UTMN Summer School for international students will be held online
The University of Tyumen has been holding orientation meetings for foreign students since 2017, says Tair Rakhmanov, head of the International Student & Scholar Services Department and International Relations Specialists Unit. Usually, these meetings were organized for international students who came to Tyumen for the first time; here they are brought together and taught about everything there is to know about the university, city, and country. This year the information will be available for students online.
“This year we were planning to make several separate summer schools for students from Korea, the Arab world, China, Latin America. These schools are a major point of attraction for potential students of UTMN. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we had to change plans. So we decided to move the event to online and organize a big Summer School available to everyone: for already enrolled students, for distance-learning students, and potential students,” says Tair Rakhmanov.
The online Summer School offers an extensive syllabus. Here you can find an introductory course to the Russian language, learn the ins and outs of the MODEUS system, rules of living in dormitories, keeping up with the life on campus, how to get the bonus card exclusive to UTMN students –"Vmeste", and even tips on how and where to look for a part-time job.
The program goes beyond teaching. Every day we will suggest fun activities for students: what to see in Tyumen, where is the best pizza spot in town, how to arrange a cool photoset with just your phone. There is even a dance master class available as one of the activities for the day.
“Foreign Students Association team was eager to give this master class. Latin American dances are very popular now. As, by the way, are the Spanish language classes taught at the University of Tyumen. Of course, if not for the pandemic, we would have organized the dance master class at the dance hall. For now, it will be a video tutorial,” comments Tair Rakhmanov.
The school turned out to be in demand among potential and enrolled students from Afghanistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Ghana, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, China, Colombia, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Palestine, Syria, Sudan, Uganda, France, Ecuador, Eritrea, South Korea. By the end of last week, the organizers had received about two hundred and fifty applications. This was a pleasant surprise for the organizers. Unfortunately, the program can except only one hundred and twenty participants.
“Thirty students will be admitted to the Russian language classes, based on the results of the motivational essays. However, the rest of the applicants will be able to listen to the lesson in Zoom, just not participate in it, –explains Tair Rakhmanov. – Also, about fifty people who did not previously study Russian applied to the Summer School. With them in mind, we have developed a separate course for beginners, where they will learn about the university and the city."
For further reference:
The Ministry of Science and Higher Education reports that students will be able to start the new academic year on its usual date, including international students. At the same time, it is emphasized that further decisions will depend on the epidemiological situation in a particular region of the Russian Federation. For students from other countries, who will not be able to come to the beginning of classes due to restrictions on coronavirus, the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, together with Russian universities, is working on various formats for the start of the academic year. One of them is to organize distance learning for students until the corresponding restrictions are lifted.
Source: UTMN Department of Strategic Communications