Alumni Network Toolkit: Send-Off Activity

Monteliusvägen, Södermalm

Do you still remember what it felt like preparing for your studies in Sweden? Were you wondering what the dark Swedish winters would be like, how to open a Swedish bank account, or maybe just about the price of a loaf of bread? Did you wish there was someone who could answer your questions about Sweden and student life at a Swedish university before you went? You could be that someone! After all, who better to answer students’ questions than alumni?

About

This toolkit is designed to help you organise a send-off event for students and researchers who are about to go to a Swedish university. The event targets students who have been admitted, have accepted their offer and are definitely going to study in Sweden.

The purpose of a send-off event is to:

  1. Prepare students for their studies in Sweden
  2. Inform students about the alumni network and its activities

By introducing students to the alumni network at an early stage, and letting them know what awaits for them when they return, they will be more likely to engage in alumni activities after their studies.

Please note that this makes a “send-off” different from a “pre-departure”. The send-off events function as a follow-up to the Pre-Departure events held by the Foreign Missions. The Send-Off will cover more in details, insightful and in more practical manners, first hand from the alumni and students currently studying. (more about this under “instructions and manuals”).

What is the difference between a Send-off and a Pre-departure activity?

Pre-departure activities target students who have received an offer of admission from a Swedish
university but have not necessarily accepted the offer yet. The purpose of the event is both to prepare
students for studying in Sweden but perhaps more importantly also to make them want to accept the
offer they have received from a Swedish university. A pre-departure event should be held in April or early May, before the deadline when students have to accept their offer. Pre-departure events are normally organised by a Swedish embassy or consulate, but preferably with the help of alumni.

Send-off activities target students who have accepted their offer from a Swedish university and are about
to go to Sweden for studies or research. The purpose is to prepare students for their time in Sweden
but also to make them feel part of the alumni community.
The events are normally held sometime June-August, before students have left for Sweden.
Send-off events can be less formal and more relaxed than pre-departure events

Instructions and manuals

Step-by-step manual (further down on this page)

Application form

Reporting instructions

Related Toolkit:

Study in Sweden Promotion activity

Welcome Back Event

Building blocks

Send-Off Activity Manual

Study in Sweden Pre-departure event presentation – Sharing Sweden

Step-by-step manual

  1. Decide on a date. Send-off events can be held from June until early August before students leave for Sweden. Make sure you can apply for financial support at least five weeks in advance.
  2. Reach out to the Swedish Embassy or the Swedish Institute to find out how many
    students/researchers were accepted and have confirmed their place at any Swedish university. Brief the embassy that you are planning on holding this event and be open for any collaboration. Usually the SI and the embassy cannot share any contact details to newly admitted students, so either the SI Alumni Team or embassy staff will have to help you send out invitations to your event.
  3. Find a good venue that is suitable for the number of new students. Maybe the Swedish embassy can host you?
  4. Check with the embassy to see if they have any materials (leaflets with information about
    Sweden, flyers, decorations) that you can use at you event. If not, reach out to alumni@si.se and ask if some can be sent (this has to be done at least five weeks in advance)
  5. Create a page for your event so that people can register. We suggest you use
    confetti.events or a similar service but it can be a facebook event or google forms or any other service that you find suitable.
  6. Post your event in the Sweden Alumni Activity Calendar.
  7. Consider organizing some sort of fika or snacks to have available to make the event more social.
  8. Prepare a programme. Components to consider:
    · Opening remarks from alumni network chairman
    · One or several alumni introduce the alumni network and its activities (could be the
    chairman in the open remarks)
    · Alumni share their experiences from their first days in Sweden
    · Alumni share their experiences from coming back from Sweden
    · Alumni share how their Swedish education has been beneficial for them in their
    professional life
    · Current students in Sweden join through video link to say hi
    · Q&A with a panel of alumni
    · Networking lunch, dinner or fika (depending on what time of the day the event is
    carried out)
  9. Contact SI (alumni@si.se) about inviting newly admitted students. SI cannot share any contact lists with you but can help to distribute invitations. Also send invitations to your alumni members.
  10. Have your event!
  11. Send in the report to SI, not more than two weeks after the event.

How to apply

Submit an application form to apply for this event.

How to report

Here you find the reporting instructions.

Contact

For more information, contact alumni@si.se.