Starting from the next academic year, the Center for Counseling and Support for Students will begin operations. Although the decision to establish the Center was made by the Senate of the University of Zagreb at its last meeting before the summer break, preparations for its implementation have been ongoing for several years.
The Center is being established to empower students for successful studying and overcoming academic obligations, as well as to teach them business skills, thereby enabling the full development of academic potentials, increasing efficiency and completion rates of studies, as well as employability and competitiveness in the labor market.
– The newly established Center will unify and expand the support provided to students in the form of informing and educating students, as well as coordinating activities in the development of academic skills, career development and management, including student internships, counseling related to academic and personal difficulties, or psychological counseling, development of communication and socio-emotional skills, support for students with disabilities, and underrepresented and other student groups who need additional assistance in the higher education system, as well as information about healthcare – explains Blaženka Divjak, Vice-Rector for Students and Studies at the University of Zagreb.
Deniza Drusany has been appointed as the head of the Center, and its offices will be located in the Rectorate of the University of Zagreb at Marshal Tito Square and partially in Zvonimirova Street. All services of the Center will be free for students, and the funding for the Center’s operations will be partially secured from the Agreement on full subsidy for regular students’ participation in study costs in the academic years from 2012 to 2015, which the University of Zagreb signed with the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, as well as from the funds of a project applied for and obtained in the IPA IV component competition for the Integration of disadvantaged groups into the regular educational system.
Motivation for Learning The office is expected to have five to six employees by the end of next year who will be available to students for their problems to enable successful studying. If something is not within our jurisdiction, we will help students to contact the right office. We want to be the address where students can receive support in solving their problems, and we will assist them as much as we can – emphasized Center head Drusany.
The establishment of the Center was extremely important to Vice-Rector Divjak, and she is proud that the project has been successfully realized. Now it remains to be seen how it will look in practice, and expectations are high.
– If you analyze the quality of renowned American and European universities, such centers play an important role in a motivating learning environment and positively affect indicators of successful studying such as completing studies on time and finding employment after graduation, as a career begins to develop during studies, not when studies end – said Vice-Rector Divjak.
Although there are already similar centers at some faculties with some of the listed functions that are functioning well, they will not be shut down, but their work will be coordinated to transfer examples of good practice to other faculties.
– It is by no means our intention to shut down these programs, but we will help the constituents of the University to develop their specific programs as well. The Center will be like an umbrella organization that will guide how to better coordinate existing resources – believes Drusany.
More than Excellence The needs of students for the Center are significant, as shown by the research conducted before its establishment. Students are willing to seek help for the problems that trouble them. This applies to both academic and non-academic difficulties. At a university that has nearly 90,000 people including professors, students, and other employees, it is almost impossible to expect everything to function without any problems.
– It is in the interest of the university that students with good entry competencies come to studies, but our mission is broader than merely encouraging excellence at the beginning of studies, as we must also take care that not everyone has had equal conditions for personal development during previous schooling. When students enroll in their first year of studies, many find it difficult to adapt to the new environment and fully develop their potentials. At that time, the support that the Center provides through information, education, and ‘live’ counseling, as well as online, is important. The Office for Students with Disabilities is already active at the University, which is very active and has good results. However, the task of the Center is to expand support to other groups of students – emphasizes Vice-Rector for Students and Studies Divjak.
Research conducted on 1,150 students showed that the problems students face depend on their year of study. Thus, first-year students face the greatest problems with academic skills, while problems for students in higher years of study are mainly related to career development, specifically how to gain experience that helps with employment and the formation of skills that are important for employability.
– We need to develop forms of support for, for example, students who are the first in their family to attend university. They may initially find it harder to navigate and may find it difficult to admit that they do not know the basic functions and offices at the university such as the registrar, dean, vice-rector, rector, and so on. On the other hand, there are students who do not know how to cope with the pressure and pace imposed by studying. We will enable them to participate in activities aimed at better time management and how to master academic material more effectively – highlighted Drusany.
