In summer 2022, the University of Eastern Finland's Student Services piloted a new peer guidance service for Finnish-speaking degree students. The service has received very good feedback and will be continued in an expanded form in summer 2023.
The summertime helpline offers peer guidance by phone and chat for both Finnish and English-speaking degree students who are about to start their studies in the upcoming autumn semester. In addition to phone and chat, students are advised by a bot that contains answers to the most common and acute questions. Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with these answers first before contacting the summertime helpline. Both can be found on the same website in
Kamu Student Handbook.
The summertime helpline assists new students with questions and concerns about starting their studies in Joensuu and Kuopio. Questions can be related to the campuses, orientation, campus cities, timetables and other practical matters. The tools we use are the same as in the Student2Student peer guidance service, and the service aims at responding to the needs highlighted in student surveys.
There are many questions related to the beginning of studies that may not be found in the university's online materials. When the results of the student admissions are ready in the summer, many of the university's staff are on holiday, and tutors have not yet started their activities. In this case, the new student may experience uncertainty and anxiety about the upcoming studies and feel alone with their questions. The summertime helpline responds to these needs.
The summertime helpline complements other services for new students at the university. The summertime peer guidance service does not offer any subject-specific counselling, study counselling nor answers questions related to student admissions. The service also does not offer student administration or IT advice. In these questions, the student is directed to the right service where necessary.
People working in the summertime peer guidance service are UEF students/peer tutors trained for the job.
The summertime helpline is open between 5 June and 11 August from Monday to Thursday from 12 noon to 2 pm by phone and chat. You can find the chat on the front page of the Kamu Student Handbook as well as in the Orientation for new students.
For further information, please contact:
Outi Tikkanen, Coordinator, University of Eastern Finland, outi.tikkanen@uef.fi
Tuija Pasanen, Head of Student Services, University of Eastern Finland, tuija.pasanen@uef.fi