THUAS offers similar study and support services to its students as TAMK does. We also already collaborate extensively with THUAS in various areas, such as Uninovis, student exchanges and The Hague Network. However, study counselling has often remained on the margins of this collaboration, so it was time to focus specifically on guidance and wellbeing services. What we found was that the structure of counselling and guidance is quite similar, although there are naturally some differences. For example, at THUAS, student counsellors do not guide students on the content of their studies or support them in making study-related decisions, whereas this is an essential part of a student counsellor’s role at TAMK. Similar to TAMK, they meet students mainly on an individual basis and help them with various study-related concerns and challenges. Student counsellors need to understand many aspects of students’ lives and study ability, as studying is only one part of a student’s life.
What we could perhaps learn from THUAS is the way they support mentors in their work and professional development. Their mentoring system is quite similar to our teacher tutoring. Mentoring is organized more intensively at the beginning of studies (as it is at TAMK), and mentors meet with student groups several times during the academic year. Mentors are also expected to develop their competencies in coaching, guidance and mentoring-related topics. THUAS provides some of these development opportunities itself, but teachers can also seek out and participate in training opportunities offered outside their own university.
We also liked the way they had published an infographic about the questions students might have during their studies. This infographic helps students to see who to contact in different kinds of situations.
We also appreciated the infographic they had published about the questions students might have during their studies. This infographic helps students identify whom to contact in different situations. Our visit to THUAS was very well organized and prepared, thanks to our wonderful host, Sabine Amft. We found a self-organized international week to be the best option for us, as our main focus was on study counselling and well-being support. We were very satisfied with our visit and would like to encourage others to gain international experience as well!
The visit also led us to think about how we could continue to share good guidance and support practices between colleagues so keep your Eye on TAMK.
Written by:
Maija Joensuu and Anu Vaaraniemi, TAMK, student counsellors
