"richtig einsteigen."

Studying economics and law is associated with many stereotypes (e.g. manager, star lawyer, investment banker). However, these stereotypes do not reflect the contents of the course of study; rather, they can lead prospective students to choose a course of study that does not correspond to their actual expectations. The presentations for pupils offered by the Faculty of Economics and Law pick up on these stereotypes and give a first impression of the study programmes. The focus of these presentations is to draw a realistic picture of the study programmes, to discuss expectations and to point out career perspectives. Pupils are given the opportunity to ask questions about the different courses of study. A guided tour through the university gives an initial insight into everyday life at the university and rounds off the programme. In this way, the event supports pupils in making decisions about their choice of course of study.

For many newbies, the study of law is difficult to grasp. One reason is certainly that there is no comparable subject at school that could even rudimentarily illustrate the contents of the course of study. These are "great unknowns", which primarily concern the question "Why Law?". Another equally important question that becomes imminent very quickly is "Where Law?". The introduction “Getting to know the Faculty of Law in one day” is intended to inform prospective students specifically about Bielefeld as a place to study - especially if they have received several admission offers and are still unsure about where to study. In addition to the universally applicable content concerning law studies (primarily about the course of studies and the state examination), they receive additional Bielefeld-specific information, e.g. about the large number of additional courses offered at Bielefeld University (such as international qualification courses, as well as on-site teaching with tutorials throughout the basic studies), and life in the city and its surroundings. The aim is to thus give prospective students good reasons why they should study in Bielefeld.

In the Department of Psychology the B+O-counsellors created the "Study planner - Psychology". This is a 58-page brochure that provides first-year students with the most important information about starting their studies. The study planner contains:

• relevant information about the structure of the study programme
• an overview of various typical questions at the start of studies
• a description of all modules of the undergraduate studies
• an overview of the various university counselling offers
• relevant information for the preparation of a final thesis

It is handed out to the students during the introductory events of the Department of Psychology. The "Study planner - Psychology" has been very well received by students. Since 2019, student counsellors have been involved in the creation of the "Study planner - Psychology".

The combined Bachelor' programmes in pedagogy and educational science are made up of compulsory and elective courses, some of which can be freely chosen. Depending on the programme, these courses can cover up to three additional subjects.

Therefore, the study counselling of educational science (BIE) that houses the project "Counselling and Orientation" in the faculty of educational science developed so-called planning aids to provide students with guidance and support in planning their studies. The planning aids are created on the basis of subject-specific regulations and are updated regularly. The planning aids can be downloaded from the BIE homepage via the corresponding degree programmes. Here e.g. the planning aid for the core subject of pedagogy.

At the beginning of their activities, the B+O counsellors provided an overview of the counselling offered in their respective faculties or departments using a single set of guidelines. The guidelines served to establish contact with other counsellors in the faculties as well as to uncover gaps and insufficiently serviced needs, and to address them with their own counselling services.

The B+O academic counsellors agreed on basic counselling guidelines. These guidelines were developed in the "Getting Started" programme  and take into account standards of the professional associations (GIBeT, nfb, IVSBB).

The B+O counsellors developed a counselling concept in a complex process involving leaders of central study counselling offices from other universities. The resulting counselling concept allows the analysis and reflection of one's own counselling activities and is therefore an important component of quality assurance.

The activities of the student counselling services vary from one faculty to another. Nonetheless, all faculties have to deal with personnel changes. In order to deal with staff turnover and enable "new" B+O counsellors to start as smoothly as possible, documents have been prepared for the induction of new employees.