New Student’s Guide
What is Helga?
Student Coveralls
Coveralls are the official students´uniform. They create a sense of community, and make it easier for you to recognize your fellow students. Helga´s coveralls are petrol blue, and they are used by all Haaga-Helia students. Every coverall purchase comes with the official coverall etiquette, which tells you how to wear your coveralls correctly.
The price of the coverall is 39 euros for Helga members and 78 euros for others.
Helga
What is Helga?
Helga is the Student Union of Haaga-Helia, whose statutory function is to provide support and help to all our students in advocacy matters from orientation week to the end of their studies. Read more here.
How to become a member?
You can easily become a member of Helga via Kide.app. If you have not yet registered for the service, you must first register to Kide.app. When purchasing the student union membership, you need your own student number, the e-mail address issued by the University of Applied Sciences and the campus, degree program, and start date of the studies for the introduction of a digital student card.
Find out more about the membership here.
Student ID
Ordering a physical student card is no longer be possible and the member ID has moved to a digital format exclusively. With the digital member ID, you redeem local and national student benefits and prove your membership conveniently by phone.
If you have questiones or problems you can always contact us via our customer service chat or by sending an email to jasenpalvelu@helga.fi. Remember to be as specific as you can in case you are contacting us in case of a problem. In problems regarding Student ID you can also contact Slice (info@slice.fi) or Pivo (asiakaspalvelu@pivolompakko.fi).
● Slice
In the app you can browse student benefits based on i.e. location, company, field of business or with a keyword. In addition, the app contains one-time benefits or benefits that can be used more than once. Digital student card is valid for student status confirmation and it is accepted by Kela, Matkahuolto and VR. When you want to use the student benefits, open the digital student ID found in the app. You can also use Slice as your Helga membership ID.
You can read more about Slice here: https://helga.fi/en/services/student-id/slice/
● Pivo
Pivo presents a service solution that includes a Mobile Student Card and a student benefit program. A mobile student card means a digital student ID in the Pivo Wallet and provided by Pivo, which serves as proof of student status and which has been approved by Kela, Matkahuolto and VR.
In Pivo you can find all benefits and discounts as in Slice, and on top of that, benefits which you can only get through Pivo.
You can read more about Pivo here: https://helga.fi/en/services/student-id/pivo/
● Kela's meal support card - Pivo
Helga offers all Haaga-Helia students the opportunity to introduce a free digital Kela meal support card at Pivo.
The meal support card only entitles you to meal support in student restaurants – it is not possible to take advantage of other benefits offered by the student union, and it does not serve as a student ID for entities such as HSL, Matkahuolto or VR.
Member service points - Helga Point
Helga Point is a service point where students can get help and service during opening hours! You can find a Helga Point from all of the campuses: in Pasila from 2nd floor and in Haaga, Malmi, Porvoo and Vierumäki from local associations offices.
More about the member service points you can read here: https://helga.fi/en/services/helga-point-member-service-points/
The Freshers' Day
The Freshers’ Day is an event for you new student!
The purpose of The Freshers’ Day is to group new students, introduce our student culture and different associations in Haaga-Helia and have fun with your new student friends.
You get tickets for The Freshers’ Day with your tutor.
More about the Fresher’s Day you can read here: https://helga.fi/en/services/events/freshers-day/
Wellbeing and Health
Healthcare services/Student healthcare
● Sports and Zone
As a Helga member you get the Zone sportspass and the Yogobe wellbeing service.
In Zone you have 8 UAS campus’ with sports services in the Helsinki metropolitan area. With Zone sportspass you can reserve spots for ball sports shifts and sports halls, participate in instructed classes, use gyms and participate in Zone’s sports courses with discount prices. After activating Zone services you also get to use Yogobe. With Yogobe you can do yoga anywhere and anytime and get tips to promote your wellbeing.
You can get the sportspass from Helga’s customer service point, Helga Point in Pasila or via our customer service chat. From the chat you can get all the online services and from Helga Point you can get the physical Zone sportspass.
Before contacting us you can already register in Zone Sports through Zone’s website.
● Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS)
All the UAS degree students of Haaga-Helia has right to use FSHS (Finnish Student Health Service) services. You can find all the FSHS services here. The operation of FSHS is financed by state funding and students’ YTHS fees. The fee is paid per semester and is 36.80 euros per semester. The due date for the autumn semester is 15.11. and the due date for the spring semester is 15.3. At the beginning of the year, the fee can also be paid at once for the entire school year. The YTHS fee is paid on Kela’s website and you can find more information about the healthcare fee here.
