The study progress reform: what will it mean?

[Translate to English:] Aulaen på Nordre Ringgade, Aarhus Universitet, var fyldt med flere hundrede studerende, der ønskede at blive klogere på studiefremdriftsreformen og dens konsekvenser. Studenterrådets spidskandidater til bestyrelsen, Heidi Klokker og Andreas Birch Olsen, forsøgte efter bedste evne at skabe et overblik over, hvordan reformen kan komme til at ramme AU’s studerende. På mødet sendte de studerende også en sympatierklæring til de studerende på Københavns Universitet. Foto: Lars Kruse

[Translate to English:] Samme dag, som rektor havde varslet besparelser og en kommende fyringsrunde, blev gangen foran hans kontor fyldt med studerende, der protesterede over studiefremdriftsreformen og krævede at få indflydelse på, hvordan den bliver implementeret på AU. Foto: Lise Balsby

5 December 2013 by Marie Groth Andersen

In their response to the Danish Agency for Higher Education, and as part of the consultation process, the management have raised the objection that too little time has been allowed to introduce the reform at AU. They point out that implementing the plan may cause some students to drop out, and propose that implementation should be postponed until 2015.

On Friday 6 December (after this newspaper went to press, ed.), the reform was due to be discussed in the AU Forum for Education. The aim of this forum is to ensure cooperation across AU’s four main academic areas, and its members comprise representatives of the students, academic staff and management. Dean Mette Thunø and Maria Volf Lindhardt, who is Deputy Director of AU Studies Administration, planned to inform the group about how the reform will influence present and future students, as well as saying something about the administrative problems to which it will give rise.

Much uncertainty remains

A lot of students are uncertain about the extent to which the reform will affect them – and how it will affect them. Students may be able to find answers to their questions at the new portal about the study progress reform that has been set up by AU Studies Administration. At the moment you can read about compulsory registration for subjects and examinations, and about credit transfers. But much uncertainty remains, which is why the editors responsible for the portal point out that they cannot yet say anything about options for exemption from registration, or about how any progression requirements will be handled, or about how students with “unconventional” study programmes will be handled.

If you have any questions about the study progress reform, you can also contact AU’s Information and Guidance Centre on 8715 0720 or at e-mail stuf@au.dk.

AU’s portal about the study progress reform

Translated by Nicholas Wrigley