The Student Ambassador’s newsletter Q4 2021
The Student Ambassador’s quarterly newsletter keeps you updated on how the Student Ambassador and many others are working to improve students’ legal rights and develop dialogue and understanding between students and the University.
Counselling needs in Q4
In Q4, the Student Ambassador received 137 enquiries.
As in Q3, more than one third of the enquiries were from students who needed guidance in connection with applications for exemptions. Many of the exemption applications concerned special exam conditions, for example extra time during exams, a private exam room or changes to the exam form for students with functional impairments.
Many of the enquiries were also from students who wanted guidance on how to write a legal complaint after having had their application rejected – often an application for an exemption.
Adjusted rules of procedure for the Student Ambassador
On 3 December, the Rector signed the adjusted rules of procedure for the Student Ambassador.
The biggest change in the rules of procedure is the addition of a new section 8(3). The addition gives the Student Ambassador the opportunity to discuss a student’s enquiry with relevant managers at UCPH if it appears that the administration does not sufficiently comply with the provisions on guidance, assistance and grounds laid down in the Danish Public Administration Act.
Before this adjustment, the Student Ambassador should also have informed the Dean and the Rector in all such situations. Now, the Student Ambassador only needs to do so if they assess that there are aggravating circumstances in a student’s complaint.
At the same time, the procedure for investigations on the Student Ambassador’s own accord was clarified based on the practice since 2017 and a number of linguistic adjustments were made.
The rules of procedure were adjusted based on the University’s evaluation of the rules of procedure for the academic year 2020-2021 and recommendation no. 3 in the Student Ambassador’s Annual Report 2019 (send an email to studambassador@adm.ku.dk for a copy).
UCPH course to write clearer decisions and emails to students
The Student Ambassador’s first course at UCPH was held on 8 November. The focus was to provide inspiration for how to communicate even more clearly with students regarding decisions or via email.
The course included presentations by Gitte Henchel Madsen, Head of Study and Career Guidance, SCIENCE Study Administration, and Pernille Steensbech Lemée from Fokus Kommunikation. In addition, the participants could talk about their own texts, and luckily they were both inquisitive and ready to debate.
We are in the process of planning the next version of the course, which will be announced in our newsletter and in the list of UCPH courses.
Feature on Radio4 Morgen in October on bullying and other offensive behaviour at UCPH
On 4 October, Student Ambassador Bo Gad Køhlert was invited to talk on Radio4 about the increasing number of enquiries about bullying and other offensive behaviour at the University of Copenhagen in 2020 and prior years.
Subsequently, both Radio4 and the newspapers BT and Berlingske followed up with articles on the topic, in which they interviewed Director of Education & Students Rie Snekkerup, Chair of the National Union of Students in Denmark Mike Gudbergsen and Chair of the Student Union Kevin Olesen.
You can find both the radio feature and the articles on our Facebook page (in Danish).
The European Commission’s Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030
In 2021, the EU published its Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030. One of the targets of the disability strategy is to ensure equal opportunities for persons with disabilities, including the right to education at all levels of the educational system.
The strategy emphasises a significant need to create more inclusive opportunities for education as the gap between persons with and without disabilities is still significant.
Download the EU’s Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities here. The section on education is on pp. 17-18 in section ‘5.3. Inclusive and accessible education’.
