Welcome to Poland – foreign students at UPWr

At the Recruitment Office of Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences a Welcome Point has been launched to provide support to newly admitted foreign students in the process of adapting to the university and taking their first steps in Wrocław.

The Welcome Point employees from the Recruitment Office provide foreign students with in-office and online support in Polish, English, Ukrainian, Russian and German. They can explain procedures related to studying and legalizing one’s stay in Poland, as well as how to efficiently navigate around the university and where to look for information about Wrocław.

As Paulina Boroń-Kacperek, director of the UPWr Recruitment Office says: – At the Welcome Point foreign students admitted to the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences can get all the information they need for their day-to-day life, including how to get around the city, where to find a flat, if they don't want to live in the dormitories, how and where to get medical care and the right paperwork for it. We also provide them with information about setting up an account in a Polish bank and about other legal obligations.

The idea to create a Welcome Point came about when employees of the Recruitment Office noticed that foreign students often felt lost outside the university. – At the university, for example in the dean's office, foreign students usually knew what to do. However, there were areas of life where the language barrier and the lack of information on the Internet made it difficult to organise anything and they often had to turn to us for help – says the director of the UPWr Recruitment Office.

This semester, a total of 73 foreign students enrolled in studies in Polish and English, and the number is growing every year. Welcome Point offers help during their studies. It’s a place where foreign students can always come for help.

- Creating a Welcome Point was a great idea. It proves that UPWr cares about their foreign students. When I came to Poland, I was very stressed that something would go wrong, which is why such a place prepared especially for us, foreigners, is important. It makes me feel less foreign in my new country. I applied to several universities, but it was at UPWr that I met the most friendly and professional student service – says Lizaveta Siarchenia, a veterinary student from Belarus.

Fedir Komadinko, an environmental engineering student from Ukraine, and Marina Karaneuskaya, a human biology student from Belarus, have a similar opinion. They both emphasize how important it was for them to be able to ask for help in their native language and get answers to questions about (not only) student life in Wrocław.

The UPWr Welcome Point is located at the Recruitment Office at pl. Grunwaldzki 24a, room. 138.

Adaptation Month

In addition to the Welcome Point, the Center for Student Affairs and the Student Council have organized an Adaptation Month which is meant to help foreigners with an early and easy integration with Polish students at the start of their studies at UPWr, .

As part of the Adaptation Month, on Saturday, October 23, several events took place to help  foreign students integrate and get to know the capital of Lower Silesia. The first was a cruise on the river Oder, during which students who came to Wrocław from Turkey, Spain, Mongolia, Mauritius and Ireland, among others, had the opportunity to make new friends and enter the new academic year together.

During the second meeting, the students went on a tour of Wrocław with an English-speaking city guide. One of the trip’s main points was the Old Town, particularly the Four Denominations District – a place that reflects the religious and cultural diversity of Wrocław which is inhabited by people of many faiths, cultures and traditions. During the third event, the participants toured Wroclaw on a historic tram with a guide. This way, they got a chance to learn about the topography of the city and its characteristic points.

–I had a wonderful time today. The boat trip was a lot of fun and I did enjoy sightseeing the city. I think these activities are really helpful. I got to meet lots of new people outside of my own group today, and I feel like it helped students of different nationalities mix. Having other people and more friends is really helpful and reassuring especially in a country that is foreign to me – says Shania Mc Clusky, a student who came to UPWr from Ireland.

Setting up a Welcome Point by the Recruitment Office and organising the Adaptation Month by the Center for Student Affairs are part of two independent projects financed by the National Agency for Academic Exchange as part of the Welcome to Poland Program (2019 and 2020 editions). Both editions of the program are aimed at preparing universities for admitting foreign students, e.g. by conducting language courses and training for employees, organising integration meetings for students and simplifying administrative facilities.

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The events which were part of the Adaptation Month organized by the Center for Student Affairs in cooperation with the UPWr Student Council took place as part of the  "Increasing the UPWr's potential in the field of internationalization through comprehensive improvement of the competences of the administrative staff and improvement of service and facilitating the integration of foreign students" project, as part of the Welcome to Poland Program, 2019 edition.

Creating the Welcome Point was part of the "Optimization in the field of comprehensive service for foreign students through the organization of the Welcome Point UPWr and increased involvement of foreign students of UPWr in promotional activities of universities", project, as part of the Welcome to Poland Program, 2020 edition.