Hello freshmen. Ready to take off? The new semester starts on 26.09. and then you will also be one of the students. With your studies, a new exciting phase of life begins for you, which you should enjoy from the very beginning! – If it weren’t for the truthful wisdom:
“All beginnings are difficult!”.
You don’t just have to get used to a new environment, new people or a different daily routine. No! You also have to fill up your vocabulary with lots of new words so that you don’t just understand train station. Because once you understand that the desired goal of the bachelor’s degree is not about becoming a sought-after bachelor, but a trained specialist, then you have already taken the right direction. 😉 Now you can relax and start looking for new words and their meanings. Here you will find a selection of words that revolve around studying.
Fellow students:
Fellow students are the people who sit next to you in the lecture, i.e. your fellow students at the university.
Semester:
At a university, there is both a winter semester and a summer semester. Both comprise one academic semester each. The winter semester begins annually at the beginning of September and ends at the end of February and the summer semester starts in March and ends at the end of August. A semester always consists of a lecture period, an examination period and a lecture-free period, the semester break.
Faculty:
Faculties are the different departments at the university. These serve to structure all the courses offered. Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences has the following five departments: Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, Faculty of Management, Culture and Technology, and the Institute of Music. Your degree programme is assigned to one of these faculties. There is a student council per faculty, which specifically represents the interests of students from the associated degree programs.
Campus:
The campus is the name given to the entire campus of the university. Since the university does not have a completely contiguous site, but has several locations, it is often referred to as the Caprivi Campus or the Westerberg Campus, for example.
Asta:
The General Students’ Committee advocates for the interests of all students, organizes events and offers you many support services. These include, for example, a counselling service on the subject of BAföG, a printing service or the campus shop, where you can find all the learning materials you need to study.
Stupa:
The student parliament is the highest elected student body and represents the interests of students at the university. For example, the Stupisten elect the direct representatives of the students’ interests, the AStA officers, and monitor their work. Furthermore, they decide, among other things, on the composition of the semester ticket and control the budget.
SWS:
The abbreviation SWS stands for semester weekly hours. Two semester hours per week correspond to 90 minutes. Often a lecture comprises four SWS per week. These are then held either in a block or separately.
Credits/ ECTS:
In addition to your grades, you will receive credit points for each exam you pass. These are awarded as ECTS credits in order to improve the comparability of academic achievements in European higher education according to the European Credit Transfer System. The ECTS points show the amount of work performed by the students per lecture.
Deanery:
The Dean’s Office is the head of a faculty and takes over the tasks of planning, organising and coordinating the department. This includes, for example, the distribution of the available funds and the agreements with the university management. In addition to the dean, there is often also the position of the dean of studies. As support for the head of the dean’s office, they fulfil, among other things, the task of maintaining the degree programme, checking the feasibility of the degree programme and carrying out the evaluation.
Professor:
A professor is a lecturer at the university who has obtained the highest academic degree.
Chair:
Where there is a professor, there is also a chair. The reason for this is the fact that the chair is the position of a professor at a university. And since all the work cannot be done alone, of course, the positions of all associated employees, such as research assistants, also fall under the term chair.
Lecturer:
The teaching staff consists of all teachers at the university.
President:
The president is the head of the university and the chairman of the university board.
Matriculation:
Enrollment is also called enrollment at a university and requires that you have received a letter of admission from the university. As soon as you have enrolled, you are registered as a student and can start your studies, i.e. register for lectures and exams, etc.
Exmatriculation:
Where you can enroll, you can of course also unregister, this process is called exmatriculation. Normally, every student is exmatriculated after successfully completing his or her studies. This is only done prematurely at the student’s own request if the studies are to be discontinued or, for example, if the transfer of the semester fee has not been made within a reasonable period of time, including a reminder.
Accreditation:
Accreditation is a quality seal for degree programmes.
Colloquium:
A colloquium is a relatively short academic examination interview that awaits you at the end of your studies. The content of this final exam will be the topic of your thesis and your theses and solutions listed therein.
In this case, one also speaks of the “defense” of the thesis.
Bachelor:
The Bachelor’s degree is the first and lowest academic degree that you can achieve through a six-semester course of study at a university. Afterwards, you can either continue your academic education as part of a Master’s degree program or start your career. Depending on which course of study you have studied, you will be awarded one of the eight different Bachelor’s degrees. The most common grades are B.A., i.e. Bachelor of Arts, and B.Sc., i.e. Bachelor of Science.
Master:
In the multi-level study model, the Master’s degree is the second academic degree that you can achieve at a university. The Master’s programme usually lasts 2 to 4 semesters and is also completed with different Master’s degrees.
Examination regulations:
The examination regulations consist of two parts, the general part, which applies to all degree programs, and the individual part related to the degree program, i.e. the special part of the examination regulations. The General Part regulates the purpose of the examinations, describes the use of the credit points, defines the examination procedure and further describes all the regulations that relate to the examinations and are applied to all degree programmes. The special part of the examination regulations, on the other hand, contains information about the duration and structure of the studies, the later university degree and the admission requirements for the examinations.
Standard period of study:
The standard period of study tells you in what time, i.e. in how many semesters, your studies can be completed. For example, many bachelor’s degree programs have a period of 6 semesters. However, the actual number of semesters required to complete depends on you. When planning your studies, however, it is still advisable to use the estimated standard period of study as a guide.
Feedback:
If you re-register, you confirm that you would like to continue your studies in the next semester. Re-registration takes place by transferring the semester fee to the university in due time. Your certificate of enrolment for the next semester will then be made available to you in the OSCA portal and you can validate your CampusCard, i.e. extend its validity.
Lecture:
A lecture is a course at a university. It serves to impart subject-specific knowledge to students. Teachers often use certain media, such as a PowerPoint presentation, to make the content easier to understand and to simplify recording.
Matriculation number:
As soon as you have enrolled at the university, you will receive a matriculation number. This number clearly identifies you as a student of the university, so that there can be no confusion and the administration of all students is simplified. You can find your matriculation number on all university documents that are addressed to you personally, such as on your certificate of enrolment. It is best to learn your number by heart at the beginning of your studies, as you will need it very often. 😉
Refectory:
The university’s cafeteria is the “restaurant” of the students. Nowhere else will you find good food at such affordable prices. One of the reasons for this is the state subsidy of the student unions, which in turn operate the canteens.
Script:
A script is a collection of documents that is made available to students by the respective teachers at the university. The execution of a script can be very different. Some lecturers give the students the PowerPoint slides shown in the lecture, others upload 200 fully written text pages to OSCA. But no matter what the respective lecture script looks like, it is important that the students are relieved of the work of constantly taking notes, that there is more time for active listening and that the lecture can be easily retraced afterwards.
Evaluation:
Evaluations are surveys of the students regarding the lectures attended. In the surveys, you can rate the lectures and express praise or criticism anonymously. The use of questionnaires serves to control previously defined goals, uncovers potential for improvement and paints a picture of the students’ satisfaction with the lectures and lecturers.
Now you are ready for take-off! This should be enough for you to find your way around the university and your studies for the time being. If you are missing something, give us a short feedback. We are happy to add to this list. Your university friends wish you a successful start to your studies! 🙂