Guidelines for international.au.dk
International.au.dk is Aarhus University's international website, aimed at attracting international students, PhD candidates, and researchers to AU.
If you are an editor for international.au.dk, you can find a range of useful information here to help you manage this role.
1. Strategy for international.au.dk
you as an editor to be aware of.
Primary Target Audiences
- Prospective international students
- Prospective international PhD students
- Prospective international researchers
Content and menu structure are optimized to support the needs and user journeys of these groups.
Vision
- It should be easy and intuitive to navigate international.au.dk for the international audiences.
- It should be easy and quick for international audiences to find the information they are seeking on international.au.dk.
- International.au.dk should appear dynamic, relevant, and interesting to the international audiences.
Concept
The target audiences for international.au.dk go through a user journey that can be divided into 5 phases: Search, application, before arrival, on arrival, and start. The purpose of international.au.dk is to support the first 4 phases for users. The 5th phase is covered by AU's internal platforms.
Content Strategy
International.au.dk consists of a homepage and 5 main menu items: Education, Research, Life in Denmark, Collaboration, and About AU.
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Education: This menu item should support prospective international students. The focus should be on presenting our educational offerings, providing information and guidance on choosing a program, and describing the application process.
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Research: This menu item should support prospective international researchers and PhD students. The focus should be on presenting AU’s institutes, research centers and facilities, opportunities for PhD or research positions, and the application processes for these groups.
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Life in Denmark: This menu item should cover all the 'non-academic' aspects, i.e., how it is to live and reside in Aarhus and Denmark, and how to plan departure and arrival. Much content is common to all target audiences and should therefore be consolidated in one place, but there will also be audience-specific content.
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Collaboration: This menu item should provide international or English-speaking stakeholders in Danish companies with a clear and accessible entry point for collaboration with AU, focusing on an overview and quick access to relevant staff who can assist the stakeholders.
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About AU: This menu item should present core facts about AU and profile the university in an international context. The focus should be on marketing information such as AU’s rankings, strategy, key figures, organization, and contact details. The content should cover general information about the university.
See also the overview of the strategy for international.au.dk
2. Content responsibility for international.au.dk
International.au.dk consists of a homepage and 5 main menu items: Education, Research, Life in Denmark, Collaboration, and About AU. To clarify who is responsible for what, content owners have been appointed for the homepage and the menu items.
| Menupunkt/side | Indholdsansvarlig enhed | Indholdsansvarlig | Kontakt-oplysninger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forside- fokusfelt | Kommunikation og Presse, Universitetsledelsens Stab | Sarah Gram | sarg@au.dk |
| Forside - nyheder | Kommunikation og Presse, Universitetsledelsens Stab | Jakob Rom Johansen | jrj@au.dk |
| Education | Vejledning og Studieinformation, AU Uddannelse | Søren Winther | swi@au.dk |
| Research | Talentudviklingsenheden, AU Forskning og Eksterne Relationer | Anne P. Langer | apl@au.dk |
| Life in Denmark | International Uddannelse, AU Uddannelse | Sarah Gram | sarg@au.dk |
| Collaboration | Erhverv og Innovation - Erhvervsstab | Lonni Klitgaard | lokl@au.dk |
| About AU | Kommunikation og Presse, Universitetsledelsens Stab | Jakob Rom Johansen | jrj@au.dk |
The role of the content owner involves the overall responsibility for maintaining and developing content, ensuring that it aligns with the strategy for international.au.dk.
The content owner role is held by the unit that is the primary content provider for the relevant menu item. Since the menu items are based on a user perspective rather than AU’s organization, a menu item will typically contain content originating from several parts of AU’s organization. Therefore, it is also part of the content owner’s responsibilities to involve all relevant parties in the organization.
Maintenance of subsections within a menu item can be delegated to other units in agreement with the content owner. However, the content owner remains ultimately responsible for ensuring that all pages have a content editor.
Content owners are members of the editorial group, see point 4 on governance organization.
3. Content editor’s responsibilities
Being a Content Editor means updating one or more pages on international.au.dk. As a content editor, you are responsible for a number of tasks:
- Ensuring that the content on your pages aligns with the strategy for international.au.dk.
- Keeping content, including links and other functions, up to date.
- Qualifying the subject matter through dialogue with relevant colleagues.
- Removing content that is no longer relevant.
There are several tools that can assist you with these tasks Siteimprove can help you monitor the quality of your pages, such as identifying broken links, etc.
If you need assistance with an editorial task, you can get advice and guidance from the content manager for the menu item under which your page falls, as detailed in point 2 on content responsibility for international.au.dk.
It is also recommended that the content manager and content editors for a menu item hold editorial meetings at appropriate intervals to discuss update and development tasks and to be informed about initiatives from the common editorial group or editorial board, as outlined in point 4 on governance organization.
4. Governance organization
A governance model has been developed for international.au.dk, which describes who is responsible for making decisions related to international.au.dk.
The overarching goal of the governance model is to ensure that:
- There is clarity regarding who is responsible for the various sections.
- The necessary decision-making authority is in place to act swiftly.
- Adequate resources are allocated for development and maintenance.
- Consistency in content across the international website is maintained in accordance with the overall website concept.
- User needs are central. Responsibility at all levels of the model thus involves not representing and managing the interests of one’s own organizational unit but focusing on overall user needs.
Overall Responsibility
Who: Vice Presidents for AU Education and AU Research and External Relations
Frequency: Engaged as needed
Tasks: Set the overall strategic direction for the website and secure funding for major projects.
Tactical Responsibility: Editorial Council
Who: Functional managers from relevant units at AU and 1-2 international researchers
Frequency: 2 annual meetings
Tasks: Set goals for the work, make major decisions about development and changes, and allocate resources for operation and development.
Daily Responsibility: Editorial Group
Who: Representatives from relevant units at AU
Frequency: 6 annual meetings
