Handbook for Buddies

Being a buddy is great fun! You get to participate in fun activities, you make new friends, and you learn a lot about yourself and others.
 
Surveys show that a good start can be essential for further success with your studies. Here, you as a buddy play an important role. By including everyone in the buddy group and ensuring that the new students get to know each other, you help them feel more secure in their new student life. In the long run, this can give them higher study mastery and better well-being.

And you get to know OsloMet better and gain valuable work experience.

Buddy course

Everyone who is going to be a buddy must attend a buddy course and sign a contract. Your buddy board organizes the buddy course in May/June, and you sign the contract for the course. If you have not received an invitation to a course before the end of June, you must contact your buddy board as soon as possible. If you can't attend the course in May, you must attend a joint collection course in August.

As part of the buddy course, you sign a buddy contract in which you confirm the responsibility and role you have taken on. In case of breach of contract or serious violations, you will lose your right to be a buddy. You will also not have access to events during buddy week.

Buddy contract (PDF)

Sponsor kick-off

Sponsor kick-off is August 11th 2024.

There will be a distribution of buddy t-shirts and "goodie bags" in Pilestredet 35.
In the Store Auditorium at Pilestredet 32, there will be a kick-off event with useful information and entertainment.

You will be told when and where to meet by your buddy board.

• Welcome ceremony on August 13th at St. Hanshaugen
• Concert at Chateau Neuf on August 13th
• Association day in Pilestredet 52 on August 15th

Activities for international students

You should keep this in mind to be a good buddy:

• Introduce yourself, do a get-to-know-you game and make sure that everyone in the buddy group has received your phone number.
• Create a chat or Facebook group so everyone knows where information is coming from and has a way to get in touch with each other and the buddies.
• Show the buddy group around the campus and in the local environment.
• Go to the student card drop-in with your group, so that everyone gets a student card. Also show them where it is a good idea to get syllabus books.
• Be ready to help and answer questions. Be positive and engaged and work so that the new students get to know each other and feel safe in the group.
• Respect the new students and their boundaries. It is important that you act decently and follow the applicable laws and regulations as long as you are a buddy.
• Don't be the buddy the new students have to look after. Rather, be a buddy who makes it safe for the new students and ensures that they get home safely. Ask if they want to be part of the buddy program the next day and get in touch if someone doesn't show up.
• Have a responsible (and sober) buddy in the buddy group every day who everyone can contact if something happens.

• Make dinner together with your group of students. Then you will get to know each other well. 
• Go to the movies, participate in a quiz, go bowling, watch impro theater or stand up.
• Organise a movie night or a board game night
• Have a barbecue in a park or at a beach
• Go to a museum
• Go walking along the Aker river
• Go camping in Nordmarka
• Have lunch at the Opera roof!
• Q&A, do they have any questions?
• Bring your students to a book store to shop the books they need.

Guided tour on campus

(Your Buddy association might have a guide already, ask them!)

You need to bring the new students on a guided tour on campus. They need to get to know the campus area. Remember that what might seem obvious to you can be quite overwhelming for new students.

At the back of the SiO-calendar there is a map that you and your students can use. 

Places you should visit

• The buildings where you have lectures and workshops. 
  • Show how to get to the different rooms in a building, where to find the toilets and places to work in nearby. 
  • Explain how to find the different rooms based on their room number. 
• Reading rooms and computer rooms
• Group rooms and work spaces
• Information center at your faculty / Servicetorget Kjeller
• The libraries (P32, P35, P48 and Kjeller)
• Computer helpers at the libraries
• The study workshops at P48 and Kjeller
• Student chaplain in P52
• The card center in P46
• IT Service Desk in P46
• The Student Parliaments office in P52
• The student ombudsperson in P52
• The Student Society Bislett (in P52)
• Cafeterias and coffee shops
• Akademika book stores

Guided tour

Take your group on a guided tour in the city around the campus area. A lot of them are new in town and need to get the city better. Listen to what the students want and need to know. Here are some suggestions of places to visit:

Oslo

• Take the tram, bus, metro or boat to well known places in the area.
• Both Oslo and Lillestrøm have city bikes, show them to your students!
• Visit one of these parks
  • Frognerparken
  • Torshovdalen
  • Voldsløkka
  • Myraløkka
  • Kubaparken etc.
• Nice weather? Go for a swim or relax at the beach:
  • The islands in the Oslo fjord, like Hovedøya
  • Huk at Bygdøy
  • Sørenga
  • Sognsvann
  • Tjuvholmen
• Be a tourist in your town and visit
  • The Opera
  • The sculpture park at Ekeberg
  • Barcode
  • Holmenkollen
  • Vigelandsparken
  • The Royal Castle
  • more suggestions at visitoslo.no

Kjeller/Lillestrøm

• Show the new students where they can rent a bike and cycle around
• Take the bus/train to famous places in the area
• Take a walk or have a picnic in one of the parks
  • Rådhusparken (city hall park)
  • Vollaparken
  • Elvebredden kunstpark (art park)
  • Lillestrøm skatepark
  • Sørumparken
  • Lillestrøm kirkepark (church park)
• Nice weather? Take a bath or relax on the beach
  • Nebbursvollen friluftsbad (outdoor pool)
  • Stampetjernet (pond)
  • Hvaltjern badeplass (beach)
• Be a tourist in your own city. Check out:
  • Lillestrøm Kultursenter (cultural center)
  • ODEON Kino Lillestrøm (cinema)
  • Åråsen Stadion / Lillestrøm (football team)
  • Kjeller Aero Center – 1912 (local airport)
  • Sørum fritidsgård (local farm with animals and leisure activities)
  • MiA - Akershus County Museum (visitgreateroslo.com)
  • Visit Romerike (visitgreateroslo.com)

Bring your students to the closest information/servicetorg or refer to the SiO calendar or student.oslomet.no

• Checklist for new students
• User account and password
• Student card and ID app
• IT help
• Studentweb
• Canvas
• Lecture schedules
• Support counselling
• University Library webpages

You can find contact information for the responsible person in your buddy board on each buddy program. If a serious incident occurs, it is also important that you contact the buddy coordinator at OsloMet.

Sikersiden.no

• Before starting your studies, you should familiarize yourself with the content of sikresiden.no. There you will find both preventive information adapted to you as a sponsor and what to do in a possible crisis situation.

•  To begin preparing to become a good buddy, take a look at this course at sikresiden.no about being a safe buddy.

Emergencies

Fire 110 • Police 112 • Ambulance 113

Emergency health care

• Oslo: 116 117
• Lillestrøm: 66 93 66 93
• Asker og Bærum: 116 117
• Security service at OsloMet: 409 11 000, this number is also on the backside of your studentcard.

Withdraw as a buddy?

If you cannot be a buddy, you must notify your buddy board as soon as possible, and by July 1 st. Remember that the board of buddies works on a voluntary basis and expects you to participate once you have signed up. If you say the day before that you can't take part anyway, it creates a lot of extra work for the buddy board.