Getting students off to a good start

AU’s goal is to support students in choosing the right degree programme, to get all students off to a good start in their university career and smooth the transition to life as a university student.

AU must contribute to ensuring a good match between student and degree programme. Prospective students must have access to relevant, accurate and easily accessible information and competent guidance on their choice of degree programme, including admissions re- quirements, curriculum, level of difficulty and career prospects. In this connection, close contact to the upper secondary school system, for example, must play an important role.

Students must feel that they become integrated into the academic and social communities of their degree pro- gramme.

Students must feel that they begin their university careers in an inspiring, safe and inclusive atmosphere that fosters both academic and social integration. The orientation programme must give students an understanding of their degree programme, motivate them to join/participate in academic and social communities, introduce them to support functions and clarify what is expected of them academically.

During the first year of their degree programme, students must gradually transition from being upper secondary school pupils to independent university students.

During the first year of their studies, students must encounter learning activities that contribute to their ability to assume the role of intellectually active students who take an independent approach to mastering their subject and contribute to academic dialogue. The first year of the programme must introduce students to the central aspects of their discipline and, through engaging and stimulating teaching, create a well-defined framework for learning and introduce them to academic thinking.