The title of the ECER Conference of September 2013 provoked us to send in a proposal for a presentation. We are a project team of six people who are devising a support programme for first-year-students of the Philosophical Faculty of the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). This programme is one of the first of its kind in Germany.

Whereas previously students in Germany had the chance to adapt gradually to university life and university standards, this has changed with the introduction of the new bachelor courses during the past decade. Students now acquire their first university degrees in a much shorter period of time than previously. In addition grades obtained from the first year of university onwards now count towards the final grades. This means that students must meet higher requirements during the initial phase of their studies.

While the above mentioned changes affect students of all faculties of the FAU, student dropout rates in the Philosophical Faculty seem to be comparatively high. Therefore the Philosophical Faculty decided that a programme with the aim of facilitating students’ transition from school to university should be developed and implemented. The programme started in the autumn of 2012. If invited to the conference we would like to present the programme and the intermediate results of the project evaluation.

The Project

The three main components of the programme are:

-        courses on basic study skills,

-        advice regarding problems that can affect the progress of university studies and

-        peer mentoring.

The courses on study skills are dealing with important questions like time management or the writing of university papers. The consultations by members of the project team give students a chance to deal with questions in the field of study skills more individually.  Talking with individual team members also offers them the possibility to speak about difficulties in other areas of life that might or already do hamper progress in the chosen field of study. The project team is working in close connection with counseling agencies in- and outside the university and can help students to find the support they need in their particular situations. The third pillar of the project will be the peer mentoring program that will start in October 2013. Successful students will act as mentors for newcomers to the university who have chosen the same fields of study.

Project Evaluation

Integral part of the project is a continuous evaluation of the project. This evaluation aims on the one hand to improve the quality of the different measures designed to support students in the initial phase of their studies.

On the other hand the evaluation also comprises questions that are directed towards a better understanding of students, their backgrounds, their needs and their progress in their chosen fields of study. Regarding the progress of students we are especially interested in the reasons why some students drop out of university or change from one degree course to another. Therefore the questionnaires are designed with a special focus on those questions.

Allen, Tammy D./ Eby, Lillian T. (Hg.): The Blackwell Handbook of Mentoring. A Multiple Perspectives Approach. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Malden, MA [u.a.] 2007. Kossack, Peter (Hg.): Die Studieneingangsphase. Analyse, Gestaltung und Entwicklung. Universitätsverlag Webler. Bielefeld 2012. Webler, Wolff-Dietrich (Hg.): Studieneingangsphase? Das Bachelor-Studium braucht eine neue Studieneingangsphase! Band I: Studierfähigkeit für ein frei(er)es Studium. Studieneingangsphase? Universitätsverlag Webler. Bielefeld 2012. Webler, Wolff-Dietrich (Hg.): Studieneingangsphase? Das Bachelor-Studium braucht eine neue Studieneingangsphase! Band II: Lösungsmodelle. Universitätsverlag Webler. Bielefeld 2012.