problems. And building S has been opened now, so the classrooms don’t get double booked so often, either.” “A good studies administration office listens to the problems of the students and is also open to negative criticism. It also has to provide the students with good support not only with regard to their subject but also in more general social ways.”
		Tobias Baadsgaard, studying Corporate Communication (9th semester) “No, I haven’t had any problems – but I’ve heard of other people who have.” “From my point of view, good studies administration means making it easy for me to get the answers I need.”
		Kit Thomsen, studying for a BSc in Business Administration and Commercial Law (4th semester) “No, I haven’t had any problems. I haven’t been paid for some work I did as a student assistant, but I don’t think that’s anything to do with the Studies Administration office.” “It’s sometimes hard to work out who you need to ask about things – it’s all a bit vague. It would be good if the channels of communication were more tightly structured because that would make it quicker to get an answer.”

Photos: Jesper Rais