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!
Nyyti.fi: #Letsdosomethin – Student’s Mental Health Day 2020
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
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
Restaurants Carelia in Joensuu and Snellmania in Kuopio starts student priced take away sale on 15 April 2020.
Take out lunch subsidised by Kela will become available for purchase to students in the Carelia (entrance A) and Snellmania (entrance I) restaurants starting next Wednesday, 15 April 2020. Lunch is available from Monday to Friday at 11–14. Students can purchase two take out lunches for themselves at a time, and they can also purchase take out lunch for one fellow student (2 + 2 lunches in total, a valid student card for both students must be presented). The restaurants have special instructions relating to hygiene and safety in place.
The Social Insurance Institution of Finland, KELA´s, meal subsidy for students is €1.94 per meal / day normally. Until 31 May 2020, you may have subsidy for 2 meals / day / student. The subsidy is deducted from the price of the meal at the student restaurant. You pay the discounted price, which is available only in participating student restaurants.
Follow us in Facebook. Welcome!
The Finnish universities are following up on the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and are carefully preparing for the practical arrangements of student admissions under these exceptional circumstances. Universities are preparing for different scenarios in close collaboration with Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish National Agency for Education in compliance with the authorities’ instructions.
If the coronavirus situation warrants changes to the entrance examination arrangements, the universities will disseminate information on them no later than 15 April.
– We fully understand that uncertainty about the future is weighing on the minds of many applicants and their families. They can, however, rest assured that universities will collaborate intensively and effectively to ensure that student admissions will run as smoothly as possible in these extremely challenging conditions, says chair of the Unifi meetings for vice presidents for education, Petri Suomala.
As pointed out by Minister of Science and Culture Hanna Kosonen, the Finnish higher education institutions, the ministry and the Finnish National Agency for Education are cooperating closely to stay abreast of the coronavirus situation. Suomala stresses that ensuring the safety of all those involved and preventing the spread of the virus are top priorities in all decision-making concerning admissions.
Another key consideration is ensuring the equal treatment of all students, something that in the universities’ shared view can only be accomplished through entrance examinations or similar student admissions procedures.
– The vice presidents for education are assessing developments in the situation and will formulate national policy solutions together. In addition, the universities have set up a pandemic working group of experts in university admissions to support the vice presidents in finding solutions, Suomala reports.
The universities’ common aim is to begin the academic year in the autumn according to the normal schedule. The universities have committed to carrying out the student admissions as well as possible under the current conditions.
Further information:
Petri Suomala
Chair of the Unifi meetings for vice presidents for education
Universities Finland
Tel. +358 40 591 8044
[email protected]
The University of Eastern Finland will extend the rights to study of its degree-seeking students and students of the Open University that are due to expire on 31 July 2020 until the end of 2020. The university acknowledges that for some students, the coronavirus situation may delay the progress of their studies. The study rights will be extended automatically and no action on the part of students is required.
“The well-being of our students is very important to us, and this is why we decided to extend their right to study. The coronavirus situation can cause anxiety and extra stress, but expiring study rights are now something our students don’t have to stress about,” Academic Rector Tapio Määttä says.
For further information, please contact:
Academic Rector Tapio Määttä, tapio.maatta(at)uef.fi, +358505751589
Director of Student and Learning Services Miia Turtiainen, miia.turtiainen(at)uef.fi, +358504382610
The security of Zoom, used in online teaching and meetings, has been much discussed in media recently. UEF has taken a closer look at the discussion and sorted out the security implications.
The Zoom service used in UEF is offered and implemented by CSC through NORDUnet. The service is located in Sweden and it’s used by Nordic education and science communities. Security and privacy statements of the service are in line with both European and national information security legislations.
The Zoom service offered by CSC is technically different from the free to use American Zoom service offered by Zoom Video Communications, Inc. The leaked phone numbers and credit card numbers mentioned in media do not apply to the Zoom service offered by CSC. The cloud storage feature has been disabled in the Zoom service used in UEF. Any recordings made of online teaching sessions or meetings have not been stored outside the EU, they have been stored in the users’ devices only.
Media has reported that the Attendee attention tracking feature in Zoom can be used by the organizer to track the activity of participants. This feature can only be used to see if a participant’s Zoom session is active not. This feature has been turned off by default in UEF and is now disabled completely, so the organizer cannot activate it anymore.
Media has also reported that the Zoom iOS app (iPhone, iPad), leaks device data to Facebook, and that Zoom has failed to mention this feature in its App Store EULA. The leaks were related to the app’s Facebook login feature, which passed on device data to Facebook when launching or closing the app. Zoom has removed this feature from the iOS app in the updated version 4.6.9., so updating the app from App Store is recommended. The device data passed on to Facebook contains only device technical information, which is by itself not enough to recognize a single user.
Furthermore, media has spotlighted an old vulnerability in Zoom, allowing an attacker to spy on the cameras and microphones in Apple MacBooks. The vulnerability was published in July 2019 and patched by Zoom in July 2019. It’s recommended to always use the latest versions of apps and install any security updates without delay.
It has also been reported that some Zoom meetings have received uninvited guests or been disrupted with inappropriate video clips. This is a common problem with online meetings. Anyone with the invite link may participate in open online meetings. The organizer can control participation with password or login requirements and choose if joining is allowed to anyone or registered users only.
If you have further questions regarding the security of Zoom, please contact: [email protected]
Dear students.
Please respond this short survey for our University students. This survey is to develop support and support material for studying online. You can respond to the survey anonymously. Responding to the survey takes only a while and any feedback is valuable to us. Thank you!
On Thu, April 9th we are at your service online by chat, e-mail and telephone, 9am – 4pm
All online services are closed from Fri, April 10th to Mon, April 13th, 2020.
More information: [email protected]
The Finnish Government has decided on 30 March 2020 to extend until 13 May 2020 the duration of the previously imposed restrictions to slow down the spread of coronavirus infections and to protect those at risk. The restrictions on early childhood education, teaching and education and training will continue at different levels of education. At the same time, preparations will be made for extending the exceptional arrangements in education until the end of term, if this is deemed necessary for containing the epidemic.
This means that the facilities of the University of Eastern Finland will remain closed, and teaching and working continues online.
Please follow the university’s coronavirus website at www.uef.fi/koronavirus. If you have any questions about the coronavirus situation, please send an email to [email protected].
