April 2020 - UEF Kamu

UEF entrance examinations to be organised remotely and for small groups

30.04.2020 Leave a Comment

The University of Eastern Finland will be organising its entrance examinations in May and June mostly as remote examinations that will be implemented in two phases. Information has been provided to the applicants of the changes to the student admission procedure and criteria via email, and those who have not yet received the information should do so by the end of today (30 April).

“Contrary to what has been said in the media, universities have not cancelled their entrance examinations for this spring. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, we will be using other ways to organise the exams instead of the traditional exams for hundreds if not thousands of applicants at the same time ,” says the Academic Rector of the University of Eastern Finland, Tapio Määttä.

In the first phase of the two-phase remote entrance exam, the applicant takes the exam independently at a time indicated by the university. In the second phase, there are two ways to take the exam: individually as an oral exam or in a small group, with an invigilator present, on campus either in Joensuu or Kuopio, where the necessary safety precautions will be taken.

“The final decision on how to organise the second phase has not yet been made for all study programmes. Where permitted under the pandemic-induced restrictions, certain small-scale entrance examinations may be organised on campus. Where the exam is organised on campus, the applicants are split into groups of no more than 10 people per room. The applicants who go through to the second phase will be informed of the arrangements in more detail after the results of the first phase are in,” says Määttä.

With certain UEF study programmes, the student admission decisions will be made on the basis of an online course instead of an entrance exam.
“The student admission procedure used for the Western Theology and Education and Adult Education study programmes – replacing the entrance exam with an online course – is innovative, and it could potentially be introduced on a more permanent basis,” Määttä comments.

According to Määttä, the coronavirus situation has required changes to be made to the original admission quota for certain study programmes.

“The number of applicants to be admitted through certificate-based admissions has been increased, while the number of applicants to be admitted through entrance examinations has been reduced for certain study programmes. At the same time, the certificate-based admission procedure originally intended for first-timer applicants has now been made available to other applicants as well,” Määttä explains.

In the second joint application process of this spring, 24,000 applicants applied to study at the University of Eastern Finland. The number of applications was the highest for medicine (4,910 applicants), business (3,391 applicants), law (3,380 applicants), and psychology (2,321 applicants). The total number of study programmes in the joint application process was 65.

The University of Eastern Finland takes part in many joint application processes with other Finnish universities. The study programmes for which the student admission procedure is arranged with other Finnish universities through a joint online application system include medicine, education, social work, business, law, and geography, among others.

Originally, the University of Eastern Finland intended to organise 42 entrance examinations during April–June, with approximately 20,000 applicants attending the exams on the UEF campuses in Joensuu and Kuopio.

Earlier in April, the Finnish universities concluded that, due to the coronavirus situation, organising traditional entrance examinations is not possible without compromising the safety of those involved. (Unifi Bulletin 9 April 2020)

The universities have published information on the changes made to their student admission procedures and criteria by 30 April at the latest. (Unifi Bulletin 30 April 2020)

All the changes to the student admission procedures and criteria made by UEF are available (in Finnish) at https://haeyliopistoon.fi/valinnat-2020-muutokset/

If you have any questions about student admissions and the related procedures, please send them to: valintakokeet2020(at)uef.fi

Further information:
Tapio Määttä, Academic Rector, tapio.maatta@uef.fi, tel. +358 50 575 1589

Universities decided on changes to spring student admissions

30.04.2020 Leave a Comment

It is important that applicants keep preparing for the admissions and take care of their wellbeing. Their long-term preparations have not gone to waste.

The universities have decided on the implementation of student admissions in the current emergency conditions. All the units responsible for the study options available for application will publish their changed policies no later than today, 30 April.

The traditional entrance examinations have been replaced by remote examinations, oral examinations, assignments for submission and a more extensive use of certificate-based admissions. Most entrance examinations will be organised as two-stage examinations where only the most successful applicants of the first stage continue to the second stage. Students will be ranked primarily with the help of an online platform. The second stage can be organised either remotely or in the form of a small-scale examination held on campus.

‘The universities made their decision with due consideration to the applicants’ status and attempted to keep the changes minimal. Under these exceptional circumstances, we have managed to find solutions that guarantee that persons from all applicant groups have a chance to be admitted’, says Petri Suomala, Chair of the Unifi meetings for vice presidents for education.

