Gedragscode universiteiten

Documentgegevens:

mr. A.G.D. Overmars, datum 01-01-2014

Datum: 01-01-2014
Auteur: mr. A.G.D. Overmars
JCDI: JCDI:ADS354193:1
Vakgebied(en): Onderwijsrecht / Hoger onderwijs en wetenschappelijk onderzoek
Bestuursrecht algemeen / Europees bestuursrecht

Preamble

The eight Danish universities wish to improve and enhance international cooperation and to brand Denmark as an attractive educational destination for international students;

In principle, the Danish universities give equal treatment to national and international students, but appropriate information and appropriate treatment of international students may to some extent require special guidelines;

The Danish universities provide correct, relevant and satisfactory information about their programmes, including the quality of the programmes, their place in the Danish educational system, the service provided to international students, tuition fees and living expenses, and also about admission requirements, language of instruction and language proficiency requirements;

OECD/UNESCO Guidelines for Quality Provision in Cross-border Higher Education (2005) recommend that educational institutions apply common guidelines where relevant;

On this background, the Danish universities have agreed on the following code of conduct for offering university programmes to international students, which the universities commit themselves to observing. The code of conduct is a supplement to Danish legislation related to offering Danish university programmes to international students;

The Danish Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation finds that universities which comply with the code of conduct provide good treatment to international students.

Unless otherwise stated, the code of conduct applies to programmes, complete or partial, offered by a Danish university in Denmark.

1 Definitions

Agent:

An individual, company or other organisation that provides assistance, whether or not against payment, to prospective international students, and which represents or acts on behalf of a Danish university in connection with its recruitment of international students.

Code of conduct:

The code of conduct for offering Danish university programmes to international students.

The Internationalisation Group:

The internationalisation group is comprised of a chairperson and an international manager or other employee with insight into international relations from each of the eight universities. The group is part of the organisation Universities Denmark.

International student:

A student who is not a Danish citizen and who has not been granted a permanent residence permit or a temporary residence permit with the possibility of permanent residence in Denmark, who has completed his or her qualifying examination outside of Denmark, and who wishes to enrol/register at a Danish university or is already enrolled/admitted at a Danish university.

Partner:

A foreign educational institution with whom a Danish university has entered into an exchange agreement or an agreement of offering a Danish programme, whether complete or partial.

The Rectors' Conference:

The Danish Rectors' Conference comprises the rectors of the universities under the Danish University Act. The Danish Rectors' Conference is part of the organisation Universities Denmark.

Study programme:

All higher education programmes offered completely or partially at a Danish university.

Universities Denmark:

Universities Denmark is the cooperation organisation of the Danish universities. The articles of association are available at www.dkuni.dk.

University:

One of the Danish universities belonging under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation in 2010, i.e. University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University, University of Southern Denmark, Roskilde University, Aalborg University, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen Business School, and IT University of Copenhagen.

2 General information for international students

2.1: University counselling and information must be based on the needs and situation of the individual international student, and must aim at providing the counselling and information required for the student to be able to consider his/her educational options on an informed basis.
2.2: The university must ensure that its marketing, including marketing carried out by third parties, is correct and gives a satisfactory account of the university and its study programmes.
2.3: Statements about own study programmes or those of others must not be misleading or dishonest.
2.4: In its marketing material aimed at international students, the university must state its name and the name of the study programme in English or Danish.

3 Information in connection until choice of study

3.1

As a minimum, the university must place the following information at the disposal of the international student:

1.: a description of the study programme, including information about structure and course of the programme, language of instruction, academic title received on successful completion of the programme, whether the pro-gramme provides access to another educational level and/or entitles the student to pursue a career in Denmark.
2.: a description of admission requirements for the programme, including language proficiency requirements and selection criteria, as well as procedures for admission and registration.
3.: information about payment of tuition fees and any other fees charged from international students by the university in connection with the programme.
4.: information about university policy regarding the repayment of paid tuition fees, including guidelines as to the student’s position in the event of cancellation of the entire programme or one or more of the courses of the programme.
5.: reference to Danish rules regarding the granting of residence and work permits for students and a guide to the application process.
6.: reference to the code of conduct.

3.2

The information should include an overall description of the knowledge and competences which the international student will be able to acquire by complet-ing the programme.

3.3

The information for the international student must be easily accessible and available in English or in the language of instruction.

