Life on campus

It is a pleasure to see how the university campus is once more buzzing with life after a long summer devoid of students. And it is very pleasing to be able to welcome an all-time record number of new students. The admission numbers have not yet been finalised, but more than 6,000 students have been admitted to the Bachelor’s degree programmes alone, as well as approximately 2,000 new Master’s degree students. We will naturally do everything possible at Aarhus University to help the new students quickly settle in – both academically and socially – and we will provide guidance wherever necessary in helping students to modify their aims and aspirations, and get on the right track.

Having said that, we must also acknowledge that the education system is currently affected by a high degree of impatience. Society is impatient, and expects that young people enter the labour market as soon as possible. The students are also impatient, and are busy pursuing their “dream studies”.

At the same time, our education system is in many ways over-regulated and characterised by a lack of confidence in the ability of the young people to manage their studies. This impatience and this tunnel vision, so to speak, both lead to a much too high incidence of shattered dreams among many young people because they do not have the opportunity to act them out – or, worst of all, to complete their studies.

At Aarhus University, we will work towards a more flexible education system because we believe that it will benefit not only the students, but also the whole society. For example, it should be much easier for students to change track along the way or take a period of study abroad. Changing to another course naturally involves expenses in the form of more education grant portions ( SU-klip ), more taximeter subsidies, etc. However, this is a very small investment compared with the major benefits that society can achieve by getting our Bachelors, Masters and PhD students to utilise their resources as effectively as possible.

25,000 visited nemvejledning.dk

This year’s “easy guidance” ( nem vejledning ) recruitment campaign has now come to an end, and the results show a nicely increasing interest in Aarhus University’s offers of counselling. Almost 25,000 visitors clicked on www.nemvejledning.dk, the university’s special easy guidance website, while several hundred contacted Aarhus University’s counsellors directly. This was the first time they had offered a chat service, and it was a great success. On the other hand, less interest was shown in the “easy guidance vehicle”, which visited 19 major towns and cities throughout Denmark in June, accompanied by two counsellors. The experience gained in this year’s recruitment campaign will now be evaluated.

Round of dialogue regarding gender equality

Along with a considerable number of public and private companies, Aarhus University is one of the signatories to the “charter for more women in management” (available in Danish at www.kvinderiledelse.dk ). In conjunction with implementing this charter, the Vice-Chancellor’s Office appointed a task force for gender equality, which has subsequently worked on different equal opportunity initiatives, including the booklet entitled Alle talenter i spil (“Making the most of our talent”) mentioned in a previous newsletter (available in Danish at www.medarbejdere.au.dk ). The task force is currently working on a round of dialogue involving all the main academic areas to help them draw up action plans for gender equality.

New climate blog will get the debate going

A reliable, multidisciplinary blogger panel consisting of Aarhus University researchers is behind a newly implemented climate blog on the Climate Secretariat’s website at www.klima.au.dk.

The aim is to encourage widespread debate on current climate issues, both leading up to COP15 Copenhagen – the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December – and in the subsequent period. The first two blog features are by Professor Ellen Margrethe Basse, Head of the Climate Secretariat, and Professor Ole Færgeman.

At www.klima.au.dk, you can also read about the conference organised by Aarhus University and the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten called CLIMATE ON THE AGENDA – the scientific basis and the political challenges . This conference takes place in the Danish Parliament’s Joint Hall ( Folketingets Fællessal ) on 9 September from 11.00 to 17.00. You can sign up to attend the conference (in Danish only) at www.master.jp.dk.

Danish University Extension now also in Herning

TheDanish University Extension in Herning got off to a start with two completely sold out lectures by Associate Professor Hans Henrik Knoop from the Danish School of Education (DPU). He gave the audience of 400 very good insight into positive psychology, which is currently one of the most popular courses in the Danish University Extension’s programme. Helge Sander, the Danish Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, commenced the opening at the Institute of Business and Technology (AU-IBT) with great praise for the Danish University Extension in Aarhus and Aarhus University for bringing knowledge out into the countryside. At the same time, he referred to a new survey that shows that highly educated employees contribute to company profits by up to nine times as much as unskilled workers – so knowledge certainly does pay.

Read more (in Danish only) about the Danish University Extension’s autumn programmes in Herning, Aarhus and Copenhagen at www.folkeuniversitetet.au.dk.

Celebration in the University Park on 11 September

Once more this year, the Vice-Chancellor’s Office is supporting the Student Council’s festivities to mark the annual celebration, where students and staff can get together informally. True to tradition, the event will begin with a sports day where participants compete in selected sporting branches such as cake throwing, football, table football, Pilates and much more. As usual, the local hunting club will hand out samples of game to taste. There will be relaxing jazz during the afternoon prior to everyone being invited to dance to rock music at 17.00 – and the finale in the tent with a concert by Aura and TV2. Admission to the tent is DKK 120.

More information at www.storfredag.dk.

Kind regards
The Vice-Chancellor’s Office
1 September 2009

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The Vice-Chancellor’s Office publishes News from the Vice-Chancellor’s Office every Tuesday – apart from holidays and public holidays. This newsletter includes a brief description of current activities and discussions. You can sign up for the Danish version of the newsletter at http://info.au.dk/medarbbreve , after which you will receive an e-mail whenever the newsletter is issued.
If you would like to subscribe to the English version of News from the Vice-Chancellor’s Office, please go to http://info.au.dk/medarbbreve/index.asp?sprog=en . The English version of News from the Vice-Chancellor’s Office is published every Wednesday and is available at http://www.au.dk/en/uni/rectorate/newsletter
You can read previous editions of News from the Vice-Chancellor’s Office at http://www.au.dk/en/uni/rectorate/newsletter/2009 .