Each field has adopted the solution best meeting its needs. The universities will keep a close eye on the progress of student admissions and the effects of the changes made. The solutions have been devised by a versatile group of experts, including academic experts as well as experts in student admissions, law, health, security and information technology. Suomala continues:

In student admissions, we are selecting the newest members of the academic community, which is why we want to ensure that the procedures run as smoothly as possible. The solutions reflect the characteristics of each university: different disciplines have traditionally organised their admissions in different ways, and the same continues to be true under the current circumstances, too. Student admissions also vary greatly in size: some programmes have a few dozen applicants, while others have thousands.

The universities consider it crucial that the identity and competence level of each applicant can be verified, and technical means to do so have now been found. The pandemic situation permitting, also small-scale entrance examinations held in the university premises are possible.

‘The changes made to the admissions criteria, such as reducing the number of those invited for the entrance examinations and introducing two-stage admissions procedures, have allowed universities to reduce the number of people invited to entrance examinations on campus to a fraction of the usual number. Universities prepare for the on-site examinations with strict security arrangements in collaboration with a host of experts, such as the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL)’, Suomala clarifies.

The universities and organisers of joint admissions will notify their applicants of the changes by email and on the Studyinfo portal. Additional information for applicants is available on the websites of the universities and organisers of joint admissons, on the Studyinfo portal and from the admission services of the universities. The applicants should familiarise themselves with the changes very carefully and, in the case of any questions, contact the admissions services of their prospective university.

‘It is important that applicants keep preparing for the admissions and take care of their wellbeing. Their long-term preparations have not gone to waste. Although the practicalities of student admissions have changed, the content knowledge required of the applicants will remain unchanged’, assures Suomala.

Unifi Q & A on Student Admissions

Information for the media:

Petri Suomala
Chair of the Unifi meetings for vice presidents for education
Universities Finland
+358 40 591 8044

Media contacts for field-specific admissions:

Joint application procedure for engineering and architecture (DIA)
Jaana Sandström, Vice President, LUT University, jaana.sandstrom@lut.fi tel. +358 40 571 6197

Joint admissions for field of business:
Sami Saarenketo, Dean, LUT University, sami.saarenketo@lut.fi tel. +358 50 308 6181

Joint admissions for the field of medicine
Jukka Pelkonen, Professor, University of Eastern Finland, jukka.pelkonen@uef.fi tel. 050 338 4736

Joint admissions for the field of law
Antti Aine, Professor, University of Turku, antti.aine@utu.fi tel. 050 413 9351

Psychology:
Jari Lipsanen, University Teacher, University of Helsinki, jari.lipsanen@helsinki.fi tel. 050 448 4166

National selection cooperation network in the field of education (VAKAVA)
Anu Laine, Vice-dean, Helsingin yliopisto, anu.laine@helsinki.fi tel. 050 318 3920

Registration at the university for the academic year 2020-2021 starts on 2.5.2020

29.04.2020 Leave a Comment

The annual registration at the university to students who are already enrolled at the university (i.e. are in their second, third, etc., year of studies) starts on 2.5.2020 and ends on 15.9.2020.

Registration is mandatory for all undergraduate as well as post-graduate degree students.

You can register electronically either through the Oili-registration service or in WebOodi. We strongly recommend registration through the Oili-registration service.

For further instructions see Kamu (annual registration).

Food assistance for students

22.04.2020 Leave a Comment

Higher education institutions operating in Joensuu and Kuopio have acknowledged that the coronavirus epidemic is placing some students in need of special assistance. The educational institutions have now joined forces, making donations to support their students. These donations are used to purchase food vouchers that will be distributed to students by parishes’ diaconal workers.

Students of the University of Eastern Finland, Karelia University of Applied Sciences and Savonia University of Applied Sciences who are in financial distress due to the coronavirus epidemic now have access to food assistance in Joensuu and Kuopio. Funds donated by the educational institutions are used to purchase food vouchers, allowing students in urgent need to buy food from grocery stores.

