Events

Students talk to students

By Communication Department

Cross-disciplinary tutors, health relay students... UPPA has recruited several students to help their peers facing economic, technical, health or academic difficulties.

The University Center of preventive medicine and health education (SUMPPS) did not wait for the health crisis to support and assist students. At the end of 2019, five students were recruited to carry out prevention, awareness and health promotion actions. Operational in March 2020, on the eve of the first lockdown, this device called ‘‘student health relays’’ came at the right time, so to speak. Oumar Lom, a third-year student majoring in Geography, is part of the team formed to run the Student Health Unit. “As a result of the lockdown, we could no longer welcome and educate students on campus, he recalls. Our missions have evolved to meet new expectations.” At the interface between the student body and preventive medicine, the student health relays are committed to guiding their peers on all health-related issues, but also to providing a social and supportive link. A support group has been created for this purpose on Facebook. “We receive many messages from students who are going through difficult times or who need reassurance. We listen to them and direct them to the right people: social worker, doctor, psychologist...” Every week, the student health promoters also welcome students who wish to take a Covid-19 saliva test on the Pau, Anglet and Bayonne campuses.

Cross-disciplinary tutors

Other students have been recruited by UPPA to facilitate the implementation of health protection measures: enforcement of safety measures, management of exit flows from auditoriums...  Initially called “Sentinels”, now called “Cross-disciplinary tutors”, the 26 students spread over the 5 UPPA campuses played a key role when classes resumed in October. Moreover, the announcement of the second lockdown also led them to widen their field of action. “We started by holding computer clinics in the library, then we quickly set up a digital assistance service to help students who were having technical difficulties connecting to online classes,” says Théo, coordinator of the Social Sciences and Humanities College cross-disciplinary tutors. Last January, these tutors extended their missions even further by helping out with student life in the broadest sense, in the form of a hotline (05 40 17 52 08) available Monday through Friday to address students’ concerns or redirect them to the appropriate authorities. All of these services are highly appreciated by students, who like being able to discuss problems that they would not dare to discuss with administrative staff.

Academic tutors

Charline Percey
Other students have been selected by the University to support their classmates in their studies. We are talking here about subject or methodological tutors. Charlène Percey, 20, a third-year student majoring in Chemistry, is one of them. “I was recruited at the beginning of March to provide distance support to students who ask for it in the field of Chemistry. I’m not a professor, I don’t give a course. They are the actors. They tell me what they don’t understand, I answer their questions, they do exercises, we prepare their tests together... In short, I adapt to their needs.” Charlène comes in three times a week for one-and-a-half-hour sessions. Ten to fifteen students regularly attend. “It’s a very enriching experience for me too, she concludes. In addition to the pleasure of passing on information, studying with them gives me an opportunity to review my previous courses and consolidate my knowledge.”

  • Student Health Unit (Espace Santé Étudiants) : 05 59 40 79 01 (Pau), 05 59 57 41 56 (Bayonne)
  • http://facebook.com/groups/uppasoutien
  • Student cross-disciplinary hotline: 05 40 17 52 08
  • Digital assistance: assistance-etudiant @ univ-pau.fr