Buddy Support

If you want to sign up straight away, please fill in this application form.
However, we suggest you read the information below first. It will give you an idea of what it means to become a buddy. If you still have any questions after that, please email us at incluusion@uu.nl.

Buddy Training

At the start of each block, we organize a 90-minute buddy training session. During this training, we focus on three main areas. First, we introduce the Incluusion program and explain the buddy support system, including the role and responsibilities of a buddy. Second, we provide an overview of the Dutch asylum system and discuss the challenges that Incluusion students may face. Finally, we engage in role-playing exercises and work through different scenarios to strengthen participants' intercultural communication skills and prepare them for real-life situations.

The buddy training for block 1 will take place on Thursday 26th of August from 14:30 - 16:00 at the Minnaert building

Are you unable to attend the buddy training? We can always share with you a 30 minute video about Incluusion, our students, the asylum procedure, intercultural communication, and a few case studies. Moreover we can also provide you with a buddy manual with tips and ideas on what to talk about and how to support the students during the block.

Speed-Friending event

At the start of each block we organize a speed-friending event. This event is for both buddies and Incluusion students. At the end of the event, you can tell us if you have any preferences about who you want to be matched with, so we can take this into account.

You will always be paired up with another buddy, and usually 1 to 3 Incluusion students. The exact group size depends on the number of applications we receive each block.

If you aren’t able to make it to the speed-friending event or if you didn’t have any preferences, we will match you based on study background (if possible), age and gender preferences.

Events

Incluusion organizes several other events each block, aimed to stimulate the interaction between buddies and Incluusion students and other interested people. Specific information about the location and programme of the events will also be shared with the buddies through email. Or check out our upcoming events now. We usually have at least an event each block where you get to know the city centre together, and a final event involving (free) food.

Communication and Preparation

On top of the social events, you will stay in touch with "your" students throughout the academic block. For instance, by chatting with them regularly on Whatsapp or Signal to discuss how their course is going, or by video-calling and talking about the beautiful Dutch weather 😉

You may be wondering if there is anything that you need to talk about specifically with ‘your’ Incluusion students. Or whether there are things you need to know about the asylum system in the Netherlands. Or whether you have what it takes to be a buddy. Then you can always email us at incluusion@uu.nl and ask us these questions.

Commitment

Being a buddy student will take up to two hours a week. When you sign up, you commit to being a buddy for one block. However, you are more than welcome to participate in the buddy program for several blocks! We’ve noticed that a lot of students end up being a buddy for a couple of blocks, or taking a break and joining again later.

You can sign up throughout the year and start at the beginning of the next block. If you want to sign up with a friend, you can indicate this on the form. Please do ask your friend to also sign up separately through the form. In that case, we will make sure that the two of you will be matched together.

Why should I sign up?

Being a buddy means you are a volunteer, so we cannot pay you for your time unfortunately. What we hear from previous participants, is that being a buddy broadened their world view, shifted their perspectives, and enabled them to get in touch with interesting people they normally would not have met. The events that we organize for our buddies are also lots of fun (and free!), if we might say so ourselves.

Lastly, being a buddy will definitely look good on your cv. We can provide you with a "proof of volunteer work" letter upon request.

Sign up now through our application form!

Once you have been accepted for your course at the UU through Incluusion, you will be invited to the Restart training. During this 2-day preparatory training we will share more information about the Buddy System and you will have the chance to sign up. Buddies are Dutch or international regular UU students who have volunteered to help Incluusion students on their way.

If you ever have any questions about the buddy system, please email incluusion@uu.nl.

What having a buddy looks like:

Together with 1 or 2 other Incluusion students, you will be paired up to 2 buddies. The exact group size depends on the number of applications we receive each block. Before the matching process, we will organize a speed-friending event for buddies and Incluusion students. At the end of the event, you can tell us your preferences (if you have any), so we can take those into account.

Events

Incluusion organizes several other events each block, aimed to stimulate the interaction between buddies and Incluusion students and other interested people.

Specific information about the location and programme of the events will also be shared with the buddies through email. Or check out our upcoming events now.

We usually have at least an event each block where you get to know the city centre together, and a final event involving (free) food.

Communication and Commitment

On top of the social events, you will stay in touch with your buddies throughout the academic block. For instance, by chatting with them regularly on Whatsapp or Signal to discuss how your course is going, or by video-calling and talking about the beautiful Dutch weather 😉

When you sign up for our buddy support, you commit to it for the duration of the academic block. If you wish to drop out, please always let your buddies and us know.

Why should I sign up?

From previous Incluusion students, we hear that having a buddy helped them with their social and academic integration. They had someone to talk to about:

• their course,
• the collaboration with the other (Dutch) students in their course,
• Dutch study life and culture,
• the teachers and their expectations,
• finding the right buildings/rooms,
• how to navigate Brightspace or Blackboard (university platforms) and using Teams,
• being in the Netherlands,
• getting used to things, etc.

Apart from that, joining the buddy system is a lot of fun: we organize many events, which will help with building a social life in the Netherlands! Most buddies and Incluusion students meet up around once every 2 weeks, or they go to the Incluusion events together.

Keep in mind that buddies can share their own experiences at the UU. But the buddies usually don’t have the same study background as you, so they cannot help you with specific knowledge questions. However, they can help you think about how to tackle an assignment, how to organize group work, how to prevent plagiarism, how to make/give a presentation, how to contact the teacher if you have a question, etc.