The University of Eastern Finland, Karelia University of Applied Sciences, Savonia University of Applied Sciences, the Student Union of the University of Eastern Finland and the student associations Poka and Savotta are donating a total of 140 food vouchers to students in urgent need of assistance. The food vouchers will be purchased and distributed via student chaplaincy and diaconal work carried out by the Evangelical Lutheran parishes of Joensuu and Kuopio.

The vouchers will become available via the customer service points of diaconal work in the city centre of Joensuu and Kuopio, and diaconal workers will distribute the food vouchers to students contacting them. Students will need to show proof of identity, and to prove that they are students of the university or the university of applied sciences, upon collecting their voucher.

Students in need of food assistance should contact the diaconal worker of their neighbourhood by telephone or email to agree upon the details on when and where to pick up their voucher. You can find the contact information of the diaconal worker of your neighbourhood here: http://yhteishenki.fi/opiskelijan-ruoka-apu/

For further information on the arrangements relating to food assistance, please contact the parishes’ student chaplains.

Markku Fräntilä
Student Chaplain
Ev. Lut. parishes of Joensuu
+358 50 3830336
markku.frantila@evl.fi

Raimo Hakkarainen
Chief Student Chaplain, University Chaplain
Ev. Lut. parishes of Kuopio
+358 40 4848471
raimo.hakkarainen@uef.fi

Online services during May Day

22.04.2020 Leave a Comment

On Thu, April 30th the library is at your service online by chat, e-mail and telephone, 8am – 4pm
All online services are closed on Fri, May 1st, 2020.

New uef.fi website opened 21 April 2020

21.04.2020 Leave a Comment

The University of Eastern Finland´s new uef.fi website is now open in the address https://www.uef.fi/en! The first ones to get a new layout are the main sections of the website: the home page and the pages dedicated to news and events, studying, research, collaboration and university presentation. The websites of the faculties and units will be moved to the new uef.fi website next summer. The websites of the UEF Library and the Centre for Training and Development, Aducate, will be renewed in autumn 2020.

Presentation of the new website can be found in release: https://www.uef.fi/en/article/new-ueffi-website-is-now-open. Quick and easy way to explore the website is a video presentation: https://youtu.be/WlKtJPCqkhY.

Moodle, WebOodi, email in O365 and other main tools for students are available in Kamu as before.

UEF Connect serves as UEF phonebook.

If you notice any problems in usability or contents of the website, you can give us feedback by this electronic form.

Project team will make changes and corrections to uef.fi in order of priority. Critical problems will be fixed first. Other feedback will be collected for evaluation and, if necessary, for implementation in the further development phase.

Seasonal work available – MessiLive broadcast Wed 22.4.2020 at 13:00

17.04.2020 Leave a Comment

Messilive.fi streaming event

Are you interested in seasonal work? The broadcast presents seasonal workplaces for 2020.

Seasonal workers are needed now more than ever. Find out about job opportunities through the broadcast!

See the MessiLive.fi broadcast on www.MessiLive.fi, MessiLive.fi Youtube or MessiLive.fi Facebook.

In the above channels, you can ask questions via chat during the broadcast. Please see: https://messilive.fi/tapahtumat/00wgw_37f

Student’s Mental Health Day 2020

17.04.2020 Leave a Comment

Students’ Mental Health Day will be held on Thursday 23rd of April. This year, Nyyti ry’s campaign theme is friendship. Friends and social support have an important role in wellbeing, especially during exceptional times. Belonging to a study community supports students’ mental health and progression of studies.

#letsdosomething – together!

Further information ISYY.fi

Nyyti.fi: #Letsdosomethin – Student’s Mental Health Day 2020

University of Eastern Finland will organise entrance examinations by using online solutions and other alternatives – participants will be informed of changes by email

09.04.2020 Leave a Comment

The University of Eastern Finland has begun to reorganise the way entrance examinations will be held this spring under the prevailing state of emergency. It has already been decided that some of the first entrance examinations in April will be organised by using online solutions. The Philosophical Faculty’s internal student admissions to minor subject studies and to qualification studies in teacher education on 16– 29 April will be carried out according to the original timetable by using online solutions. The participants have been notified of the change by email, and they have also received instructions on how to participate.

