9 The AYF Program Center

The AYF Program Center houses the offices of the program’s Academic Director, Professor Helmut Puff, and the Program Director, Ulrich Struve. The Academic Director holds regular office hours. During the semester, the Program Center is open 10 AM – noon Monday through Friday, and 2-4 PM Monday through Thursday. During the orientation period and during the semester breaks, the Program Center may have different hours. AYF students have mailboxes at the Program Center and should drop by regularly to check their mail (incoming mail is not forwarded to dormitories). Although the program uses WhatsApp as a way of quickly communicating with all students, important program memos and announcements will continue to be distributed via these mailboxes as well as by email.

The Academic Director and Program Director are available to help you not just with academic concerns but with all aspects of daily life and cultural adjustment. Beyond teaching an AYF program course during the first semester in an area of their specialization, the Academic Director serves as your academic advisor throughout your year abroad and is ultimately the one who will approve or deny all your course selections during and after your individual advising conferences. At the end of the year, the Academic Director certifies the transfer of all your courses, credits, and grades to your home university. In addition, the Academic Director supervises locally hired program instructors, keeps in touch with university faculty members and administrators, and arranges tutorials for university courses with a substantial enrollment of AYF students