Social affairs letter 8/2024
Greetings to everyone, especially to our new freshers! Here’s some social affairs information related to well-being and housing. If you have any questions regarding these topics, feel free to contact us via email at sopo@luuppi.fi.
Eetu and Jesse, Luuppi's 2024 Social Affairs Representatives
TL;DR
- TREY’s Fresher's Guide
- FSHS
- The student’s health care fee
- New students have difficulty finding housing and emergency accommodation
- Low-threshold mental health services.
- Kamula - Students' well-being
The freshers issue of LuuppiSanomat provides an initial glimpse into student life from the perspective of the subject association (unfortunately only in Finnish). For a broader introduction to being a fresher in Tampere, check out the Fresher’s Guide by TREY, the Student Union of Tampere University, which you can find here. The guide contains comprehensive information about the student community, the university, and Tampere as a student city.
FSHS Services
The Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS) website has a dedicated page for new students, where you can find information about the available services. You can find the page here.
The student’s health care fee
University and university of applied sciences students are required to pay a health care fee to Kela. The fee must be paid for each semester. Kela does not send an invoice for this fee, so remember to pay it yourself. You can pay the health care fee via OmaKela. More detailed information about the fee and its due dates can be found here.
New students have difficulty finding housing and emergency accommodation
Unfortunately, this year many new students have faced significant challenges in finding housing in Tampere. Student Tampere organizes emergency accommodation every autumn, and emergency accommodation is also available through TREY during September. More information can be found on TREY's website here.
Low-Threshold Mental Health Services
Examples of low-threshold mental health services include Nyyti ry, Mieli ry, and HelsinkiMissio. Nyyti ry, in particular, is an organization that promotes students' mental health and study ability. On campus, support and guidance are provided by, for example, the Navigaattori and the university's various guidance services, which are listed on TREY’s website.
Kamula – Student Well-being
Kamula, a meeting place for students, is located in Amuri. You are welcome to spend relaxed free time there and meet other students. There is always a staff member present, and often volunteers as well. More information about Kamula can be found on Ahjola's website here.
Other support services
There are numerous other support services available in and around the university community, as well, like:
- University chaplains (conversation support)
- Student Affairs Office (advice in practical matters related to your studies; registration, right to study, documents)
- IT Helpdesk (IT services)
- International Mobility Services (internationalisation during studies)
- Exam services (examination procedures and support)
- Language Centre (communication and language studies)
- S2/L2 instructor (guidance in matters related to the Finnish language, language skills and language skills requirements)
- Library (materials and help for finding resources)
- SportUni’s exercise counselling
- Trey (advocacy & (hobby) associations)
- FSHS (health service) & Student health meeting (if a student’s ability to study is impaired, the student, the institution of higher education and FSHS representatives should meet to discuss the support measures)
- HUBS (community of entrepreneurially inclined students)
- Tree (continuing education)
- Hidden Gems (aims to facilitate networking and full integration of international spouses in Tampere Region)
- International House Tampere (single service point for supporting internationals with studying, working and living in Tampere)
- Mainio (multilingual information and guidance services of the City of Tampere)
- Relocation Guide to Tampere (for example housing, banking & insurance)
- InfoFinland (information on all kinds of aspects about living in Finland)