The University of Eastern Finland’s original plan was to organise a total of 42 entrance examinations over the course of April, May and June. The study programmes available in these entrance examinations would have attracted approximately 20,000 applicants to the Joensuu and Kuopio campuses.

Today, the Finnish universities have jointly decided that it is not possible to organise entrance examinations requiring physical attendance safely due to the coronavirus epidemic (press release by Universities Finland, UNIFI, on 8 April 2020). The universities have decided to replace entrance examinations that would have a large number of participants with alternative modes of student admission.

“Any smaller entrance examinations possibly organised by the University of Eastern Finland will be held so that a maximum of 10 people may be present in the room at the same time,” Academic Rector Tapio Määttä says.

In place of entrance examinations planned to be held in the universities’ facilities, an increasing number of students will be admitted on the basis of their matriculation examination certificate (or equivalent certificate). Digital admissions processes are also being developed to replace entrance examinations requiring physical attendance.

“As a result of this reorganisation of entrance examinations, the University of Eastern Finland will also significantly expand the open university route, so that studies in the open university can, to some degree, be started already in the summer,” Tapio Määttä says.

The universities will make information on the organisation of admissions to different study programmes available as they make the relevant decisions. However, all decisions on changes to the admissions criteria will be made and communicated no later than 30 April. Information about changes to the entrance examination arrangements will be sent to the participants by email. Information on admissions to all study programmes will be made available at: https://haeyliopistoon.fi/valinnat-2020-muutokset/

Questions relating to student admissions and their organisation can be sent to: valintakokeet2020(at)uef.fi.

For further information, please contact:

Academic Rector Tapio Määttä, tel. +358 50 575 1589, tapio.maatta (at) uef.fi

Unifi: University entrance exams to be replaced by alternative admissions procedures this spring

09.04.2020 Leave a Comment

The Finnish universities have concluded that, due to the coronavirus situation, organising traditional entrance examinations is not possible without compromising the safety of those involved. What makes guaranteeing safety impossible is the severity of the pandemic, the difficulty of identifying those at a higher risk for serious illness, as well as the risks associated with the examination situation itself.

In all, the Finnish universities organise hundreds of entrance examinations, which involve tens of thousands of applicants and thus cause large crowds of people to move within Finland and come into contact with each other. In line with the authorities’ instructions to avoid physical contact, the Finnish universities’ vice presidents for education have decided that the entrance exams in the spring and summer of 2020 will be organised using alternative means.

‘While we understand that this is a difficult and perplexing situation for the applicants, we simply cannot put anyone’s health at stake. There are up to thousands of participants in individual examinations. This means that whatever the precautions, the applicants’ arrival to and participation in the examinations would inevitably lead to a considerable number of contacts between people. Under these circumstances, we have no way of guaranteeing the safety of the applicants and staff involved’, says chair of the Unifi meetings for vice presidents for education Petri Suomala.

The universities will implement their student admissions procedures in a manner that takes into consideration the special characteristics of each field, while also making use of the joint admissions procedures as before. Traditional entrance examinations being out of the question, the universities may choose from a host of other means of admitting students, such as digital admissions procedures, online courses, certificate-based admission or the open university route. Small-scale entrance examinations may be organised taking careful precautions.

The shared objective of the universities is to start the 2020–2021 academic year in the autumn in accordance with the normal schedule.

‘The changes require no action from the applicants at this point’, says Suomala. ‘The alternative admissions procedures will take into consideration the applicants’ viewpoint and safeguard the equal opportunities for all eligible applicants to gain admission’, Suomala continues.

The universities will disseminate information on the changed admission procedures as soon as possible regarding the examinations scheduled for April. The details on all other entrance examinations will be communicated no later than 30 April. Information on the detailed examination arrangements will be disseminated before the examinations take place. This information will be made available in the Studyinfo portal and on the universities’ webpages, as well as on the webpages dedicated to the various joint admission procedures. In addition, all applicants are expected to read the email address they have given in the Studyinfo portal to ensure that they stay updated on the situation.

Additional information
Petri Suomala
Chair of the Unifi meetings for vice presidents for education
Universities Finland UNIFI
tel. +358 40 591 8044

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Month: April 2020