Mid Sweden University Ranked First by International Students | 2012 |
Pick-up service, Cinnamon Bun’s Day and “one way in” for all questions. These were some of the efforts that made Mid Sweden University number one in the list among international students.
In an international survey in 2012, Mid Sweden University was ranked first at welcoming international students and at response time/response rate to international inquiries. This was a huge improvement compared to 2012, when the first survey was made.
The reason for the success was the project “International Desk”, which was run by Amanda Berglund, administrator and coordinator at Mid Sweden University in Sundsvall, in collaboration with what was then the Student Centre. The project was carried out between 2011 and 2013, after which it became part of the regular activities. The purpose was to improve the reception of and the service for the international students.
– Among other things, we established a service function with “one way in”, that is to say a single e-mail address where the students could get answers to general and practical questions. The information accessibility was also improved by an international newsletter, Amanda recounts.
And that wasn’t nearly all. The introduction days and the Buddy programme were developed and a pick-up service was started which picked up students by car when they arrived, drove them to get their key and saw them safely to their accommodations. A number of feel-good activities were also arranged, such as the "Cinnamon Bun’s Day" and “Christmas Traditions”.
The student satisfaction survey International Student Barometer (ISB) is a global survey that is conducted by the company I-graduate. The initiative to participate in the survey was taken by the Division of Communications at Mid Sweden University.