Beyond the help of local coordinators, student support will be managed by the mentor student network helping the foreign students to arrange everyday issues and encounters with non-English speaking services (issuing a student card, opening a bank account, accompanying them to immigration office).
Welcoming and backing up foreign students with the help of local mentor students is a priority for the consortium, therefore, a joint mentor system guideline has been elaborated and adopted by the partner institutions. It enumerates the requirements and the duties that the mentor students have to undertake in order to give support to the TEMA+ students (among others: accompanying them to Immigration Offices, to dormitories / flat search, to open a bank account, introduce them to the local student associations).
As all mobilities will start with a core semester in Budapest, all candidates can immediately start their visa application via the Hungarian Embassy. The consortium coordinator, located in Budapest, will help partner country students to get the residence permit as soon as possible. Students are encouraged, and where possible supported, to improve their language competences prior to their arrival, and during the programme they are being offered language courses, and further support to familiarize them with not only the language but also the different national characteristics. The language skills of applicants are taken into account while setting the mobility, to ensure that students will be able to fully benefit from their different host universities. Clear advice and support is provided to students about banking facilities and financial management arrangements for students before arrival at each partner location.
The system of getting accommodation is quite different in each partner city, as the size of the city and therefore the habits are also quite various.
Within Erasmus Mundus, students are encouraged to be part of the Erasmus Mundus Students & Alumni Association (EMA), and the various opportunities this organisation provides are communicated to all students by the EMA Programme Representative of TEMA.
Website of EMA: http://www.em-a.eu/.