3.4

The information must be available well in advance of the application deadline applying to the study programme, so that the international student will be able to make his or her choice of study on an informed basis.

4 Partners and agents

4.1: When entering into an agreement with a partner about offering a complete or partial Danish study programme, the university must ensure that the foreign education elements meet the quality standards of the university.
4.2: The university must ensure that the facilities and services offered by its partners comply to a satisfactory degree with the requirements described in the code of conduct.
4.3: Before entering into a cooperation agreement with an agent, the university must ensure that the agent is competent, well informed and will in every sense safeguard the interests of the international student and of the university.
4.4: When cooperating with an agent about the recruitment of international stu-dents, the university must make sure that the agent acts in accordance with the code of conduct and the legislation of the country in which the students are recruited. The cooperation agreement must stipulate that the cooperation will be terminated in the event that the agent does not act in accordance with the code of conduct.
4.5: The cooperation agreement between the university and the agent must stipulate who should pay any fees to the agent, as well as the size of such fees. The international student will receive information about the contents of this stipulation.
4.6: The university will follow up on the agent’s observation of the cooperation agreement. The university is also obliged to remain informed about the international students’ experience with the agent.
4.7: The university will remain responsible for the intake of students. The international student will pay the tuition fee and other fees to the university according to stipulations of relevant legislation.

5 Admission Requirements

5.1: Admission requirements and selection criteria must be easily accessible for the international student. The university will ensure that the international student meets the admission requirements, including the language proficiency requirements of the individual programme.
5.2: In the event that an international student is not admitted to a programme, a refusal letter will be forwarded to the student.
5.3: The university may charge a fee for language test, application treatment and admission courses. Information must be forwarded to the student if this procedure applies.

6 Quality and Service

6.1: The university only offers study programmes which are accredited or approved in accordance with current legislation. Accreditation or approval must appear clearly from the information about the programme. In addition, the university will conduct crurent quality assurance of its own programmes in accordance with current legislation.
6.2: The university must place information at the disposal of the international student regarding his or her rights and obligations as a student at the Danish university in question. This information must be available in English or in the language of instruction.
6.3: The university must ensure that its lecturers are qualified for conducting courses in the language of instruction of the programme, e.g. by providing lecturers with the possibility of currently upgrading their competences within English and any other foreign languages of instruction.
6.4: The university must ensure that university staff possesses sufficient language skills to enable them to communicate in English about educational issues and the international student's stay in Denmark. The university must also ensure that university facilities such as library, computer room and relevant university websites are available to the international student in English.
6.5: The international student has access to information which clearly describes services and any extra options offered by the university. The university may for instance assist with application for residence and work permits, allocation of accommodation, assistance with settling into the local environment or offer introductory and language courses. If the university charges a user fee for extra options, this should be stated in the information material.
6.6: The university must help ensure that the international student becomes integrated in the local student environment, academically and socially. The university may for instance offer a mentor scheme or initiate academic or social arrangements.
6.7: The university will offer guidance to the international student regarding the programme and subsequent possibilities of employment.

7 Conditions for residence in Denmark

7.1: The university offers advice and guidance to the international student as regards rights and obligations in connection with legal residence in Denmark.
7.2: When an educational institution learns that an international student who has obtained residence permit as a student at a Danish university is no longer studying actively, and the international student can give no reason for this, the educational institution must inform the Danish Immigration Service immediately. The assessment of whether an international student is studying actively must be carried out in accordance with the legislation covering this area.

8 Follow-up and consequences

8.1: On behalf of the Rectors’ Conference, the Internationalisation Group of Uni-versities Denmark is responsible for encouraging that the code of conduct is ob-served, and for monitoring compliance with the code.
8.2: At least once every year, the Internationalisation Group will discuss the status of the universities’ work to ensure that information and service levels are in accordance with the code of conduct.
8.3: At least once every year, the individual university is obliged to inform the Internationalisation Group of the status of the university’s efforts to comply with the code of conduct.
8.4: At least once every year, the Internationalisation Group is obliged to give an overall account to the Rectors’ Conference of the universities’ efforts to comply with the code of conduct.
8.5: The Rectors’ Conference may amend the code of conduct if the conference deems this to be desirable or necessary. The Internationalisation Group may submit their recommendation.

9 Commencement and duration

9.1: The code of conduct will become effective from November 29th 2010 upon acceptance by the Danish universities.

Danish Rectors' Conference 8 June 2010