Improved communication in English in AU Administration
The senior management team has approved a new set of guidelines for multilingual communication with staff and students in AU’s administrative divisions.
These guidelines are intended to ensure that international staff and students have access to all the information they need in order to successfully work and study at AU.
Aarhus University currently has 4,000 international Bachelor’s and Master’s degree students. Thirty per cent of all PhD students have an international background, and 79 nationalities are represented among the university’s staff members. In light of this development, greater focus on how the administration communicates with staff and students in a multilingual context is necessary.
Danish is the still the administration’s primary language
The new guidelines state clearly that Danish is the primary language of AU’s administration, and English is secondary. However, at a minimum, all information to staff and students about their rights and duties must be available in both Danish and English. According to the new guidelines, important email messages, web communication, signage and IT systems should also be produced in both languages as a general rule.
English skills development
To support the implementation of the new guidelines for multilingual communication, the university has allocated funding to a two-year translation and skills development project. The project will both assist the administrative divisions in complying with the translation requirements outlined in the guidelines and improve the ability of administrative staff to communicate effectively in English.
The guidelines were developed in a collaboration between AU Research and Talent and AU Communication.