● Helsinki and wellbeing services counties
● Haaga-Helia's wellbeing services
University chaplains
The university chaplain is at your disposal if you want to discuss any matter related to life in confidence. You can talk to the chaplain about joy, sadness, sadness and comfortable, ordinary everyday life or anything that comes to your mind. The discussion is confidential and the university chaplain is bound by a duty of confidentiality. The principle is to respect everyone’s own spiritual or worldview convictions and opinions. You can find the contact information of the university chaplains here.
Study psychologists
The goal of Haaga-Helia’s preventive services is to support the flow of studies, the student’s well-being and psychological coping. At the study psychologist’s reception, the student’s situation is examined and structured, and new perspectives are sought. The service is preventive and is intended for degree students from all Haaga-Helia campuses who have challenges directly related to their ability to study. For example, problems with motivation, study skills, stress or time management. You can also get in touch if you have challenges that indirectly affect your ability to study, such as a stressful life situation or mild coping challenges that appear for the first time in your life. You can find contact information for study psychologists here.
Study coaches
Study coaching is intended for Haaga-Helia students whose absorption in studies has begun to weaken. The study coach offers guidance and support for promoting studies and coping with studies. Coaching can deal with, for example, the scheduling of studies and everyday life, mapping one’s own strengths and developing one’s own study techniques, or going through the emotions evoked by studies. Study coaching is confidential, short-term, and meetings are always tailored individually with the student. You can find contact information for study coaches here.
● Mental health services
Haaga-Helia’s preventive services
At Haaga-Helia, you can get help with mental health through a college chaplain and a study psychologist. You can find more information about these in the Haaga-Helia welfare services section of this page.
FSHS services
FSHS offers students extensive mental health services. The service offering includes, for example, a doctor’s assessment of the situation and a treatment plan, short therapies, various group activities, as well as finding out the need for further treatment and, if necessary, directing you there. You can find more information about the services and instructions for booking an appointment on the FSHS website.
Services in Helsinki and wellbeing services counties
Students also have the right to use local and regional mental health services. If you already have a treatment contact elsewhere when you start your studies, you can continue treatment there during your studies as well. Contact information for mental health services in Helsinki and other areas:
Other actors
Multiple organizations also offer help, support and instructions for coping. Listed here are a couple tips for some of those organizations:
Nyyti ry
Nyyti ry is an organization that has focused on students’ mental health and the promotion of their ability to study. Nyyti has, for example, podcasts and chat discussions on topics related to students and coping, as well as an extensive material bank, where you can find materials related to life management, for example.
Sekasin-chat
Sekasin-chat is a chat service for 12-29 year olds where you can chat with trained professionals and volunteers in confidence about issues that concern you. You can access the Sekasin-chat here.
MIELI Suomen Mielenterveys ry (Mental health Finland)
The mission of MIELI ry is to promote everyone’s mental health and prevent issues.MIELI ry for example maintains a crisis phone (open 24/7, phone number: 09 2525 0111) and various different peer support groups. More about the actions of MIELI ry here.
● Substance abuse
Haaga-Helia’s substance abuse programme
The goal of Haaga-Helia’s substance abuse program is, for example, to promote learning abilities and prevent substance abuse problems. The program also provides ways for students to address the substance abuse problem as well as improve treatment guidance. You can find the substance abuse program here. Haaga-Helia does not officially have its own substance abuse staff, but you can contact a study psychologist or psychiatric nurse in connection with the substance abuse program. FSHS is primarily responsible for students’ substance abuse treatment.
Student’s substance abuse treatment
Student health care, i.e. YTHS, is primarily responsible for students’ substance abuse treatment. You can also get help from, for example, various peer support groups. If the use of substances makes you think or worry, read more here.
You can also apply to the substance abuse services in the area:
SORA-legislation
SORA-legislation (‘Inapplicability solutions’) applies in Haaga-Helia to students in physical education training, if necessary. The purpose of the legislation is to improve, for example, customer and patient safety. The legislation applies to e.g. student enrollment, revocation and return of the right to study, and substance abuse testing. You can read about the use of SORA legislation in Haaga-Helia in the substance abuse program.
