Campus Europae Newsletter, December 2005

Table of contents

  • Multilingualism for the masses – the voice of the experts
  • Fast Facts
    • Online registration for 06/07 available in January
    • Student Council elects new President and sets agenda for 2006
    • Academics give green light to CE study programmes
    • Technical University of Lodz joints Campus Europae
  • Turning the spotlight on… Örebro
  • Upcoming events
    • CE Coordinators meeting in Vienna
    • Teacher Training Subject Committee Meeting
    • Administrative Board meeting in Luxembourg

Multilingualism for the masses – the voice of the experts

On 17/18 November 2005, the Campus Europae Language Seminar took place in Munsbach. Close to 50 participants convened at the Château de Munsbach to discuss the multitude of issues surrounding multilingualism in higher education and to take a closer look at the unique groundbreaking language concept of Campus Europae.

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Picture 1 – Mr. Luca Tomasi, European Comission, during his opening speech

In its preliminary session, the European dimension of language learning and multilingualism was illuminated. Current EU policies for promoting language learning and multilingualism were presented and the effects and shortcomings of the activities of the Commission in relation to this were highlighted, the latter being due to the fact that culture is within the competence of the member states, leaving little room for EU activities. In the second session, several examples of intensive language courses were presented, both from university and non-university perspectives. Finally, first results of the implementation of the CE language concept from Novi Sad and Aveiro were presented and discussed.

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Picture 2 – a view of one of the discussion panels in the Seminar

As one of the outcomes of these presentations best practices were identified, namely that a short (i.e. some weeks) but highly intensive language course is more efficient and shows better results than a low intensive (“extensive”) course in which the same workload is spread over a couple of semesters. It became clear that even if this approach requires reasonable teaching resources, the language competences acquired in such intensive courses can be sufficient for a student to master everyday conversations. To then reach a level which allows students to follow classes would be helped by increasing the time students spend in an environment of the new language, e.g. attending also courses in the new language. However, the use of English as bridge language during the first semester could hamper this. Yet at the same time the use of English is needed to ensure the academic advancement of students. The question was raised if students should already be prepared at their home university by taking “extensive” conventional language courses. Experience from Aveiro, however, has shown that combination of low intensive courses taken at home university can even impede the effectiveness of the intensive language courses (so called “false beginners”) as different methods of teaching and different composition of content can confuse and frustrate students. It was also shown that language courses can be more effective if the teachers familiarize themselves with the particularities of the native tongue of the students (grammar, morphology, phonetics) in order to understand sources of mistakes. Thus, cooperation between language teachers within CE has to be improved. For this, it was proposed to set up a network of language teachers. More detailed results will be found in the planned publication which will appear in February/March 2006.

Fast Facts

Pre-registration for 06/07 online in January

Prospective students for the 06/07 Campus Europae study programmes may pre-register themselves at http://www.campuseuropae.org/ from early January on. This one step procedure is meant to facilitate the application and selection processes that are to be conducted at all participating Universities.

Student Council elects new President and sets agenda for 2006

On the 10th and 11th of December the Campus Europae Student Council convened in Orebro Sweden where elections took place to find a President and Vice President. Elected President was Ms. Natasha Gajic from the University of Novi Sad and Mr. Michal Skrezk of the University of Lodz. More information on this event and its outcomes is available here.

Academics give green light to CE study programmes

All subject committees in charge of reviewing the Campus Europae study programmes have by now finished their work concerning the preparations for 2006/2007. The increasing participation in the subject committees and the commitment of its members allows that a total of 13 study programmes will be jointly organized across the CE network.

  • The Humanities Subject Committee convened on the 11th and 12th of November in the University of Aveiro. The most vibrant outcome of this meeting was the refinement of the subjects available under the CE study programmes. The subject committee approved a total of six study programmes, four more than in the last academic year. More information on this meeting is to be found here.
  • The Teacher Training Subject Committee met on the 14th and 15th of November in the University of Kaunas. The primary work were the bilateral talks between each member University to establish the compatibility matrices. Language policy wise five out of seven universities informed that they would be in position to provide English classes and/or tutorial support throughout the first semester. The Universities engaged in teacher training study programmes are Aveiro, Hamburg, Kaunas, Lódz, Örebro, Riga and Vienna. For more information on this meeting is available here.

Technical University of Lodz joints Campus Europae

Upon an initiative from the Pro-Rector of the University of Lodz, Prof. Wojciech Katner, the Campus Europae Secretary General held a meeting with him, the Vice-Rector of the Medical University of Lodz and the Vice-Rector of the Technical University of Lodz, Prof. Stanislaw Bielecki on the 8th of December.

During the meeting it was announced that the Technical University will adhere to the consortium through which the University of Lodz and the Medical University are active in Campus Europae. The Technical University of Lodz is now commemorating its 60th anniversary, encompasses nine faculties, has an academic staff of 1550 and about 21.000 students.

Turning the spotlight on… Örebro

As the most recent addition to the Campus Europae network Örebro University represents CE first incursion into Scandinavia broadening further the networks scope and appeal epitomizing the wide diversity that is to be found among current members. Örebro evolved around an old medieval castle called Slottet is at a natural fording point over the Svartån river.

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Picture 3 – Örebro Slottet Castle

Örebro University is now considered to be the most rapidly expanding university in Sweden set at the crossroads between Stockholm and Göteborg. At the moment there are eleven faculties ranging from music to clinical medicine with a university population of 14,500 students and 1,300 staff members. Plans are already at an advanced stage to add even further programmes. Örebro University prides itself on being consistently innovative and imaginative in its approach to higher education in Europe and is constantly renewing its programmes and creating educational plans that adapt in response to demands of today’s fast paced globalised world. Örebro University’s main campus is located just outside the city center but also has other campuses spread across the region such as nearby Grythyttan, Kopparberg and Karlskoga proving its ongoing commitment to regional development. One of the more striking characteristics about Örebro is actually that biking is the most common mode of transport for students and city dwellers alike.

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Picture 4 - Town Hall of the city of Örebro

More information about the Örebro University in the Campus Europae website is available here.

Upcoming events

CE Coordinators meeting in Vienna

The University of Vienna will host the next CE Coordinators meeting. The meeting will be held from the 20th of the 22nd of January.

Teacher Training Subject Committee Meeting

The Teacher Training workgroup will meet in the University of Limerick on the 13th of February.

Administrative Board meeting in Luxembourg

The Administrative Board will convene on the Château de Munsbach, Luxembourg, on the 20th of February.