Can be «sponging students» for years
Students enrolled in study programs are thrown out of university after one year if they do not produce enough study points. For students taking single subjects, there is no such rule.
In this way, students taking single subjects can take advantage of welfare benefits for year after year, without taking a single exam, so long as they pay the semester fee. However, if you are part of a study program at the University of Oslo (UiO), you will be picked up by the control systems that the university has put in place: if you do not follow at least 50 per cent of the standard progression of study, you risk losing your right to continue studying.
– The fact that there is no system in place that can catch people who just want cheap gym membership is worthy of criticism, says Fredrik Refsnes, leader of the Student Welfare Council.
Monica Bakken, Director of Academic Affairs at UiO, says that there are no progression requirements for students taking single subjects, and therefore no system that can catch them. She also says that they know that there are proforma students.
In the autumn of 2006, Universitas wrote that 1 in 20 students were probably not studying. According to statistics received from the administration at that time, there were 1552 students that had not produced a single study point during the previous year. This did not include students on part time programs, MA programs or PhD programs. In 2006 Bakken stated that only a «minority of these students had a legitimate reason».
– We have a problem shutting out students who do not really intend to study. This is a weakness in the system, Bakken tells Universitas now.
No checks
The demands on study progression came into play after the introduction of the quality reform in 2003, and are enforced by each separate faculty. Bakken emphasizes that this is a system based on trust towards the faculties, and that there are no checks as such.
Jon Arild Olsen, counselor at the Faculty of Humanities (HF) admits that the follow ups have been relative. Before they introduced the control system in 2005, there was no systematic review.
– We did not have the system and the capacity to follow these cases, he says.
Olsen claims that it would be impossible for students enrolled in a study program to trick the system for more than a year, as the right to study is withdrawn if they do not have the required progression.
However, Anne-Lene Andresen, Head of Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences (SV), tells us that students have the right to apply to a study program again after having been weeded out by the system. In these cases the records showing insufficient study progress also disappear, leaving the student free to take advantage of the benefit system once again. Monica Bakken confirms this.
Affects the weak
Heine Skipenes, leader of the National Union of Students in Norway, does not want fake students either, but accuses UiO of heavy bureaucracy and subjecting everyone to the same practice.
The faculty representatives and Bakken emphasize however that the system is flexible for students experiencing difficulties. Both she and Olsen point out that the students who drop out each semester receive notes of concern, encouraging them to contact the study administration if they are in need of adjustments.
