BUDDY PROGRAM  

There are foreign students who come to the UFV to study a complete Bachelor’s Degree; or to carry out an exchange stay through an Erasmus scholarship or a bilateral agreement. When you arrive in a new environment, in a new country and you want to integrate into the new culture, you often do not know how to start: How to move around, with whom to get in touch, what alternative you have to joining only your compatriots?  

On the other hand, there are people who study at UFV who have a clear international and welcoming vocation: they like to meet people from abroad, they love to hear other languages spoken around them, and, in short, everything that has to do with being abroad and making friends from cultures, histories and traditions different from their own.  

The Buddy Program was born out of a desire to help both foreign and local students meet these needs and concerns. How?  

1. By creating pairs of buddies, formed by a local UFV student and an international student. This favors a possible friendship between them. Normally the UFV buddy tries to be attentive to the most basic needs of his or her new partner: accommodation, registration, public transport… But, above all, to his or her need for support during the initial landing in Madrid. 

1. Creating spaces where all those enrolled in the program can get to know each other: meals, cultural activities, weekends together, etc.  

OBTAINING ECTS CREDITS  

The Buddy Program awards ECTS credits to students. The following requirements are necessary for both students who wish to earn ECTS for participating in the program and those who do not. Next to each activity we indicate how many ECTS that activity awards.   

INDISPENSABLE REQUIREMENTS FOR FULL DEGREE STUDENTS (LOCAL) to participate in the program:  

• Register through this form before June 30 at 23:59: https://forms.office.com/e/G0ZFYN604F. *The regular registration period has ended. You can fill in your data and we will contact you in September, when the extraordinary deadline opens.  
• Contact your buddy before July 15.  
• Pick him/her up at the airport when he/she arrives.  
• Accompany him/her on the first day of the incoming orientation in September, which may be the 7th or 8th, depending on the group.  
• Attend the program’s closing ceremony on Wednesday, December 13 from 12:00 to 14:00.  

• Complete a final paper summarizing your experience in the program, as well as fill out an online survey in which you evaluate your experience. 

By performing this series of actions you will be able to obtain 0.50 ECTS.  

VOLUNTARY ACTIVITIES FOR LOCAL AND FOREIGN STUDENTS  

In addition to the gestures described above, there will be several activities throughout the semester that are voluntary: from hiking, visiting exhibitions or going to the cinema, to weekends in a Spanish city (Granada, Barcelona etc.). ECTS will also be awarded for these activities, changing the number depending on the nature and duration of the activity.