Rector welcomes first-year students to WU
WU wants to make sure that its first-semester students get off to a good start and help them to familiarize themselves with this large university. WU provides support and guidance to its first-semester students and offers a number of events to show them that despite its large size, WU can offer its students both high quality and individual support. Rector Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger and Edith Littich, Vice-Rector for Academic Programs and Student Affairs, personally welcomed this year’s first-semester students at the Welcome to WU event, providing them with valuable tips and information. The Rector and Vice-Rector also hosted a Welcome Reception for the first generation of students starting out in WU’s new Bachelor’s Program in Business and Economics. These events give students the information they need to get off to a good start in their degree programs, keeping students from feeling isolated or overwhelmed at university.
The welcome events for first-semester students not only provide opportunities for newcomers to WU to get to know their future fellow students in a relaxed atmosphere, but also to obtain information about the various support and advising services available at WU.
A wide range of support services
“Many students experience uncertainty due to WU’s large size and the amount of self-management that is necessary at university. This is true especially for people who are the first in their family to go to university. To keep them from feeling overwhelmed and, ultimately, dropping out from university altogether, we’re offering a wide range of support services at WU, for instance our mentoring program. I’d like to encourage all of our first-year students to take advantage of the support services we’re offering,” says Rector Hanappi-Egger. At the beginning of the new semester, the WU Blog publishes special articles that address and answer frequently asked questions about studying at WU. The Welcome to WU event also included fun activities like a quiz and a vote to select the design of the WU T-shirt for the upcoming academic year, which provided great opportunities for newcomers to familiarize themselves with WU. The students starting out in WU’s new English-taught bachelor’s program were invited to attend a special Welcome Reception held in English, where Rector Hanappi-Egger and Vice-Rector Littich gave them an introduction to WU and provided them with all the key information for getting off to a good start. “It is very important to me personally to let our students know that they’re welcome here and that we’re glad they’ve decided to study at WU,” says Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger, explaining why it is so important to her to extend a personal welcome to WU’s new first-semester students. “I hope that all the students starting out at WU this year will leave our university as successful graduates.”
WU4You scholarships
Some of this year’s first-semester students receive WU4You scholarships to be able to go to university. The WU4You scholarship program was initiated by Rector Hanappi-Egger and launched in 2016. It is aimed at talented secondary school students from low-income families living in Austria. This winter semester, twelve people receive financial support from the program to enable them to study at WU. The scholarship recipients participate in WU’s mentoring program and also receive individual coaching. In total, 29 WU students currently receive a WU4You scholarship.
Contact:
Cornelia Moll
Press Relations Officer
Tel: + 43-1-31336-4977
Email: cornelia.moll@wu.ac.at
