Syddansk Elite is a scheme at SDU with the intention and purpose of promoting conditions for elite athletes, coaches and referees who wish to combine their sports careers with an academic education.
In 2022, the Rector presented a letter of guidance for Syddansk Elite, in which he requests lecturers to respond positively to enquiries and requests from elite sports students. With a wish to ensure good conditions for elite sports students who combine sport at the highest level with an academic education at SDU, in the letter of guidance the Rector appeals for us to help each other by accommodating:
- attendance requirements that conflict with training and competitions,
- submission deadlines and assessment dates that coincide with training,
- requests for help with audio and video recordings of the teaching if the student is prevented from participating for sport-related reasons.
Read the entire letter of guidance here (in Danish).
What does it mean for you?
Due to sports activity, the student does not always have the opportunity to participate in the lessons and may therefore wish to have the lesson recorded by the study buddy that the student has been assigned by us.
Declaration of consent
We hope you will allow this if both students sign a special declaration of consent. The declaration ensures that only the student and their buddy have access to the material and that it is deleted after passing the exam in the subject in question.
You can see the consent form here (in Danish) and will receive a signed version from the students.
Guidelines for sound and image recording
If you would like to read SDU’s general guidelines for sound and image recording, you can do so here.
Among other things, the guidelines state that lecturers can give recording permission to students on elite sports courses but refuse other students without this being a case of unfair discrimination.
An extract from the guidelines:
If a student wishes to audio or video record lectures, this must be done with the consent of the lecturer and the participants. For reasons of good practice and out of consideration for fellow students, participants in the classes must be made aware that the teaching is being recorded, and they must be allowed to decline consent.
If participants and/or the lecturer say no to recording, this must be respected.
Elite sports students occasionally experience challenges with participation in exams. When this happens, we hope that assessors and exam planners will be flexible.
Challenges can be solved in the following ways:
- Examination can take place abroad or other places in Denmark than originally planned
- Postponement of submission deadlines
- Individual exam/submission
In some cases, students may also need:
- Registration and deregistration of subjects and exams after the deadline
- Extension to duration of study
Important to know: Dispensation
Students in Syddansk Elite must apply to the study board on equal terms with other students if they require dispensation from SDU’s regulations.
However, elite sports (see the relevant executive orders) can be a condition that triggers dispensation in the same way that exceptional circumstances can.