During the exchange period, the student completes courses offered by the host university. After the exchange, the studies are included into the student’s degree at the University of Eastern Finland on the basis of the host university’s transcript of records.
Exchange student’s course offerings
Many foreign universities have their own course offerings for exchange students. In practice, this means that it is not always possible for exchange students to choose courses freely from all the courses offered by the university. In addition, host universities may exclude certain fields from exchange studies. As a rule, the restrictions and course offerings are university-specific, and often the information can be found on the host university’s own website.
Please carefully read the website of the host university you are interested in – you should try to find information that specifically concerns international and exchange students, not degree students. As an exchange student, you are not a degree student at the host university, which means that the same courses are not always available for exchange students.
On the selection of courses
The courses to be completed during the exchange are selected from the host university’s course offering for exchange students. The selection of courses can be affected by, for example, the following:
- Exchange programme of the host university: does the university have its own, limited selection of courses for exchange students, or field-specific study offerings?
- Field of agreement in field-specific exchange destinations: In Erasmus+ destinations, studies can mainly be selected in the field for which the destination is contracted. When going to the destination of the major subject, the exchange should include studies in the major subject, and when going through the minor, studies in the minor subject. Therefore, as a rule, it is not possible to go to the exchange destination of a minor subject and study your own major or vice versa.
- Language of instruction: in which language does the host university offer teaching? Is the selection in English more limited, i.e. do exchange students have to be more flexible in their course choices? It is the student’s responsibility to find out the language of instruction – so please try to take this into account when researching the websites of exchange universities.
Discuss possible course selections and inclusion of studies with the departmental contact person of your department/department.
Credits abroad
Approximately 20–30 ECTS credits of courses at the host university should be completed during the exchange. The ECTS system is commonly used in Europe, i.e. a credit in Italy, for example, is directly proportional to a Finnish credit. Outside Europe, on the other hand, the definition of a credit may vary, i.e. depending on the destination country, one credit there may correspond to several UEF credits.
The host universities often have their own recommendation for exchange students on the number of credits or courses (min/max), which corresponds roughly to that 20–30 ECTS credits in terms of workload. We recommend that students primarily follow the host university’s possible instructions regarding the number of courses and credits.
Studies completed remotely at the University of Eastern Finland during the exchange period (online and distance courses) are not included in the number of credits for the exchange period – during the exchange, the student should primarily take courses offered by the host university.
Study plan during the exchange, AKA Learning Agreement
All exchange students must draw up an exchange study plan before going on exchange or at the latest at the beginning of the exchange. A Learning Agreement is a plan for exchange studies and their inclusion to your degree. In Erasmus+ funded exchanges, the student prepares an electronic study plan, and in other programmes (e.g. bilateral exchange, ISEP exchange), the student fills in UEF’s own LA form.
N.B! The Learning Agreement is mainly compiled after you have been selected as an exchange student at the University of Eastern Finland in the first phase of the application process.
Learning Agreement forms can be specific to each exchange programme. Follow the instructions sent to you.
As a rule, the student is responsible for ensuring that the information recorded in the study plan is correct. In the digital learning agreements of the Erasmus+ programme, the student also enters a plan for credits for studies. Regardless of the exchange program, when doing LA, it is important to contact your department’s international affairs contact person and go through the form with them before signing.
In general, exchange studies can be credited to the degree in two ways, either as inclusion or as a substitution. If you intend to apply for direct substitution of courses for your exchange studies, discuss the matter with the teacher of the course to be substituted in advance. Substitution is always decided by the responsible teacher of the course.
LA is signed by three parties: the student themselves, the departmental contact of the student’s department, and the responsible person at the host university. International Mobility Services do not sign study plans.
All exchange students will receive instructions by email on how to fill in and return the Learning Agreement. Please read the instructions carefully!
In a nutshell:
- Choose courses from your host university’s website (or other provided source) and fill out the Learning Agreement form your exchange coordinator has sent you.
- Have your departmental coordinator of international matters at UEF approve (i.e., sign) your LA.
- Don’t forget to sign your LA yourself!
- By the time your exchange begins, please have the contact person at your host university approve (i.e., sign) your LA.
- Scan/take a high-quality picture of the document and upload it to your original application on SoleMOVE. NB! Erasmus+ funded exchange (Erasmus+, YUFE, Nordplus, Nordlys) students will compile their LAs in SoleMOVE, and they do not need to upload it separately.
The forms you will need will be sent to you via email. You may also find the forms on Kamu: forms and reporting of outgoing student exchange.
Erasmus+: Digital Learning Agreement (DLA)
Students need to complete Digital Learning Agreement (DLA) for their Erasmus+ study exchange. DLA is also used for Nordlys and Nordplus study exchanges funded with Erasmus+. Exchange coordinator will send you instructions on how to fill in the Digital Learning Agreement. Digital Learning Agreement can also be called as an Online Learning Agreement (OLA).