Do you need to talk to someone about your grant?

Aarhus University is opening a new, personal grant guidance service for students. In Aarhus you can meet a counsellor face to face, while students in Herning and Emdrup will have to use a video chat.

“You are now number 14 in the queue, please hold …”

This kind of message and the prospect of wasting an indefinite number of minutes of your life with a hot mobile phone stuck to your ear can drive students to distraction. It’s what often happens when they try to carve their way through the telephone jungle in an attempt to talk to an AU counsellor about their grants.

But things are about to change. Because from 1 September onwards, all AU students will be able to discuss their grants with a real live counsellor at the Information and Guidance Centre on Fredrik Nielsens Vej in Aarhus.

“We hope the new service will help to reassure the students. For instance, they are welcome to bring along their applications and all the necessary documents to make sure they’ve filled in everything correctly. Quite a few students feel insecure about grants; and it’s true that it’s a pretty complex area with a lot of rules, deadlines and conditions that you have to observe. And of course grants are a vital source of income for the students, so many of them want to double check that they’ve done everything right,” explains Mads Ask Olesen, the team leader of the grants office at AU.

Students in Herning and Emdrup

Students in Herning and Emdrup won’t be deprived of the chance of getting personal guidance about their grants – but they will have to use a video chat.

“In both Herning and Emdrup the students can borrow an iPad so they can video chat with the grants guidance service – a bit like Skype.”

The precise location of this iPad has not yet been decided, but it will be not be hidden away in some obscure and dusty office miles from anywhere, promises Mads Ask Olesen.

It will still be possible to call or write to the grants office.

“And you can still book a personal chat with a counsellor. This option has actually been available for a long time now, although not many students know about it. The guidance takes place in the form of a meeting, which can be a good idea if you don’t want to stand at a desk while talking about issues that might be sensitive or extremely private,” explains Olesen.

The Student Council is pleased

Allan Graversen Vesterlund, Deputy Chair of the Student Council, is looking forward to the start of the new service.

“It sounds great, and I look forward to seeing how it works out in practice. Sometimes things are just that little bit easier when you meet someone face to face. I actually need to check my own grant this autumn, so I think I’ll try the new service.”


Helping to sort out your grant

The personal grants guidance office is open on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 am to 3 pm, and on Fridays from 9 am to 2 pm.

You can also call the office on 87 15 07 30. The phone lines are open Monday-Thursday at 9 am to 3 pm, and on Fridays at 9 am to 2 pm.

Or you can send a mail to su@au.dk