Ehyt ry ja KUPLA-project
Preventive substance abuse work, EHYT ry, does substance abuse work related to alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and gambling. Ehyt ry offers support for different addictions (Available in Finnish and Swedish)
● Contraception and sexual counseling
Student health care, ie FSHS, is primarily responsible for student contraception and sexual counseling. You can read more about FSHS’s services here. Students also have the right to use the health care services in the area. You can find their contact information in the section Helsinki and wellbeing services counties above
● Crisis services
In a crisis situation, you can contact the health center or local emergency room in your area, or call 112. Below is a list of organizations that can help in crisis situations:
- MIELI ry’s Crisis Hotline 09 2525 0116. Opening hours:
- Mondays and Tuesdays 11 am-3 pm,
- Wednesdays 1 pm-4 pm and 5 pm-9 pm
- Thursdays 10 am-3 pm
- Fridays 9 am – 1 pm
- City of Helsinki’s emergency hotline 09 310 44222 (On call 24 hours a day, every day. Crisis emergency workers will come to the scene of an accident if necessary.)
Communality
Associations
Harassment contact persons
You can read more about harassment contact persons here: https://helga.fi/en/services/specialist-assistance/
Clubs
Read more about clubs here: https://helga.fi/en/services/club-activities/
Helga's Speksi
Events
Studying and student’s everyday life
Studies
● Enrolling to the courses
The course enrollment is done in two parts, in the pre-enrollment and post-enrollment. The timetables for the enrollments you can find here.
If more students enroll to the courses than there is room for, the selections will be done according to the degree regulations.
According to the degree regulations, for mandatory and alternative courses are selected those have the courses on their approved HOPS. For the free electives, the priority are those who have the course on their HOPS. If there are more students enrolled in the course than there is room on the course, the places are filled according to the number of credits completed. In the post-enrollment the students are accepted in the order of enrollment. So remember to get your HOPS accepted with your guidance counselor! More information about the enrollment to courses you can read on Peppi!
● Study counseling
Principles have been defined for the study counseling in Haaga-Helia which are aimed at ensuring the fluency and meaningfulness of the study path, and also for the timely completion of studies. These principles are for example personalization, student orientation, equality and equal access to guidance services. More information and the contact details of the study counselors you can find on Peppi.
● Enrollment for the academic year
The degree regulations determine the academic year enrollments. Students must follow the enrollment timetables found in Peppi. If a student does not enroll in time, they will lose their right to study. Restoration of the right to study can be applied for from the person in charge of the degree program if you still have the right to study. The fee for processing the restoration.
● Curriculum and course contents
You follow the curriculum that is in effect when you start studying. The curricula are valid for at least the duration of the degree (3 ½ – 4 years) and after that you move on to the latest curriculum. The university approves the curricula, while the degree program director is responsible for the changes and implementation of the courses. Curricula can be found in the study guide.
● HOPS
HOPS, meaning your personal study plan, is a tool which helps you plan your studies.HOPS is made on the basis of the curriculum and timing plan, and you must approve it with your own study counselor. You will be accepted during the preselection for the course only if the implementation can be found in HOPS. You can approve HOPS once per semester. You can read instructions on how to make and accept HOPS on Peppi.
● More on studying
You can find more information about studying in Haaga-Helia in our specialist help DIGI here.
Housing
● Housing aid for students
Students are covered by the general housing allowance. Housing allowance is granted on the same terms to students as to all others. Thus, studying does not in itself affect the receiving of the allowance, but the study allowance is counted as income. However, the student loan or the parental increase in the study grant does not affect the housing allowance. Housing allowance is paid per canteen. A canteen is made up of two or more people who live in the same apartment and have a joint lease. Unmarried and married couples and close relatives form a canteen, regardless of leases. So if you live with a friend in a shared apartment, you should make sure you make separate leases when renting an apartment, and they or the attachments to the lease state that you are renting part of the apartment and are not responsible for renting the entire apartment. When making the application, therefore find out your living conditions, ie the apartment in a shared apartment or cohabitation, as Kela assumes that people living together are in principle cohabiting. This also applies in situations where you have a sublease.
More information about the canteen, the study allowance, and the study allowance calculator.
● Hoas
Hoas meaning the Foundation for student housing in the Helsinki region offers affordable living for students in the capital region and its frame municipalities. You must be a full-time student to be able to apply for an apartment and your studies must lead to a degree and qualify for the student aid. Hoas offers studios, shared flats and family apartments. The location and condition of the apartment affect the price. More information about applying for an apartment and living with Hoas here.
Porvoo
Porvoo student housing provides affordable housing for Porvoo students. Read more and apply for housing here.
Vierumäki
Students studying in Vierumäki can apply for an apartment in the campus student apartments. More information about the apartments and applying here.
