During the summer, I had already gotten used to the eerily quiet hallways on the campuses of Tampere University. The students & staff were enjoying their well-deserved summer breaks and I was happily thinking that the new semester was aeons away. Well, a rainy Monday morning in August eventually dawned and suddenly the campus was buzzing with new students and their tutors. Something else dawned on me that morning: The new academic year proper was just around the corner.
For the fuksis, the first days at the university are crammed full of new people and places, new challenges and a search for their role in the new community. Thankfully, student tutors are there to help. Together with the university and student organizations, TREY was involved in recruiting, selecting and training our tutors. Around 900 tutors started preparing for their tasks in the spring and jumped into action once the first new students started pouring in from all over the world. Their primary task is to introduce university studies and student life here in Tampere to the newcomers.
I have contently watched the groups of students ambling around the campuses led by smiling senior academics in their purple tutor shirts. Just a reminder to the new students: Your tutor is a trained expert and of great support to you in these beginning phases of your career here in Tampere University. Ask a lot of questions and join the ride that is student life.
Like so many things in this new university, tutoring has been under development, as well. In the spirit of the aforementioned cooperation, we have begun work on further bettering our tutoring system. The goal is to have a system in place which is one of the crown jewels of our support system, ensuring the students’ well-being and success in their studies.
After Welcome Week, the regular university operations will resume as the courses and lectures start rolling. Nevertheless, the first days of the fall term are always special with thousands of new faces roaming around the campuses. I hope that every member of our community welcomes the new students with open arms. After all, the fuksis are the future!
-Mikko