Confidential and information conversation
When you contact the student guidance team, the first thing that happens is a confidential, informal conversation with a student counsellor. The counsellor will listen while you tell them about what’s happened, and you can discuss what you want to do afterwards during or after the conversation.

If the conversation with the student counsellor is enough for you
You may find that during your dialogue, you and the student counsellor arrive at possible solutions or actions for you to take on your own. You may also find that simply talking through your experience was all you needed. In such cases, the student counsellor won’t take any additional action. Of course, you are always welcome to come back if you change your mind or if you need a follow-up conversation.

Important information about anonymity
You are welcome to remain anonymous during your conversation with a student counsellor. However, you should be aware that if you then decide to report your experience to the director of studies on your degree programme in order to start exploring whether disciplinary action should be taken against a fellow student or a lecturer, you can’t remain anonymous. You will also need to disclose the identity of the person responsible for the offensive behaviour. This is out of consideration for the legal rights of the suspected perpetrator. It also makes it possible to carry out a thorough investigation of the course of events and involve witnesses.

But even though you can’t remain anonymous in such a situation, you can be certain that the director of studies will handle your situation in a respectful, confidential manner, and you can be certain that no one who doesn’t need to know about it will be involved.

Your case will be referred to your director of studies
If you decide to report your experience, the student counsellor will transfer your case to the director of studies for your degree programme. After this point, the student counsellor is no longer officially involved in considering your case. But you can always contact them if your situation affects your academic performance or your well-being and you need to talk to someone about these aspects. 
 

You will be invited to a meeting with your director of studies
In most cases, the director of studies will invite you to a meeting where you can explain what has happened. In some cases, the director of studies will then transfer your case to a head of section, department or school. It depends on the situation and who is involved. Remember that you are very welcome to bring a support person to your meetings with the director of studies. Who you bring is up to you: it might be a friend, a family member or an adviser from student legal services or the Student Counselling Service. The director of studies is responsible for deciding what action will be taken to address your case. 

The director of studies will take notes during your meeting. After the meeting, the meeting minutes will be sent to you for approval, so both you and the director of studies can be certain that the director of studies has understood your description of what has happened. 
 

• Both parties will have a chance to be heard
  The director of studies has a duty to make a thorough investigation of what has happened and to hear both parties’ version of events. If there are witnesses, the director of studies will speak with them as well. You and the director of studies should agree on how much information about the events in question may be shared with the other parties to the case. 
   
• If your complaint concerns a staff member
  If your complaint concerns a staff member, the director of studies will typically involve the head of department or school and a staff member from the faculty’s HR department.
   
• If your complaint concerns a fellow student
  If your complaint concerns a fellow student, in some cases the director of studies will also consult with AU’s lawyers to clarify whether disciplinary action is to be taken. 
   
• If disciplinary action is taken
  If the director of studies’ investigation concludes that a student or staff member has violated AU’s rules of conduct or AU’s staff policy, disciplinary action may be taken. In this event, the director of studies may not disclose the nature of the disciplinary action taken to you.
   
  • Possible forms of disciplinary action against students include
    • Formal warning
    • Temporary expulsion from the university
    • Permanent expulsion
       
  • Possible forms of disciplinary action against staff include
    • Formal reprimand
    • Summary dismissal

if no disciplinary action is taken
If the director of studies does not find that AU’s rules of conduct or staff policy have been violated, no disciplinary action can be taken against the other party. This does not necessarily mean that their behaviour was not inappropriate. The director of studies can implement other steps to resolve the issue, such as conflict mediation or giving you the option to switch to a different class.

You are always welcome to contact the student counsellors

You are always welcome to contact the student counsellors if you need to talk about your experiences of the process and how your case was handled. The student counsellors have no influence on the decisions made by the director of studies or the head of department/school in such cases, so they can’t discuss the concrete details of the outcome of the case with you. But you can talk to the student counsellors if the case affects your academic performance or your well-being – for example, if you need to apply for a dispensation or if you need information about other sources of help. 

There are several other sources of help and support available to you.

Read more about some of the services that are available to you below.