Exchange Student Life at Jamk

All exchange and double degree students are expected to take part in the orientation, which is organised at the beginning of each semester. The orientation recordings will be available in the student intra later for those who can't be present. A lot of useful information on living in Finland and studying at Jamk is provided during the orientation.

The orientation schedule and programme is sent to the accepted students via email together with the acceptance and information letter.

Exchange and double degree students receive an information folder from their tutors. The folder contains the following:

• a meal subsidy card for student priced lunch
• info from Jamk's library
• Visit Jyväskylä city guide
• campus and city maps

Exchange and double degree students get service and guidance throughout their exchange from Jamk. From applying to arrival, studying and going back home, International Services and the Academic Advisors of the Schools support Jamk's exchange students.

International Services gives general guidance and handles the documents at all stages of the exchange.

Academic advisors give School specific guidance related to the studies at Jamk. They also help exchange students choose the courses they will complete during their exchange.

Both International Services and academic advisors help with any difficulties the student might face during the exchange.

Jamk and the student union JAMKO provide tutoring for all degree, exchange and double degree students of Jamk. The fellow students trained for the task help the new students in matters concerning studies and student support services. They also provide guidance in practical matters, e.g. housing, permits and getting adjusted to a new culture and country.

International Services provides JAMKO a list of the accepted exchange and double degree students who signed up for the tutoring service in their exchange application. Tutors are advised to contact the exchange students via email well before the beginning of the exchange period. Tutors meet the exchange students in Jyväskylä upon their arrival, within reasonable hours and upon mutual agreement.

In addition to tutoring, the student union JAMKO organises culturally oriented events, travels, tours and parties for students. These events add some spice to students' event calendars and bring great experiences to exchange students as well. Foreign students get to see Finland at its best and Finnish students get a chance to practice their international and language skills. Most importantly, everyone gets to have a good time.

Through JAMKO you can also get a student card that gives you access to all student discounts available. With JAMKO’s student card you can gain discounts on train and bus tickets, cafés, various services (e.g. hairdressers, theatres, sports services, events etc.) as well as student lunch. You can even use it as your library card at Jamk.

JAMKO's website provides more information about the membership benefits and upcoming events.

Exchange and double degree students can study Finnish on different levels, e.g. Finnish for exchange students for beginners, Finnish 2 to continue from the basics. Other foreign language courses of different levels where teaching is in English are also offered.

The Language Centre is responsible for all language and communication teaching at Jamk.

All students have access to Jamk's computing services. Students need a personal user account in order to access the ICT systems. Exchange students receive their user account information before the orientation.

The ICT services include Computer Labs, wireless networks around the campus, Jamk e-mail account and mailing lists, Peppi student management system, Elmo student intra, online studying environment Moodle etc.

Read more about Digital learning skills and Jamk's online learning environments at https://oppimateriaalit.jamk.fi/digitallearningskills/online-learning-environments/

Further information about Jamk's ICT services and the Helpdesk can be found through the link below.

Every Jamk campus has a student restaurant that serves lunch. For students entitled to a discount, the price of a warm meal in the student restaurants starts from 2.95€ on weekdays, depending on the chosen meal option.

Exchange and double degree students receive a meal subsidy card for getting student priced lunch in their information folder upon arrival.

The assessment scale may range from zero to five:

• 5 (Excellent)
• 4 (Very Good)
• 3 (Good)
• 2 (Satisfactory)
• 1 (Sufficient)
• 0 (Fail)

or a course is passed without a grade (P).

A course is assessed as Fail (0) if a student fails to reach the minimum outcomes for course completion. The same grading scale is applied to retakes.

Jamk uses the ECTS credit system, which means that the courses and study modules are credited according to the amount of work they require to attain the requested objectives.

Read more about competence assessment at Jamk through the link below.

In the Finnish grading system each student is graded on their individual performance, not in relation to the performance of others. There is no rule or expectation for how many students in a course can receive which grade, i.e. no grading curve is used.

The Finnish system is used also at Jamk University of Applied Sciences, where the grading scale is not a proportionate scale. Since the ECTS grading scale is based on an expectancy of the distribution of different grades, the two grading scales are not fully comparable.

Exchange students enroll for courses according to the course choices in their Learning Agreement. Course enrolments are completed during the enrolment periods:

• Autumn semester: 2 August - 5 September (+ additional enrolment periods as needed in each School at the beginning of September)
• Spring semester: 1 November - 9 January (+ additional enrolment periods as needed in each School at the beginning of January/February)

Course enrolments are done in the Peppi Service, which exchange students can access with their Jamk user account.

If a student arrives to Jamk after the semester has already begun and the enrolment period in Peppi is already closed, the student should contact the Academic Advisor of the School to agree about completing the course enrolments.

Each student creates their own study path by choosing the courses they prefer. Therefore, Jamk cannot give any ready-made course schedule to exchange students at the beginning of the semester. Students can check course timetables and search for course implementations in the Timetable engine. Instructions for using the timetable engine can be found in Jamk's online guidance materials.

