Smile! Our new students are coming!
Next Monday, the 29 August, the campus will be teeming with new and excited students. Keep in mind that these students will need help and support from the campus staff. The students are our most important resource, and they are often sucked into the world of science during their first weeks at uni. Our investment in the appeal of the university and integration the students into our department is as important as the orientation course and other official lectures.
How we receive our students plays a large part in the recruitment of new students. We must give the new students an image of the Kumpula campus that is as comprehensive and positive as possible. Students at different universities, faculties and departments will be exchanging opinions and impressions very actively during the first couple of weeks in e.g. social media. Investing in the first couple of weeks is a good idea.
Each of us can participate in making the science faculty feel like home for the students, from their first days. Volunteering to guide a student who looks lost, conversations with students, presenting the department, or even a kind hello, are important things to new students. Spontaneous lab visits or coffee invitations are the best advertisements for how sociable our campus is.
I hope that you will consider the needs of our new students. We should offer them our full support in order to introduce them to the department, other students, and their studies.
Wishing you all a happy new term,
Keijo Hämäläinen
Dean
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