Welcome Week for Partnership Students

As part of the Faculty International Partnerships Office's mandate to help our students to have the most successful time possible in Southampton, this September we ran a series of welcome events throughout the first week of term, or 'fresher's week' as it's known in the UK.

As a follow-on from our Meet and Greet service, this week the FIPO organised a series of helpful events for our students. This included a library skills session run by the library team, a campus tour given by Meng Zhan, our bilingual student helper, and a subject-specific induction event which focussed particularly on the potential struggles of studying in a new country in a second language. We also assisted our students by signposting other University events, such as the Student Groups Fayre run by the Union.

As the FIPO has been working with international students for many years, we have built up an excellent rapport with academic representatives from across the Faculty of Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences. We draw upon this knowledge to give students the best subject-specific information possible, including possible pitfalls they may have with the UK University system, as well as common cultural differences which can cause friction.

The main purpose of these events is not only to help our students ease into the University of Southampton lifestyle, but also to make them aware that if they have any problems at all during the course of their time here, they can always speak to us at FIPO to gain the best advice and information.