When students enroll for courses after the exchange period has begun, they should check and make sure that their course schedules do not overlap.

Further information about the timetable engine and course schedules will be shared during the orientation.

Students must be present in the first contact lesson of each course. If there is a valid reason for absence, students must personally contact the teacher of the course before the first contact lesson. In online courses, students must inform the teacher about participation within two weeks.

During the first contact lesson students will hear about the basic elements of the course. The teacher will e.g. explain the course outline, the schedule, methods used, possible group assignments, how the course is assessed and when the exam is held. 

If a student has enrolled for a course, but does not show up or contact the teacher, the course is assessed as failed.

There are no separate exam periods at Jamk. Instead, the course examination takes place during the semester, usually at the end of the course.

The lecturer of the course explains the methods of assessment, course assignments and exams during the first lessons.

Student workload in full-time studies is 1600 hours per academic year, which corresponds to 60 ECTS credits. If the annual hours are allocated to 40 weeks, the workload of each week is 40 hours.

Respectively, the total workload of a semester is 800 hours of student work (30 ECTS credits).

One ECTS credit is equivalent to about 27 hours of student work. This can consist of contact lessons, online learning, group work, independent study, preparation for exams, exams, etc.

Jamk uses the European ECTS system (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) for the transfer and accumulation of study credits and grades.

The annual workload for full-time studies is 60 ECTS or 1600 hours per year. Consequently, 1 ECTS credit equals 27 hours of student work.

International Services issues an official Transcript of Records for all exchange and double degree students. This is done after the students have completed their courses as required and teachers have graded them. Based on the Transcript of Records, students can apply for credit transfer at their home institution for studies completed at Jamk.

The final Transcript of Records is made based on the Learning Agreement and the course enrolments in Peppi. This means that all the courses chosen in the study plans should also be in the Transcript of Records. The grading scale is also shown in the Transcript of Records.

When

International Services sends the Transcript of Records according to the following timetable:

• for spring semester/the whole academic year by the end of September at the latest
• for autumn semester by the end of February at the latest

While waiting for the official transcript, students can download a preliminary transcript of records with an electronic signature via the student desktop in Peppi.

How and to whom

Jamk applies a modern digital authentication solution called PassTrace to protect the certificates given by Jamk. The service includes also Exchange Student's Transcript of Records, protecting the certificate from counterfeiting and other misuse. 

Jamk does not issue paper copies of transcripts, but the final transcripts are uploaded to the student's Mobility Online account. Students may download and print out their own transcript with the digital signature of the issuing institution as a QR code. The signature and its verification process is digital and therefore, a copy of the original document can be used without compromising the protection.

Read more and proceed to the verification service through the link below. 

Further information about Transcript of Records:
incoming(at)jamk.fi

A Degree Certificate by Jamk is granted following the steps below:

1. The student fills in the Double Degree Certificate Application Form and delivers it to the home institution's representative.
    
2. The student’s home institution finalises the form and delivers it with a certified copy of the Degree Certificate and Transcript of Records given by the home institution to Jamk’s Student Services.
    
3. Student Services registers the credit transfers in the student’s Jamk transcript of records in the student management system according to the home institution’s transcript of records.
    
4. Head of Department verifies that the double degree can be granted.

The Degree Certificate granted by Jamk is in Finnish, but the student also receives its English translation automatically. The Degree Certificate has to be applied for within six months after graduation from the home institution, but still within the maximum study period of Jamk. The Degree Certificate is issued after Jamk has received the student’s documents from the home institution and the Head of Department at Jamk has approved and signed the Degree Certificate Application.

The official Degree Certificate is sent in electronic format. The electronic certificate is a pdf file that has been signed by the Rector using a Digital and population data services agency certificate. After graduation the student will receive a link by email to download their electronic certificate within 30 days. Thus, it is essential that students enter a valid email address in the application.

The Degree Certificate includes a transcript showing all completed studies with grades. A Diploma Supplement is also granted to the students who have completed the double degree, automatically together with the diploma, in English and without payment. The Diploma Supplement includes information about the institution, studies and Transcripts of Records as well as the level and status of the double degree in the Finnish educational system.

The partner institution with which the double degree was carried out is also mentioned in the Degree Certificate and Diploma Supplement.

Further information about Double Degree Students’ final Degree Certificate: studentservices(at)jamk.fi

Incoming exchange students may submit requests to Jamk University of Applied Sciences’ International Services for certified copies of the documents related to their exchange period at Jamk. Please notice that the copies are subject to charge.

Processing the request takes about seven (7) working days (note: during holiday periods, the processing may take longer).

International Services delivers copies only in the language of the original documents. International Services does not offer translation services. If students need translations of any documents, they must have the documents translated by an official translator and cover the costs themselves.

International Services at Jamk University of Applied Sciences only certifies documents that it has issued originally.

Orders and payments as well as additional details may be made and found in our web shop.