Bachelor's degree programmes

On this page, you will gain insight into how we plan the orientation week for new Bachelor’s degree students at the Faculty of Arts. You can read about the framework and roles, and find a process plan showing who does what and when.

Organisation

The director of studies has overall responsibility for ensuring that the purpose is translated into practice across the school’s degree programmes and delegates responsibility for its implementation to the heads of department. The process of formative education is defined through academic regulations and teaching plans, and the heads of department work closely with the tutors to ensure it is reflected in the orientation week programme. The heads of department may delegate programme planning and collaboration with tutors to a designated member of academic staff. However, ultimate responsibility for approving the orientation week programme rests with the heads of department – preferably in consultation with the degree programme board.

It is recommended that one or more head tutors be appointed to manage the practical planning and execution of the orientation week in collaboration with the head of department. The head tutors may choose to form a team of volunteer tutors for each subject area and act as coordinators for the local events. The head tutors collaborate closely with the orientation week coordinators in Arts Studies Administration on tasks such as room bookings, programme planning, communication and other cross-cutting responsibilities.

Orientation week coordinators have been appointed by Arts Studies Administration to provide administrative and logistical support in preparing, running and evaluating the orientation week. The orientation week coordinators act as overall process managers and set the necessary deadlines. They coordinate the various tasks and activities across Arts and serve as the main point of contact for tutors, providing support and guidance in carrying out tasks related to the orientation week.

Tutor appointment

Tutor appointment is the responsibility of the school, as this is where the head tutors are formally employed. Remuneration and other employment-related matters are also the responsibility of the school.

The orientation week coordinators start the process in January. To accommodate other processes involved in planning the orientation week (such as room bookings), a deadline is set for when the head tutors must be appointed, ensuring that they can begin planning in good time with support from the orientation week coordinators.

Task	Who
Sending a reminder about the appointment process and the deadline to the orientation week organiser at the school	Orientation week coordinators
Informing heads of department of the above and ensuring follow-up	Orientation week organiser at the school
Sending an overview of head tutors for all subject areas to the orientation week coordinators	Orientation week organiser at the school

Tutor contact

Head tutors must be aware that they have obligations both to the subject area they are appointed by and to the orientation week coordinators. It is crucial that head tutors know which issues should be addressed where, and that the expectations of both the department and the orientation week coordinators are clear. It is also important that the head tutors are familiar with the department’s ambitions and programme for the orientation week, as well as with the evaluations from the previous orientation week, including discussions from the degree programme board

It is a shared responsibility of both the department and the orientation week coordinators to ensure that the head tutors are familiar with Arts’ guidelines for the orientation week and have a clear understanding of their role as representatives of the degree programme.

Task	Who
Informing the head tutor about all matters relevant to the subject area and the school (i.e. finances, practical arrangements, ambitions and wishes for the orientation programme, last year’s approach, evaluations, minutes from degree programme board discussions, secretarial contacts, etc.)	Head of department or another relevant person at the school
Holding workshop for all head tutors with information about the faculty’s guidelines, the study portal page for new students, the role of the orientation week coordinator, the tutor role and more	Orientation week coordinator
Holding follow-up meetings with head tutors and maintaining ongoing dialogue about the programme and related matters, as needed	Orientation week coordinator and the head of department or another relevant person from the degree programme
Holding meetings for the volunteer tutors	Orientation week coordinator
Holding meetings between head tutors and Operations	Orientation week coordinator
Holding first aid courses for tutors	Orientation week coordinator
Holding a course for tutors responsible for delivering an introduction to IT systems for new students	Orientation week coordinator

Booking rooms

The school is not directly involved in booking rooms for the orientation week itself. This is handled by the orientation week coordinators in collaboration with the head tutors, who must ensure that room bookings align with the planned programme.

Introduction material and webpages

The head tutor, in consultation with the department, is responsible for planning the programme for the orientation week and producing a welcome booklet. The programme must comply with the faculty’s guidelines for the orientation week.

The head tutor is informed of this by the orientation week coordinator. The head tutor also prepares the academic programme for the weekend trip.

We expect that the programme and the material have been approved by the head of department or the degree programme board before the head tutor submits them for online publication. The orientation week coordinator does not proofread but ensures that the required programme activities are included and that no content is in clear conflict with Arts’ guidelines for the orientation week.

Task	Who
Planning the programme and producing a welcome booklet	Head tutor in collaboration with the department (material to be approved by the head of department and possibly the degree programme board)
Submitting welcome material to orientation week coordinators	Head tutor
Ensuring the quality of programme activities	Orientation week coordinator
Creating and customising the page for new students at studerende.au.dk/arts	Orientation week coordinator

Welcome letters and lists

Welcome letters are sent to new students via Digital Post. Student lists can be retrieved once AU Admissions has completed enrolments in the days following applicants’ acceptance or refusal of their offer (the deadline is 1 August). The welcome letter includes a link to the study portal page for new students. Welcome letters are sent as soon as possible after student enrolment has been finalised.

Please note that the departments are responsible for putting together study groups and/or introductory groups and, where relevant, for delegating the task to tutors or others.

Task	Who
Retrieving a list of new Bachelor’s degree students	Orientation week coordinator
Sending welcome letters via Digital Post*	Orientation week coordinator
Sending lists of admitted students to the school	Orientation week coordinator

*Digital Post cannot be used to contact international students without a Danish civil registration number. In these cases, the welcome letter is converted into an email.

Evaluation

The evaluation of the orientation week is carried out by the head tutor – typically on the last day of the week. The evaluation consists of two sets of questions: one subject-specific, focusing on the activities in the orientation week for the degree programme, and one of a general nature, common to all Arts students. The orientation week coordinators set up the questions in SurveyXact, and the head tutors share the link with the new students.

Weekend trips are evaluated separately. The orientation week organisers at the school will provide information on this. The evaluation of the weekend trip will be included as an item on the agenda of the first degree programme board meeting after the trip has taken place

Task	Who
Submitting last year’s evaluations and the evaluation process guidelines to the head tutor, with the head of department cc’ed	Orientation week coordinator
Considering changes to the subject-specific evaluation and submitting them to the orientation week coordinator	Head tutor and head of department
Setting up surveys in SurveyXact	Orientation week coordinator
Submitting links and practical information to the head tutor	Orientation week coordinator
Generating subject-specific reports and submitting them to the head tutor and head of department	Orientation week coordinator
Preparing a joint Arts evaluation report	Orientation week coordinator
Discussing the evaluation reports	Within the department (possibly in the degree programme board)