There are only a few days left before the onset of autumn and the start of a new academic year, which means that, very soon, thousands of first-year students will enter the unknown world of student hustle, lessons, and exams. However, they have guides – tutors who will help them adapt to the new conditions.
Any student can become a tutor, but before that they need to undergo special training. That is why the SSU Council of Undergraduates and Postgraduates, together with the Office of Youth Policy, has been conducting the Tutors School since 2012.
The next Tutors School at Saratov State University was held in August 25-26. Second- and third-year students attended informative lectures and master-classes to gain the necessary knowledge about the tutor's activities and interaction with first-year students.
During the opening of the School, Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Organisational Work Anton Golovchenko addressed the audience with a welcoming speech.
‘I would like to note that you, future tutors, have a very important and responsible task, it will depend on you how first-year students will enter the university life, how they will take their first exams and how much they will be able to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the student life. It is you who should tell them about all the opportunities that our university provides. And I would also like to ask you to tell freshmen about your love for the university, the city, the region, and the country as a whole. Until you yourself show such a warm attitude towards your hometown in your student environment, it will not come on its own,’ he said.
The host of the event, Chair of the SSU Council of Undergraduates and Postgraduates Vladislav Bykov invited students to take part in the quiz. The questions were related to the history of the Tutors School, as well as to the peculiarities of tutoring activities. The winner of the quiz was Olesya Gordiyenko, a student of the Faculty of Biology.
Immediately after the opening of the School, the Who Is A Tutor? lecture was held. Anastasia Dankovtseva, the head of the Tutor direction, spoke in detail about the basics of tutoring.
‘Let's just say that a tutor can be someone who has passed the path of self-determination in culture, has experience of active and proactive behaviour. Tutors take care of the educational process from different angles, “root” for each of their freshmen, help them find their own path in education, facilitate it somewhere, and give new opportunities somewhere,’ Anastasia explained.
After the lecture, the participants of the Tutors School were invited to go outside, divide into teams, and play in interactive games.
At the lecture on social support for students, Head of the Office of Social Work Natalia Sergeyeva commented on receiving and applying for a social scholarship, as well as about finding the necessary information on the university's website for the successful work of a tutor. She explained that students were able to take part in wellness projects of the Centre for Student Inclusive Support and Social Adaptation, answered the questions about the measures to support foreign students, about types of material, as well as psychological, and medical assistance.
The tutors learned about the scholarship from a lecture by Head of the Education Office Sergei Udalov. He explained that every student had the right to apply for an academic scholarship, as well as for government and presidential scholarships.
On the same day, Deputy Director of the Institute of Physics Asel Adilova gave a lecture on VK Messenger as one of the communication services for first-year students.
On August 26, the participants of the Tutors School were expected to attend new classes dedicated to teamwork, the structure of the university, and time-management. Future mentors took part in the Tutor's Roast. With the help of this unusual form, the organisers of the School tested the students' knowledge about the upcoming activities.
‘I always thought of becoming a tutor because I wanted to help first-year students. They came to the university after School and do not know anything about it. Studying at the Tutors School was unforgettable. The speakers have always been interesting, funny, and ready to share their knowledge and skills. Most of all, I liked the quests in the training, they literally immersed students in difficult situations that may happen,’ Danila Yolkhin, a participant of the Tutors School, a student of the Institute of Physics, summed up two days of classes.
It should be noted that 150 students were trained at the Tutors School. All of them have successfully mastered the programme and received electronic certificates.
