A summary: A record number of students are studying online, part-time or on a group basis, which means that campuses all over the country are being emptied of students. This makes the offer on campus worse, with empty canteens and student bars. This also affects the student environment and voluntary work among the students. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. The brand new student bar is usually empty. But one evening a week, the board of the student bar tries to gather the students at Notodden. There is only one problem: there are few of them. Record number of online students In the tiny student town in Telemark, well under half of the student population were online or group-based students five years ago. This year it applies to more than two out of three students. At Notodden, a less hectic student life has led to them having to find a new meeting place. The former student bar was simply too big. – There could definitely be more life here, thinks student Johanne Therese Johansen Eiterå. The weeks students from group-based studies show up, Johanne thinks she really sees potential in student life on campus. Then the students go their separate ways again. – It’s sad. It is dead when they are not here, describes Johanne. This is not unique to Notodden. At Høgskulen på Vestlandet, for example, almost one in three students is away from campus. In Alta, approximately three percent of all students study on campus, according to Samordna admissions. Ten years ago, less than 57,000 students took a flexible education. This year it applies to nearly 83,000 students. That’s a record number. The offer on campus is getting worse Most of the chairs are empty in the canteen at the University of Notodden, even though the clock has just struck 12. – You don’t need to worry about not finding a place in the canteen, laughs Victoria Kuoppala, who is also a student here. The fact that flexible study programs are becoming increasingly popular means that even people with jobs, small children or mortgages can study without having to move. On the other hand, this trend makes life and the offer on campus worse. – We need students who use our services to be able to keep them up, explains Rita Hirsum Lystad. She is chairman of the Co-operative Council – i.e. the cooperative body for the student co-operatives. – We see that there are fewer students present on several campuses now than before the pandemic. We feel that this is connected to the fact that the educational institutions have established several collection-based and digital studios.Rita Hirsum LystadChairman of the Co-operative Council In some places, fewer students mean less income for the co-operatives, which in turn leads to the canteen or bookshop having to reduce opening hours, and in some cases reduce number of student residences. Important to listen to Johanne, Victoria and Mette Nupen sat around a bar table inside the new student bar. They are all volunteers in the student community, but I wish there were more. It would have been good for both the environment and the individual. – Volunteering is good for mental health, says Tone Kristin Rogne. She is a health leader in the Student Union in South-Eastern Norway and works to ensure that students are well. The numbers look bleak: One in three students has mental health problems. The trend increases every year. To avoid this, Rogne believes that creating relationships and feeling that one belongs is absolutely decisive. – Being greeted by a pleasant face in the canteen may have a greater meaning than we have thought before. We lose that because the students are not physically present, says Rogne. Recommends life on campus Johanne, Victoria and Mette are all in their 20s, which is typical for a campus student. The online and collection-based student is on average older than the campus student, which may indicate that the average first-time student still prefers to study on campus. There is also the call from the students at Notodden: It is fun to build a different city, make new friendships and physical education is better, they argue. Hello! Thank you for reading my case! Do you have thoughts about the case you have read or input for new cases? Feel free to send me an email! Published 30.10.2024, at 12.07
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Students welcome flexible studies – now the student associations are struggling – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
