WHO, WHAT, WHERE - Welcome to the Park
Welcome to the university dorms’ very own “Who, What, Where”. On these pages you will find
information regarding the practicalities of dorm life, as well as information about the structure and
administration of the university dorms. It might be helpful for new applicants to skim these pages in
order to form an impression of the dorms.
USEFUL INFORMATION
■ Garbage
Containers for the disposal of garbage, newspapers and glass can be found in front of dorms 7-9, as
well as in the yard between the dorms 1-3 and 4-6. Bulky refuse will be removed as required.
■ The bar
The dorm bar known as ”Eforen” is located in the Common House next to dorm house nr. six and is
open Thursdays and Fridays. The bar is known for its low prices and happy costumers. It is run by
the co-operative society KIF, which is the dorm wholesale society. The bar’s homepage may be
found at
http://www.eforen.org/
■ The duty to occupy
As a tenant you must live in your room. This means that the dorm room has to be your registered
address and that you must physically occupy said room. Failure to fulfill these obligations may result
in the termination of the tenancy.
■ Petrol driven vehicles
Petrol driven vehicles are not allowed within the dorm buildings; e.g. the hallways, cellars, storage
rooms and the bicycle storage building found between the dorms 1-3 and 4-6.
■ Bicycle storage
There are rooms dedicated to bicycle storage in several of the dorm buildings – but the capacity is
limited. To avoid crowding these rooms you are asked to park outside or make use of the bicycle
storage building in the yard between the dorms 1-3 and 4-6. A special key is required. Another
locked storage building is located in front of dorms 7-9. To acquire the keys for these buildings you
must pay a deposit at the dorm office.
Remember, fire regulations prohibit the parking of bicycles on hallways and the building entrances.
Furthermore, parking your bicycle on the University lawns is prohibited, as this would prevent lawn
mowing. A failure to comply with the regulations will result in the removal of the bicycles in
question.
If you sublet your room, you should leave a tag on your bicycle to notify the staff that you are away,
as there are regular ”bicycle raids” to reduce the number of abandoned bicycles.
■ Bicycle repair shop
If you need to repair you bike it is possible to make use of the repair shop located in dorm building
number 1 at ground level (entrance in the back).
■ Double rooms
There are three double rooms available at the University Dorm. These are located in the buildings 4,
5 and 7 (at ground level).
The rent is 180% of the rent for a normal room. Furthermore there is a 1½ room in dorm building
number 7 at ground level. The rent for this 1½ room is 150% of the rent for a normal room.
■ Deposit
The deposit for the room must be paid as you move in. This payment must be made through the use
of a Giro payment form. The amount to be paid is equivalent to three months of rent.
■ Intercom
All rooms are equipped with a telephone which also serves as an intercom. Visitors wanting to gain
access to a dorm building will follow the instructions at the intercom by the building entrance and
use this intercom to contact the individual rooms or the kitchen. The resident can open the main door
by pressing and releasing ”5”.
■ The Efor – the residents’ Common House
The Common House ”The Efor” located next to dorm building nr. 6 may be used by all residents. In
order for you to access the building the dorm office must add your health care card data to the
electronic locking mechanism. Once this is done you can use your health care card in the card
readers by the entrances to the building and input your pin number. This code is 7 + your room
number. It is not necessary to press ”B” prior to entering the code as you would normally do at the
intercom systems by the dorm buildings.
The Common House contains the following facilities:
■ Music room (first floor)
■ Relaxation (basement)
■ Foosball table (basement)
■ Pool room (basement)
■ Sewing room (basement)
■ Party room and kitchen (ground floor)
■ Meeting room (first floor)
The Dorm Council and the dorm wholesale society (KIF) are also located on the first floor.
The party room (including the kitchen) may be reserved at the dorm office, where the keys will also
be provided in exchange for 500 DKR security deposit. The dorm office is also where you return the
keys. In addition to the deposit there is a rental fee of 500 DKR; this does not include tableware.
Remember to reserve the rooms well in advance!
Only dorm residents are allowed to rent the party rooms.
Additional information: Starting from the establishment of the dorms and until 1976 there were
so-called ”efors” at the dorm. It is originally a Greek word, and was in ancient Greece the title of the
five people guarding the constitution of Sparta. At the university dorms an efor was a professor who,
in return for free residence and a modest salary, kept a watchful eye on the young dorm residents to
make sure they behaved themselves properly and attended their exams. These efors lived in the three
efor dwellings placed in extension of dorms I, VI and IX. The idea was that the young people needed
something akin to parental guidance once they left their childhood homes.