A list of tips for the private market
You can find tips for acquiring a rental apartment on the Finnish Youth Housing Association’s ABC’s of Housing-guide. In the guide you can find tips on,for example, where to look for an apartment and the mover’s checklist!
Livelihood
● Student's quick guide to Kela
The student’s quick guide for the Kela aid’s you can read here!
● Study aid
You can get student aid if you are studying full-time in degree education, your studies are advancing and you have a need for financial aid. The purpose of student aid is to secure your financial situation during your studies. Student aid consists of the study allowance (where the guardian/caretaker raise and study material raise are added to if needed) and the study loan. In some cases, for example when studying abroad, you can also get the housing supplement. Your own earnings also affect the study aid, so you must keep an eye on those! You can find all the information compiled on the Kela website and also you can log in to the electronic services here.
● Livelihood aid
On some occasions, you can be entitled to livelihood aid, for example if you are not getting any study aid. More about the granting of livelihood aid you can read on the Kela website. You can also always be in direct contact to Kela if you have any questions about the student aid’s!
● Students with families
Part-time studying is also possible during parent You can also get the guardian/caretaker raise to the study aid. About the aid’s of students with families you can read more in the Suomi.fi-service or on the students with families guide of Family Federation of Finland, SYL and SAMOK (Available in Finnish).
● More on Kela
You can read more on Kela our specialist help DIGI here.
Transport
● HSL
In the Helsinki region, public transport is arranged by HSL. You can get a 40 % discount on the season ticket if you are studying full-time and you live on the area permanently. More information about the student ticket and how to get it here.
● LSL (Vierumäki)
The LSL is in charge of the public transport of the Vierumäki region. LSL grants a 30% discount to the value and season tickets if the studying is full-time. More information about the student ticket you can find on the LSL website.
● Porvoon liikenne
At the moment Koiviston auto is in charge of the public transport of Porvoo. The student discount is not yet available for the internal transport of Porvoo. The timetables and information on tickets for the Porvoo public transport you can check here (Only available in Finnish)
I want to make an influence
In Helga
In Haaga-Helia
Feedback and surveys
An efficient way to influence a student’s day to day life is to give study feedback and answer different kinds of surveys. The results are reported to various parties and measures are always taken based on them. You can read more about the surveys and their results in the quality portal.
Student’s opportunities for influencing
A student has multiple opportunities to discuss with Haaga-Helia’s administration and in this way influence for example the teaching and practical arrangements. More about the different platforms here.
Responsibility in Haaga-Helia
Haaga-Helia is committed to taking responsibility into account in both its curricula and RDI activities. Haaga-Helia has signed the Declaration of Principles for Responsible Management Education (PREM) and FIBS ry’s commitment to diversity. Read more about responsibility at Haaga-Helia here.
Municipal influencing
World Student Capital
World Student Capital ry
Helsinki
You can influence Helsinki’s affairs in many different ways and in many different places. For example, you can give online feedback, vote on an idea in participatory budgeting or take a municipal initiative. Read more about the different possibilities of influence on the City of Helsinki website.
Porvoo
You can influence the affairs of Porvoo, for example, by giving feedback or taking a municipal initiative. You can also always contact the preparatory officials. Read more on the City of Porvoo website (Available in Finnish and Swedish)
Vierumäki/Heinola
In Heinola, you can make an impact and ask questions in the city’s feedback service. You can also take a municipal initiative in Heinola.
Nationwide influencing
Elections
- Parliament elections
- Europarliament elections
- Presidential elections
Citizens initiative
If you are a Finnish citizen with the right to vote, you can take a citizens’ initiative. The aim of a citizens’ initiative is either to make a new law, or to amend or repeal an existing law. You can take a citizens’ initiative here.
SAMOK & OLL
23 student unions in Finland are part of the National Union of Students in Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences – SAMOK and the goal of SAMOK is to do advocacy for students of Universities of Applied Sciences. In SAMOK, the body with the highest decision-making power is the federal assembly, where all student unions are represented. The federal assembly decides, among other things, on the guidelines for the operations and the union’s finances. You can read more about SAMOK’s activities on SAMOK’s website.
OLL meaning the Finnish Student Sports Federation promotes themes related to the well-being of university students. Its members are 20 University of Applied Sciences and University student union’s, 2 other student organizations and 6 cooperative members. In OLL, the highest decision-making power is also used by the federal assembly´, where member organizations are represented. More about the actions of OLL you can read on their website.
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