Student Ambassadors were invited at the Rectorate of the University of Bologna to get to know each other better and meet the Vice Rector for International Relations, with whom they had a Q&A session with the Vice Rector about their life as Student Ambassadors and international students at Unibo.
Date: 26 MAY 2022
Event location: In presence and online event
Type: Community Building
On the 26th of May, 27 Student Ambassadors representing 15 different countries joined us in the Rectorate for the very first Student Ambassadors’ Day. Our Student Ambassadors are international students who help the International Relations Strategy Support (IRSS) Unit with all their work promoting the university and making international students’ experience at Unibo the best it can be. The Student Ambassadors’ Day was a chance for us to meet all of them in person (since a lot of them signed up during the pandemic), to hear their ideas about the program and international student life in general, and to give them an opportunity to voice their opinions and make suggestions on how to improve the student experience. They had the chance to meet the Vice Rector for International Relations, Professor Raffaella Campaner, the IRSS staff and also just to enjoy themselves and meet the other Student Ambassadors.
We started off with some fun and games to break the ice and get to know each other in the Cortile del Pozzo courtyard. And everyone definitely learned a lot: whether it was finding someone who speaks 4 or more languages, or who thinks tagliatelle are better than lasagne, questions were flying about the courtyard. This all culminated with everyone split into two groups, spinning around like two giant wheels, for some ‘speed networking’, where they had just 90 seconds to find as many things as possible that they had in common with their partner before… “CHANGE”! After some group photos, it was time to head upstairs to the Sala VIII Centenario, one of the most impressive and historic rooms in the university, to talk with the Vice Rector.
Then came the real main event – the Student Ambassadors got their opportunity to ask questions, give suggestions, and have a dialogue with the staff and the Vice Rector herself. There was a lot of back and forth, a conversation rather than an interview. We heard the good, and also the not so good, of the Ambassadors’ experiences here at Unibo. For the positive comments, all the staff was pleased to hear that they were on the right course, that what they do every day helps international students to make the most of their time here. For the criticisms, it was a chance to hear what wasn’t going well, either because of issues with the university itself or because of external problems (like accommodation). Most of all, it was an opportunity to listen to suggestions from the people with first-hand experience, who could provide another point of view that might otherwise be overlooked. Through it all, between answers to the questions and explanations of what the university is doing to resolve the issues, Professor Campaner was there writing it all down in her notebook.
Then came the real main event – the Student Ambassadors got their opportunity to ask questions, give suggestions, and have a dialogue with the staff and the Vice Rector herself. There was a lot of back and forth, a conversation rather than an interview. We heard the good, and also the not so good, of the Ambassadors’ experiences here at Unibo. For the positive comments, all the staff was pleased to hear that they were on the right course, that what they do every day helps international students to make the most of their time here. For the criticisms, it was a chance to hear what wasn’t going well, either because of issues with the university itself or because of external problems (like accommodation). Most of all, it was an opportunity to listen to suggestions from the people with first-hand experience, who could provide another point of view that might otherwise be overlooked. Through it all, between answers to the questions and explanations of what the university is doing to resolve the issues, Professor Campaner was there writing it all down in her notebook.
The value of these suggestions comes from the experience these Ambassadors have, as students here at Unibo of course, but also as students from other countries with different education systems. They bring their experience from abroad, letting us know how things are done in their countries, contributing new ideas that can help change how things are done here, all with the goal of improving the experience for international students. This is what the Student Ambassadors program is all about. And the point is not to make Unibo more like an American university, or an English university, or a German university: the point is to look at the world, to see what works and what doesn’t, and to understand how it can be applied here while keeping the traditions and the ways of doing things that make Unibo unique.
In the end, the Q&A session lasted much longer than it was supposed to, because the comments just kept coming. And that wasn’t the end, because the Student Ambassador program is an ongoing project, which aims to give these representatives the chance to be the bridge between the university and its international students. When this group of Ambassadors moves on, maybe returning to their home country, maybe continuing to live and work in Italy, there will be new ones, because they provide Unibo with something that no member of staff can ever provide – the perspective of the Alma Mater’s 9,000 international students who live this experience every day. In fact, the call for interest is open now, if you think that the next Student Ambassador could be you.