BSS Students Take Over the University City: It’s Going to be Good
Students from Aarhus BSS took over the University City on Monday, 2 February. Their first impression of the new campus is predominantly positive – even though it still seems a little unfinished. However, there is a lack of space between the rows of seats in what is otherwise the city's largest lecture theatre. Some employees express that they are in a transitional phase until infrastructure and logistics fall into place. Others are pleased with the new location, which is close to the rest of the university.
On a raw, cold February day, with a biting wind sweeping between the red-brick walls of the University City, hundreds of students from Aarhus BSS begin a new semester in completely new surroundings.
Around noon, the foyer of the new Byauditorium was crowded, with students studying in the many study areas and a stream of students on their way to and from lectures. However, not with the usual certainty. Because how do you get into the auditorium? Where are the toilets? And is the café in the foyer the only place where you can buy food?
SPACE IS TIGHT BETWEEN THE ROWS OF CHAIRS
“By the study spaces that wind their way along the window front in the City Auditorium, we meet a group of Economics and Business Administration students who have just started their second semester and have come straight from a lecture. They are very pleased with the new campus, which has a "college vibe," notes Daniel Nicolajsen, who has visited a college in Oklahoma, USA.
However, they found a single hair in the soup:
There was not much space between the tables in the auditorium. When someone needed to pass by the rows of chairs, we all had to clap our tables up and remove our laptops. There was also a spot on the side where you couldn't see the big screen. But it's nice to have a big screen," they say about their experience after the first lecture in the new auditorium.
They have all been quite happy with the facilities at Fuglesangs Allé, but are looking forward to getting new classrooms. But the thought that the student bar ‘Klubben’ has now moved after 60 years on Fuglesangs Allé makes them feel a little nostalgic. They are also wondering whether the intro parties can be as large-scale as they were on Fuglesangs Allé.
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When asked what grade they would give their new surroundings after their first few hours on campus, they settled on a solid 7 out of 10.
In one of the built-in study niches outside the auditorium, another group of Economics and Business Administration students is having lunch after the lecture. They are also delighted with the new layout, but note that it was difficult to get past each other in the rows of chairs. On the other hand, they noted that the view from the auditorium was beautiful.
LOOKS UNFINISHED, BUT WILL BE GREAT
Several students have taken their seats on the overhang above the café. Among them are Jeanette Guldberg and Cille Kaas, who are both studying economics and business administration with an elective in psychology in their sixth semester. They don't have lectures today but have come to the new campus just to check it out.
"Right now, it looks very new and unfinished, but it will be great when it's done," they say.
For them, leaving Fuglesangs Allé – and Klubben – hasn’t been a sad experience.
"It was a bit far away from the other Friday bars, but with the new location, there will be better opportunities to move on to some of the other bars."
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CANCELLED LECTURE
Some of the students have spent a little more time at the study places on the overhang than initially planned. Their lecture has been cancelled, allegedly because there was not enough room for all the students in the auditorium. One of them is Shabnam Azizi.
"It's a bit of a shame to have a lecture cancelled on the first day due to lack of space," she says, adding that she likes the open space where she has now spent a few hours reading.
BSS Studies Administration confirms that a lecture on the BSc in Economics and Business Administration programme on Monday from 10:00 to 12:00 had to be cancelled because between 220 and 230 students showed up for this lecture, while only 208 students were registered. The same lecture had been held from 8:00 to 10:00. Some students who are registered for the early lecture in their timetable may have chosen to attend the late lecture. The cancelled lecture was held on Tuesday afternoon, according to BSS Studies Administration, which emphasises that students must attend the lecture they are registered for to facilitate room planning.
Outside the Department of Economics and Business Economics further up the street, we meet four economics students who have just attended their first class at the new campus. Here, too, there is great satisfaction with the new framework, as they say before hurrying on.
Inside, however, four Master’s thesis students are a little annoyed about having been moved from Fuglesangs Allé in the 10th semester of their programme. Not least because there was a whole corridor on Fuglesangs Allé reserved for Master’s thesis students. That’s not the case here. They have therefore gathered around a table in one of the common areas.
"There's still a lot of moving chaos here, but it's great that everything is so new," they say.
IN A TRANSITIONAL PHASE
But what about the employees – how do they feel about the move? The Department of Economics and Business Economics moved to the University City before Christmas. At the entrance to the staff corridor on the ground floor, we meet two PhD students, Meizhu Chen and Trine Sørensen. They explain that the institute is still in a transitional period, with the infrastructure and logistics in the buildings yet to be finalised.
There are both advantages and disadvantages to moving. The surroundings are fine, we have more communal areas and lounges than we had before, but we still need to figure out how to use them. We PhD students have shared offices where three to four of us sit together, whereas before there were two to three of us. We are also a little more spread out than on Fuglesangs Allé. But yes, we think it's a transition period where we all just need to settle into the new surroundings."
Sadness replaced by enthusiasm
We move on to our neighbour, the Department of Management. It's quieter here. A few students are sitting and reading at tables in the bright foyer, which is still marked by the move. It’s also only a few weeks since the institute's employees moved here from Fuglesangs Allé.
In the stairway, we meet Pernille Kallehave, who is a research adviser at the Department of Management She enthusiastically shows us around the institute's new premises.
"Personally, I am quite fond of the architectural features in the transformation of the old hospital, the design and colour tones, which we can recognise in the BSS buildings on the other side of Nørrebrogade. It makes me feel at home in both places.”
She says that employees are quite curious to learn more about the history of the buildings they work in. The past as a hospital cannot be denied. Two hospital beds could easily pass each other in the wide corridors. On one side, where there used to be hospital wards, the offices are spacious, while on the other side, where there used to be linen rooms and washrooms, they are narrow.
Pernille Kallehave, who has been living on Fuglesangs Allé for 24 years, says that it was naturally a little sad to have to move away from there.
"There are many memories attached to such a place, so on my last day I took a walk around and said goodbye to the beautiful Main Hall, the bishop's rose garden, Valhalla and the impressive 'new' S building."
She continues:
"But like everything else in life, change is easier when it's for the better. Fuglesangs Allé was eventually cleared of life – and cleaning, so it's nice to come up here to the beautiful new University City. It’s exciting to see it take shape and get to know our new neighbours.”
Closer by
Inside the institute's lunch room, a group of PhD students and research assistants have settled down with their lunch. Several of them are completely new to AU, but some have also moved from Fuglesangs Allé. There is general satisfaction with the surroundings.
"With its new location, the institute is more connected to the rest of the university. The buildings are beautiful – you can really sense that an architect has been involved," says Ida Marie Friis Nakskov, who’s a PhD student. That view is shared by several others around the table.