■ Falck and insurance
The dorms are covered by Falck, a Danish insurance agency. There is a first aid kit in all the
kitchens, and these may be restocked at the dorm office. In the case of damages in connection with a
break-in, or damages occurring outside the opening hours of the dorm office, you should contact
Falck. They will then ensure temporary covering etc.
Should you happen to be locked out or lose your room key Falck will be able to open the door to
your room. In order for Falck to do this you must be able to provide your student ID or some other
form of photo identification.
Falck’s phone number: 70102030
Insurance number: N – 13009639
The dorms are legally insured, but house contents insurance etc. is your own responsibility.
■ Parties
Proper notice must be given to the other residents of the dorm building at least three days in advance
if you intend to have a party in your room or with others on your floor. This notice must be given in
the form of a written note placed at the entrance to the dorm building.
As often as possible, plan for parties in the kitchens, halls and rooms to take place during the
weekend or evenings prior to a holiday and outside the exam period (May-June and
December-January).
For further information see the house rules §4.
■ Subletting
If you need to leave your dorm room in connection to your studies at Aarhus University, you may
opt to sublet your room for up to one year.
During this period both the original and the new tenant must be enrolled as students at Aarhus
University. The original tenant must prior to his/her absence be able to produce written
documentation from Aarhus University stating that the original tenant during his/her absence is still
considered a student at Aarhus University, and that the absence is related to the resident’s studies.
The new tenant must be able to produce a student ID and enrolment confirmation at the checkup
conducted by the dorm office every 6 months to prove that he/she is considered a student at Aarhus
University.
Residents are only allowed to sublet their dorm room following a written application delivered, along
with the relevant documentation, to the dorm office at least one month prior to the sublease period.
The sublease application form may be acquired at the dorm office, or at the dorm homepage
www.koll.au.dk
.
If it is determined that any sublease period violates these rules, it may result in the termination of the
tenancy. This means that neither the original nor the current resident will be allowed to remain in the
dorm room, and also that these persons will not be eligible to apply for a room at the University
Dorm in the future.
The tenant occupying the sublet dorm room does not gain priority if applying for another room at the
end of the sublease period.
The rent paid by the tenant occupying the sublet dorm room may be no higher than the normally
established rent for said dorm room.
If you sublet your room through the International Secretariat at Aarhus University, please notice that
the new tenant may vacate the room prior to the expiration of the sublease period agreed upon. In
order for the International Secretariat to be able to assign another student to your room you must
provide them with a written advance notice.
For further information please consult the house rules §§ 15-16.
■ The foundation
The Aarhus University Dorms is an independent institution established by the University
Association. The foundation, which provides the basic rules for the dorms’ activities, may be
acquired at the dorm office or be found at the homepage: www.koll.au.dk. In the foundation you can
find the rules regarding the institution’s goals, funding and leadership.
■ The hallways
In accordance with the rules established by the fire dept. all entrances, stairwells, hallways and
emergency exits – including the balcony doors – must be kept clear of objects. There are regularly
surprise clearings of the hallways during which objects may be removed. One exception is that shoes
may be kept on the shoe shelves in the hallways.
The dorm hallways are places where everyone should be able to go about, but the rules of the fire
dept. may not be violated.
This means that escape routes (hallways and stairwells) must be completely cleared and accessible.
Book cases, mattresses etc. are not allowed in these areas at all. The shoe shelves may be used for
very limited storage, however.
Furthermore, the doors at the end of the hallways may not be kept open by wedges, hasps etc., as
these are fire doors and must remain closed in case of a fire.
■ Curtain rods
Curtain rods may be bought at the dorm office. The dorm office can also help with the installation of
curtain rods.
■ Rent
All new residents will receive a payment card which may be paid at the post office, through postal
giro or at a bank. Residents are obligated to pay their rent through PBS, a payment service provided
by the banks of Denmark (Pengeinstitutternes Betalingsservice).
If you are in arrears with the rent your case will be examined by the dorm office and you tenancy
may be terminated. You will receive a reminder, after which you have three days to pay the missing
rent. If you fail to do so, the tenancy will be terminated.
■ The house rules
The house rules contains the rules that all dorm residents must adhere to. These rules have been
established by the Electoral Assembly and apply to all residents as well as visitors.
You are expected to familiarize yourself with the house rules when moving in at the university
dorms.
■ Proof of enrollment
As a resident at the university dorms you must be a student at Aarhus University. Therefore an enrollment checkup is performed every six months, and all residents must be able to provide a valid student ID and proof of enrollment. This checkup takes place in September and February at the dorm office following a written notification.
