Student Union of University of Tampere

Kauppakatu 10, 33210 Tampere (044) 3610 210 - tamy@uta.fi

Tutoring international students

Signing up as an international tutor
Tutor training and sources of information
Report and reward
Contact information of international tutoring organizers 2013

Tutoring international students is an excellent way to acquire international experiences, get to know new people and do a good deed: by tutoring international students, you help relieve their culture shock and give them comfort in their initial confusion over studies. International tutors assist international students when they come to our university and help them integrate into the university community and student life in Tampere. All you need to become an international tutor is an open mind and a fairly good command of English – we'll teach you the rest!

At the moment, international tutoring follows the practices of normal tutoring: a tutor pair tutors a tutoring group. International tutors are recruited by student associations.

Signing up as an international tutor

If you are interested in tutoring international students, please don't hesitate to contact your student association's international tutoring organizer. In the spring 2013, the deadline for signing up to the student associations' international tutoring organizers is 23 March. You can find their contact information on your student association's website and on this page (see the bottom of the page), or you can ask the Secretary for International Affairs for their details. International tutors are recruited in spring, so keep an eye on your student association's email list and Tamy's international email lists (the kv-tutorit list and the IS-list) to keep up with the latest news.

Don't have any international students coming to your department? Don't worry! The International Office at the University has an international tutor bank, which is also a good way to become a tutor. To join the international tutor bank, email the International Office at intoffice@uta.fi by 30 March with the following information:

  • your name and student number
  • your major and minors   
  • your telephone number
  • an estimation of your language skills.

Remember to subscribe to kv-tutorit@uta.fi, the email list for international tutors! You can find subscription instructions here. All the information you need when tutoring is passed on to the list, so make sure you subscribe!

Tutor training and sources of information

If you wish to tutor international students, you must attend the international tutor training in the 6th floor of the Attila building ( Yliopistonkatu 38), 18 April 2013 from 3 to 8 p.m. In addition to the spring training, refresher courses and a briefing on current affairs are held 18 August 2013 from 3 to 6 p.m in Pinni B1097. 

Programme of the Training Session of International Tutors in August

Opening of the Training Session
International Tutor’s Tasks and Current Issues – Varpu Jutila and Veikko Mäkelä, Tamy
International Students, Tutors and Orientation Course – Noora Maja, Student Services
Coffee/Tea and Snack, Lobby Buffet
Banking Services for International Students  
Culture Shock
Student Housing in the Autumn Semester and Greetings from the Housing Officer
Living with TOAS
Questions and Answers
End of the Second Training Session

New international students arrive in Tampere in the last week of August, which is also when international tutors must be present and available. Some international students attend language courses and arrive even earlier, so it is a good idea to contact your international student as early as June.

Tamy and the University of Tampere have put together a guide for international tutors. If you are thinking about becoming an international tutor but are not sure, you can take a look at the Guide for International Tutors or the Survival Guide for international students and see what it's all about.

Report and reward

We gather feedback on international tutoring every term through tutor reports. The report is not only the condition for receiving your reward, but also a way to improve international tutoring, so make sure you hand in yours. The reward for international tutoring is a gift voucher to Juvenes and movie ticket(s).

Report instructions are published in Finnish and English twice a year on Tamy's email lists, the kv-tutorit email list, the University's website and in other forums if necessary. Student associations' international tutoring organizer also receive the instructions.

Contact information of international tutoring organizers 2013

Email addresses take the form of firstname.lastname@uta.fi unless otherwise mentioned.

AATOS          m.elina.koskinen(at)uta.fi, Danika Harju
BIOPSI          Vilho Saarinen
BOOMI         Eero Kiiski (kv-asiat@boomi.fi)
CORTEX      Sara Hiekkaranta
HALLAT        
ILTAKOULU    Ari-Pekka Jämsen
INTERAKTIO    Tuomo Niemistö
ISOT        Anna Chernyhk

ITU        Aatu Silen

JKY        Tuomo Majala

KALMA         Liisa Ylinen
KOPULA        Mari Kuusela
LEXICA        Matleena Kallinen
LUUPPI         Markus Salmijärvi <kv(at)luuppi.fi>
MENTOR        Katariina Ojala    
MUTU        Anne Teikari
NÄTY        Aleksi Holkko
OKA        Topias Kareinen, Sampo Yli-Panula
PARETO        Anni Marttinen
PATINA         Kalle Matsinen
SALUS        Anne Remahl
SPATIKKA    Kreeta Luoma
REETTORIT    Mari Ahjokannas
SOS        Saana Lehtonen
STAABI         Anni Suikkanen
TEEMA        Anna Ojalahti (anna.m.ojalahti@uta.fi)
TLK         Juho Salivaara
TRANSLA        Anna Palomäki
UDK        Riikka Rintala, Iina Lehtiniemi
VOSTOK        Erkki Mervaala, Laura Ikävalko