Questionnaire for Evaluation of the Foreign Students Experience at Umf Gr

A QUESTIONNAIRE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT

THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCE AT UMF “GR.T. POPA” IASI

Please fill in this questionnaire as sincerely as possible. Having your point of view as an international student at our University is important to us. Based on your answers, we will take further action in order to improve the University’s services for international students.

Please fill in or circle/ underline the appropriate answer and feel free to make comments to any of the questions (if there is not enough space on the form, please use a separate page and indicate the number of the question your are referring to).

Faculty: ......

Year of study: ......

Country of origin: ......

BEFORE LEAVING HOME

1. What kind of arguments was most convincing when you decided to come to Romania to study?

a) Academic reasons

b) Cultural reasons

c) Friends settled in Romania

d) Low tuition fee

e) Other (please explain): ………………………………………………………………………………………

2. How did you get knowledge about UMF “Gr.T. Popa” Iasi?

a) From the Internet

b) From friends

c) At an educational fair

d) Other (please explain):

3. How useful did this source of information prove to be for you? (On a scale of 1 to 5: 1= poor, 5= complete)

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5

4. How easy/ difficult was to locate Romania on the world map?

(On a scale of 1 to 5: 1= very easy, 5= very difficult)

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5

UPON ARRIVAL

5. Did you experience any difficulties upon arrival?

a) No

b) Yes (please explain): …………………………………………………………………………………...…

6. Do you think that a welcome party for international students would be a good idea at the beginning of each academic year?

a) Yes

b) No

c) I don’t know, but I have other ideas which might help, such as …………………………………………….

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

7. From your experience, should a welcoming team meet international students upon arrival and give them basic information about Iasi and the University?

a) Yes b) No, I don’t find it necessary

ADAPTING TO THE ROMANIAN CULTURE AND EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

8. Have you had the “culture shock” experience (feeling like all of a sudden you had to digest cultural differences you didn’t really understand and were perhaps not ready for)? How are you dealing with it? Was/ is there someone or something really helpful in this respect?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

9. How easy/ difficult is it for you to interact with the Romanian students, professors and administrative staff? Do people make you feel welcome here?

10. How well do you think that you have been able to integrate among the other students?

(On a scale of 1 to 5: 1= I did not integrate, 5= I have integrated very well)

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5

11. How would you rate your cultural exchange experience in terms of interacting and spending time with people from other cultures, including the Romanian culture? (On a scale of 1 to 5: 1= unsatisfactory or no interaction with other cultures, 5= excellent)

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5

12. What would you expect from a student counselor? Please explain.

(A student counselor at UMF Iasi is typically a teacher who is also responsible for guiding and helping students find solutions to different problems or problematic situations. At UMF Iasi, we call this person «tutore»).

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………......

13. Would you prefer a particular communication approach in the way teachers interact with international students? Please explain.

14. Which of the following methods of learning the Romanian language do you consider more useful?

a) Attending the compulsory courses of Romanian which are part of the curriculum
b) Taking additional lessons of Romanian with a teacher
c) Making friends with Romanian medical students and teachers at the University
c) Making friends with other Romanian people

15. What do you consider that would be the ideal number of students in a group of foreign languages?

a) Maximum 10 students

b) Around 15 students

c) More than 20 students

16. Would you be interested in participating in a "tandem" type of learning with another student from the University? (learning in tandem means to be alternately tutor and student in a situation of informal learning, voluntary and mutual accepted by two students, in which one student is teaching his colleague a language through authentic communication and learns from him another language the same way; the interlocutors are native speakers or at least B2 (medium +) level speakers in the language taught. Languages concerned are: Romanian, English and French.

a) Yes b) No

FINANCIAL COSTS

17. Please try to estimate your average living costs in Romania for 1 month (excluding the University fees):

……………… EUR

18. Your main source of money to cover for your costs is:

a) Scholarship

b) Loan

c) Family

d) Own savings

19. From the different fees and taxes for international students at the University, which ones would you exclude or reduce?

......

ACCOMMODATION

20. Your type of accommodation in Romania:

a) Student's hostel

b) Own rented flat

c) Flat shared with other students

d) Other (please explain): ………………………………………………………………………………………

21. Would you recommend the same type of accommodation to future students?

a) Yes b) No

22. How often do you have meal at the cafeteria?

a) Daily

b) Every week

c) Every month

d) Less than once a month

e) Never

STUDIES

23. How would you rate your academic experience? (On a scale of 1 to 5: 1= unsatisfactory, 5= excellent)

1– 2 – 3 – 4 – 5

24. Would you recommend our University to others as a study destination?

(On a scale of 1 to 5: 1= definitely yes, 5= definitely not)

1– 2 – 3 – 4 – 5

25. Have you received sufficient information and support from UMF “Gr.T. Popa” Iasi staff before and during your studies? (On a scale of 1 to 5: 1= none and/or of very poor quality, 5= a lot and/or of excellent quality)

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5

26. Have you ever considered asking for learning support (guidance or explanations)?

a) No

b) Yes (please explain and also indicate if you received it and how satisfied you were with it):

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

27. How would you evaluate the quality of the teaching? (On a scale of 1 to 5: 1= unsatisfactory, 5= excellent)

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5

28. How would you evaluate the quality of spoken English/ French by the teachers?

(On a scale of 1 to 5: 1= unsatisfactory, 5= excellent)

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5

29. How well equipped do you find the University’s lab facilities?

(On a scale of 1 to 5: 1= unsatisfactory, 5= excellent)

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5

30. How often do you use the University’s library?

a) Daily

b) Every week

c) Every month

d) Less than once a month

e) Never

31. Do you think that information concerning the timetable, curricula, examination schedule, regulations would be useful on the website ? (On a scale of 1 to 5: 1 = unsatisfactory, 5 = excellent)

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES AND FREE TIME

32. Did you find guidance, assistance and suitable places to develop extracurricular activities (e.g. sports, creative/artistic activities etc.)?

a) Yes

b) No

c) Somewhat

33. What activities other than studying do you like to engage in here?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

34. What kind of activities would you be interested in but for which you haven’t yet been offered the opportunity?

GENERAL

35. Does studying in Romania encourage you to consider the possibility of finding a job in an European Union country at the end of your studies?

a) Yes b) No

36. Have you experienced any serious problems during the time that you have been spending in Romania?

a) No

b) Yes (please explain): ……………………………………………………………………………………...

37. Please make a general assessment of your experience so far in Romania:

(On a scale of 1 to 5: 1= unsatisfactory, 5= excellent)

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5

We thank you for taking the time to fill in this questionnaire!

Once you have filled the questionnaire out, we kindly ask you to bring it to the International Relations Office or to send it by email to .

We appreciate your cooperation!