The proof of enrollment can be acquired through the Aarhus University students’ self-service feature.
■ Internet/Intranet
All rooms have internet access. This access is obtained through an ethernet card in your computer and not through a modem.
Internet access will not be made available until the resident has signed a statement concerning the abuse of internet privileges at the dorm office. Cables may be bought at the office.
All dorm rooms have access to the Aarhus University campus-net which allows the use of several services provided by the State Library that would normally require payment, such as EBSCO, Thomson Online, WestLaw, Encyclopedia Britannica and the Oxford Dictionary.
■ Moving internally
Should you want to switch rooms you must apply to the dorm office at the latest three weeks prior to the switch. Several dorm buildings have a rotation system allowing the senior resident to get first pick of the available rooms. Please note that you are not allowed to switch rooms without the approval of the dorm office.
Once you receive the payment card for your new room you need to re-apply for payment through PBS and cancel the payment of your old room. Remember to report this to the national register. Also remember to cancel your subscription to Telia and if needed apply for phone and internet privileges for your new room.
■ Cable TV
All rooms have a cable connection. Suitable cables may be purchased at the dorm office. The individual resident is responsible for paying the license fee to the state.
■ KIF
The dorm wholesale society, KIF, is a co-operative society that is owned by most of the dorm floors. KIF is the dorms’ own local store where you can buy a wide range of articles for everyday use such as beer, water, spices, alcohol, soap, laundry cards, candy etc. (Welcome to dorm life!)
KIF runs the dorm bar, the Efor, situated at the Efor Common House.
The KIF store is on the ground floor of dorm building number 5 and is open Mondays and Thursdays 18:00 – 19:00.
Phone number: 8942 7557
■ Complaints
Should you wish to complain, please follow the guidelines described in chapter 5 of the house rules. The Dorm Council deals with the complaints. Normally the defendant will be notified about the complaint prior to the Dorm Council’s decision. This decision is usually final, but the Dorm Council may decide to try specific cases within the Executive Committee.
■ History of the University Dorm
The year 1985 was the dorm’s 50th anniversary. At that time an anniversary book with stories about life in the University Park was published. This book may be purchased at the dorm office for 25 DKR.
■ The kitchens
Every kitchen has at least some amount of space in the cupboards end refrigerators reserved for each resident. Most kitchens offer a shared pool of tableware, cutlery etc. Furthermore most kitchens have a shared pool of funds used to purchase the most essential groceries. This means that the residents usually pay some sort of kitchen tax, which is also often used to pay for one or two newspaper subscriptions. All residents must pay their part to these kitchen funds.
Cleaning the kitchen is also the responsibility of the residents. How the workload is shared may be different from dorm floor to dorm floor. In some places a resident may be responsible for the kitchen chores for en entire week, while it may only be 3 or 4 days at another dorm building. For more information, see chapter 2 of the house rules.
■ A lodge?
Rumor has it that there is a secret lodge at the University Dorms. Apparently, acceptance of new members only happens when the individual residents are contacted by the lodge.
■ Paint
The residents paint their own rooms as this helps keep the rent low. The paint itself is free and may be picked up at the dorm office. Paintbrushes etc. may also be purchased here.
Residents are not allowed to paint the outside of the room doors, their windows/balcony doors or their floor.
■ The music room
The dorms have a piano placed in the music room on the 1st floor of the Efor Common House by
dorm building nr. 6. Of course this room may also be used for other musical activities. The room is reserved using the calendar placed in the music room itself.
Residents gain access to the music room by contacting the dorm office. A small fee will be required in connection to upkeep.
■ Furniture
The dorm rooms are made available with no furniture. Most rooms in dorm buildings 7-9 have built-in closets in the small room at the entrance. In buildings 1-6 there are no such rooms. Most rooms have a cupboard under the sink.
■ Emergency phone
If a serious accident should occur outside the office hours, the dorm office staff may be reached at 28447999. If there is no answer, you can contact a member of the Dorm Council. See also “How to resolve technical issues on the dorm floors”.
Minor problems should always be reported to the dorm office within opening hours.
■ Keys
Should you lose your room key outside opening hours, you should contact Falck. Falck will help you unlock your room if you are able to provide proper identification.
See also the section involving Falck and insurance.
The room key is a “TrioVing” type key, which also unlocks the kitchen, mail box, front door, laundry room, and – if you live on the ground floor – the locked entrance door to that floor. Please remember that upon vacating your room you should not hand in your key at the dorm office, rather you should deliver it to the new resident. Ask the other residents on your floor how this procedure usually works.
