A working group will spend the remainder of the year exploring the possibilities for developing the study and campus environment at Aarhus University and strengthening the connection with the city. This will be done based on input from students, teaching staff and others. Their work is expected to result in ten specific recommendations.

2015.09.24 | Rikke Skovgaard Lindhard

[Translate to English:] Foto: Jesper Rais, AU Foto

"The physical study environment plays a significant role in the students’ academic and social well-being. It is therefore crucial that we keep focusing on developing our surroundings, so they are appropriate to student’s academic and social lives in 2015 and the requirements and forms of instruction that follow."

This is how Pro-rector Berit Eika explains the background for the decision by the Committee on Education to appoint a working group which will be given the remainder of the year to draw-up recommendations on how to develop and strengthen the physical study environment at Aarhus University in Aarhus, Herning and Emdrup.

The working group includes representatives from all four faculties, with representatives from the students, teaching staff and administrative staff. They are charged with identifying the needs and wishes which students, staff members and the city itself have for the university’s physical surroundings.

The guiding principles for the working group will be direct user involvement, as well as the latest study environment survey from 2014. The survey showed that more than two-thirds of respondents were satisfied with the physical surroundings at their educational institution.

"The fact that so many students are satisfied with the study environment is, of course, a good starting point. However, a number of areas were also highlighted where there was room for improvement, such as the number of study spaces and contact with teaching staff outside of lectures and lessons. Now we can take a closer look at these aspects," explains Berit Eika.

The working group's ambition is to take all of the ideas and input and boil everything down to ten specific recommendations for improvements. The recommendations will subsequently be submitted to the Committee on Education, which will then take a closer look at how they can be realised. The study environment aspect is part of AU's work on the physical expansion and ongoing development of the campus areas in Aarhus, Herning and Emdrup.

You are welcome to send an email to shc@au.dk with any ideas or suggestions on how to strengthen the campus environment. The working group cannot promise that all ideas will be used in the final recommendations, but they will provide inspiration for their work.

The members of the working group are:

Health:
Cecilie Rud Budtz, student representative, the health science Master’s degree programme 
Liza Strandgaard, advisor, Faculty Secretariat

BSS:
Helle Spindler, director of studies, Department of Psychology
Natja Knudsen, chair of the board of studies at the school board of studies and at the programme board of studies for law

ST:
Henrik Karstoft, academic staff representative 
David Kallestrup, student representative and Bachelor of Engineering student

ARTS: 
Rikke Toft Nørgård, Assistant Professor, Centre for Teaching Development and Digital Media 
Malou Juelskjær, Ph.D, Associate Professor, Danish School of Education, Research Programme on Organization and Learning
Anders Mathiasen, student representative, Arts

AU Student Administration and Services:
Maia Vonsbæk, library manager, AUL Arts
Gitte Pedersen Viftrup, division manager, Student Guidance and Information

Central Administration:
Simone Helle Christensen, project manager, AU Finance and Estates Project Development