Academic guidance
The Framework Act for Higher Education (Hochschulrahmengesetz – HRG) and the Higher Education Acts of the Länder stipulate that institutions of higher education are responsible for providing subject-related advice accompanying a student's studies throughout the entire duration of their course.
The responsibilities of counselling in the higher education sector include the provision of information and advice for students and those applying for higher education on the content, structure and requirements of a course of study; it assists students during their complete course of study, and in particular on completion of their first year, by providing subject-related advice. Counselling tasks are divided among lecturers, who provide specialist guidance, and the student counselling office, which provides general guidance. The student counselling offices are also responsible for helping students cope with personal difficulties and for dealing with questions relating to their studies. In addition to lecturers and the student counselling offices, student bodies in each department also offer support and assistance relating to the individual subjects. In many cases special introductory seminars are held at institutions of higher education for future applicants. In providing counselling, higher education institutions are intended to cooperate in particular with the employment agencies responsible for careers advice and the offices responsible for the Staatsprüfungen (state examinations).
Some institutions and departments provide tutorials and refresher courses to students during their first semesters. These courses are conducted by undergraduate and research assistants and have the following functions:
- to furnish information about facilities, academic/scientific working methods, the structure of the course of study and examination requirements
- to help in overcoming difficulties understanding and learning the material and encourage self-study in study groups
- to provide long-term individual support and further social relations between students
Some higher education institutions also offer orientation semesters, which vary in structure. The aim of the orientation semester is to give students the opportunity to get to know different departments and/or courses of study before deciding on a degree programme. To do this, they sometimes use individual timetables.
The quality of the counselling and care programmes for all students, in particular for students in exceptional circumstances and international students, is to be extended and assured. For international students, central administrative bodies such as international offices or international centres are as a rule the first points of contact at higher education institutions. Networking their central procedural knowledge with non-centralised advisory offices affiliated with the different university departments is important and essential to successful academic counselling. The establishment of posts for independent ombudsmen, which are filled voluntarily, by lecturers for instance, should be promoted. These may also be service centres with an arbitration role.
Student support organisations (Studierendenwerke) also play a significant role role in academic counselling. The institutions of higher education and student welfare organisations have set up a variety of independent offers especially for international students. The central point of contact at the German National Association for Student Affairs (Deutsches Studierendenwerke) is the Servicestelle Interkulturelle Kompetenz (service office for intercultural competence); this is supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bildungsministerium für Bildung und Forschung – BMBF). Services offered at higher education locations include, for example, student residence tutors and contact programmes, special advice and information services, financial support and welcome events. Cooperation between academic counselling offices should be promoted, for instance to enable problems encountered by foreign students to be resolved quickly, including with regard to their residence status. The Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) has for many years been financing various funding programmes of the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst – DAAD) providing general counselling and care services for international students at German higher education institutions. In addition, in recent years various pilot projects on the substainable internationalisation of German institutions of higher education and the integration of international students with or without a refugee background could be developed and implemented
Special counselling offers also exist for prospective students with a refugee background. In recent years, structures have been developed at the institutions of higher education, as in the case of ‘NRWege ins Studium’ with financial support from the Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, to provide customised counselling for refugees and students with a refugee background who want to study, in order to cover the specific needs of these target groups.
For example, the DAAD, with the support of the BMBF, provides information for refugees in a special portal.
Advances have also been made in the counselling of students with disabilities. The higher education acts of all Länder now legally require the appointment of commissioners for the concerns of students with impairments. The commissioners and advisors for students with disabilities and chronic illnesses at the highe reducaiton institutions and student services organisations provide advice on issues of disadvantage compensation and support in organising studies. They provide information about disability-related services at their highe reducaiton institution and work to remove barriers.
The Counselling and Advisory Services and Studying with Children Unit (Servicestelle Familienfreundliches Studium) at the German National Association for Student Affairs supports the provision of a family-friendly infrastructure at higher education locations and ensures the creation of a sustainable culture of family friendliness for students. It is funded by the BMBF.
Psychological counselling
The student services organisations' psychosocial counselling services support students with personal problems and learning disorders. They specialise in challenges typical to studying, such as work disorders, exam anxiety and difficulties in graduating. In addition, the counsellors provide assistance in times of crisis, such as identity crises, self-esteem issues, fears, depression or psychosomatic complaints. Their goal is to support students individually and strengthen their mental health.
Social counselling
The social counselling services of the student services organisations are central points of contact for social, legal, financial and (inter)cultural issues related to studying. They advise students on topics such as part-time jobs while studying, alternative sources of financing outside of regular student funding, maintenance obligations, health insurance, housing benefit and exemption from radio licence fees. The aim is to support students in social and economic matters, to provide orientation in the complex field of social law and thus to improve their study conditions.
Career Guidance
Since the start of the Bologna Process increasing numbers of higher education institutions have set up so-called career centres or career services to support students in their professional orientation.
Career centres or career services inform and advise students in the transitional phase from study into their professional or academic career path. The specific offers can be varied and range from job application training to individual coaching. Mentoring programmes which bring together students and graduates who are already established in their career have proven particularly successful.
Career services can also help improve the practical relevance of the study programmes, by strengthening exchange between teaching and the working world. Specifically, this can take place through the processing of contemporary practical examples in lectures, and through in-company projects and final papers, employing skilled teaching staff from the professional sphere, or through practical training stages accompanied by teachers.
A third strand of the work of the career centres is to facilitate contact management between higher education institutions and employers, and to place trainees and graduates. Examples include traineeship and job boards, “career books” with portraits of graduates, and career fairs. Even in career planning for young scientists career centres can help ensure reliability and point to opportunities outside academia.