■ Notice
When living in an ordinary dorm room you must give notice one month in advance. When living in 1½ or double room, the notice must be given two months in advance. You need to fill out a notice form which may be acquired at the dorm office.
■ Leave
Usually you are not allowed to stay at the University Dorms if you take a leave of absence from your studies. If in doubt, you should contact the Dorm Council prior to taking a leave of absence. Remember proof of enrolment must be provided every 6 months.
■ Pool room
The pool room is located in the basement of the Common House at dorm building number 6. You can gain access to this room by contacting the dorm office. A small fee will be required in connection to upkeep.
Every floor has its own mail box which is unlocked using your room key. The mail boxes are placed at the main entrance to the dorm building, where you will also find box for mail that has been delivered by mistake.
Mail for the Dorm Council may be dropped of at the dorm office.
Please notice that the dorms do not have a usual address, as the dorm buildings are not placed on a regular street. This is the correct way of writing your address:
Your name
Dorm #, floor #, - room # (Dorm in Danish is kollegie) Universitetsparken
■ Storage room
The dorm buildings 1-6 have barred storage rooms in the attic. Dorm buildings 7-9 have storage rooms in the basement. In both cases the rooms are unlocked using your private room key. Please try not to make a mess in the storage rooms in order to minimize the fire hazard and make more room for the other residents. Remember to label all your items and to remove once you leave, as the items may otherwise be disposed of.
Items may not be stored outside of these storage rooms and will be removed.
■ Cleaning
The cleaning of bathrooms, stairwells and hallways is centralized, but the cleaning of the dorm rooms, kitchens and refrigerators must be performed by the residents. Please notice that, in accordance with the house rules, the hallway, kitchen and bathroom windows must be thoroughly cleaned at least once each semester. All residents are required to participate in this event.
Furthermore, it is a good idea to thoroughly clean the bathrooms and bath areas as well. Cleaning supplies are provided free of charge at the dorm office.
■ Noise
Please show consideration for the other residents when engaging in noisy activities. You should only play loud music etc. during the “noise hour”, which is 17:30 – 19:00.
Remember that there is a music room on the first floor of the Common House by dorm building number 6, where you can express yourself during other parts of the day.
■ Sewing machine
The sewing room is located in the basement of the Common House by dorm building number 6. In this room there is a sewing machine, a table, an ironing board, an iron and a mirror.
You can gain access to this room by contacting the dorm office. A small fee will be required in connection to upkeep.
■ Telephone
All the rooms are equipped with a telephone.
You can call free of charge to anyone with an 8942 – number, which means all the phones in the dorm buildings and the university. These internal calls are made by simply dialing the last four digits of the phone number in question. This means that the Dorm Council’s internal number is 7294, while you would dial 8942 7294 if you used an external phone.
External calls cost money. In order to make an external call you need to be a customer with Telia; this will be arranged at the dorm office when you move in. The Danish emergency hotline, 112, is always accessible, however.
When making an external call, remember to dial 0 (zero), before dialing the phone number. For instance you should dial 0 + 7010 2030 if you want to call Falck.
The phones are equipped with an advanced voice mail system that allows both internal and external callers to leave a message. It is also possible to have your calls transferred to any other phone at the dorms or the university. For more information, read the user guide at the dorm homepage www.koll.au.dk
■ Theft
Even though all entrance doors are locked, theft does happen from time to time. Therefore you should never leave your room door, kitchen door or balcony door open – even if you are only gone for a moment.
The dorms do not have a shared house contents and theft insurance. Remember to arrange your
own insurance! As a student it is often possible to obtain a cheap insurance policy through your
trade union etc.
■ Drying rooms
In the dorm buildings 1-6 there is a drying room in the attic. In the dorm buildings 7-9 there is a drying room in the basement.
■ Laundry
There are three laundry rooms at the university dorms. These are located in: Dorm building
number 2 (ground floor, back entrance); dorm building number 4 (ground floor, back entrance) and in dorm building number 8 (the basement).
Rules for reserving washers and dryers are posted in the laundry rooms.
Washers and dryers may not be used between 23:00 – 08:00 as the noise might disturb the nearby residents.
Payment is made using a laundry card which may be acquired at the dorm office or at the KIF store.
Please note that there are no refunds due to wear and tear on the laundry card.
■ Tools
Power drills, hammers, fan heaters, de-humidifiers etc. are available at the dorm office in exchange for a deposit.
