— We are living of and for the students
The students at the Faculty of Social Sciences shall be seen and followed up. — This works, says the dean, Jan Erik Askildsen.
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— We don’t know if we are going to get a tighter budget or not, going forwards. But if so, we will prioritize keeping up the scope and level of seminar leaders and mentors. We see that there is a clear correlation between student centered support and follow-up and getting more students to go through with their exams. This works, the dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at The University of Bergen (UiB), Jan Erik Askildsen says.
A few years ago, the leaders at the faculty decided to do something about the completion percentage among the students. And something has happened:
In 2019, about 38 percent of the students at the faculty completed their studies on standard time. In 2022 this percentage had increased to 54 percent.
— The answer was to follow up the students even more closely, says the faculty director, Alette Mykkeltvedt.
The teaching must be up to date
In recent years, the Faculty of Social Sciences has worked systematically with what they call student centered follow-up.
— We are living of and for the students. We want to give them a good experience, and it is important that they feel like they are being seen and followed up, Mykkeltvedt says.
New students get their own mentor when they start at UiB, and there is a lot of focus on giving the new students a good start at the university. The first week of studies is full of exciting social and academic activities. The departments at the faculty are also working continuously throughout the year to ensure that their students are being offered good, updated and varied teaching and education.
High quality teaching
— Out educators are constantly asking themselves whether their courses are on point, relevant and is of high quality, Mykkeltvedt says.
— And we have many seminars in all courses, dean Jan Erik Askildsen says.
The seminars in between lectures are usually being taught by master’s students.
— You learn a lot from being a seminar teacher! One never learns as much as when one has to teach others, Askildsen says.
