International Student Service

Good study and living conditions are recognised as equally relevant factors for successful study at the university as good teaching. In a special survey conducted in 2022 on the study entry phase of foreign students, the majority stated that they needed special support in the areas of study organisation, study counselling and integration into everyday study life. In addition, foreign students face language and financial challenges in particular. This results in the following measures for us:

• Revision of the structure and content of the "Studying" and "International Affairs" sections on the university's website,
• Editing of a handbook for international students,
• Use of de-bureaucratised language and consistent translation of study-relevant information on the website and forms into English,
• regular target group and needs analysis through system surveys in combination with personal feedback workshops,
• better visibility of central information points (contact persons in student counselling and administration as well as in the faculties/institutes).

• Creation of central contact points for their counselling (especially for the topics of organisation and financing of studies as well as inclusion), 
• Increased networking with external counselling centres for the topics of housing, residence law, insurance, etc. (Studierendenwerk Thüringen, Foreigners' Registration Office of the City of Weimar),
• Designing an onboarding programme for the initial study phase (with a focus on language acquisition),
• increased language support through subject-specific offers (in cooperation with the language centre at Bauhaus University Weimar and through digitally supported language learning offers, which are being piloted in the Network of Universities of Music 4.0).
• peer-to-peer support by student mentors with their own international background,
• creation of intercultural meeting spaces and thematic events.