Campus Europae Newsletter, March 2006
Table of contents
- The CE concerted degree: pioneering improved joint study programmes
- Fast Facts
- EHU formally accredited in Lithuania
- Teacher training meeting in Limerick
- Turning the spotlight on… Novi Sad
- Upcoming events
- Student Council plenary
- Law subject committee meeting
- Engineering subject committee meeting
- EUF-CE General Assembly
- Medicine subject committee meeting
The CE concerted degree: pioneering improved joint study programmes
The purpose of Campus Europae is to strengthen and accelerate the development of the sphere of European education by establishing a new dimension of collaboration among the member Universities, with respect to both intensity and quality, while preserving their particular identities. Cooperation in the sense of Campus Europae also means to preserve the cultural differences and specific characteristics of each individual institution against the establishment of uniform European university standards.
Being student exchange the privileged instrument by which Campus Europae plans to foster European citizenship and help to further internationalize the participating universities the question of how to observe the “diversity and unity” principle in the organization of each study programme has been one of the most challenging among those tackled during the conceptual development of the project.
Traditional double and joint degrees have proven invaluable for the advancement of the European Higher Education Area and are being strongly encouraged by all stakeholders in Higher Education. Still issues as linguistic diversity, equality of opportunity for participation and sound recognition persevere. More importantly is the fact that virtually no joint programmes are being developed at BA level and that most joint degrees make use of a rather uniform curricula in order to minimize recognition difficulties.
The challenge of finding a better balance between convergence and diversity has inspired Prof. Jürgen Kohler to envisage the “concerted degree” concept. The implementation of a concerted degree implies a development phase where the representatives of the participating Universities share information and analyze each others courses, seeking for interchangeable modules. Such information is then compiled in the form of matrices, which are but a juxtaposition of similar and therefore replaceable modules. While the process calls for extensive preparatory work before the study programmes can be made available this also allows for ex-ante recognition of the exchange to be soundly guaranteed. This in turn addresses the two most common problems that occur in Erasmus exchanges that are respectively inadequate academic recognition and lack of structural curricular coherency.
The concerted degree has been adopted by Campus Europae as its curricular design paradigm in the beginning of its pilot phase, in 2003. While an extensive evaluation of the CE study programmes is to be published in due time some trends arising from the application of the concerted degree can already be observed. Firstly the average number of participating universities in the 13 CE study programmes is of 5 (the maximum number of participants in a single study programme is 8) - this speaks most favorably about the capacity for the concerted degrees to accommodate a considerable number of participating institutions. Also of interest is to note the quick pace at which the scope of available field of study has increased during the last year: an almost two-fold increase seems to proof the feasibility of ensuring that diversified study paths can be combined without harming recognition or implementing rigid standardization measures.
Prof. Jürgen Kohler is the former rector of the University of Greifswald, member of the Council of Europe and has chaired the Steering Committee of EUA’s Joint Masters Project. Prof. Kohler has been engaged in Campus Europae since 2000 and is a member of its Administrative Board.
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Fast Facts
EHU formally accredited in Lithuania
The Government of the Republic of Lithuania approved the establishment and accredited the European Humanities University (EHU) as a Lithuanian institution of higher education. With this accreditation, the European Humanities University becomes the 22nd university in Lithuania.
Experts from the Center for Quality Assessment in Higher Education and the University Commission of Research and Education Institutions Evaluation Council reviewed the European Humanities University’s application for accreditation according to Lithuanian legislation. The registration of EHU is valid in Lithuania until the University can return to Belarus as a fully functioning institution.
Teacher training meeting in Limerick
On the 13th of February the Campus Europae subject committee on teacher training convened in the University of Limerick. At this meeting there was a full complement of members including the re engagement of the University of Limerick who agreed to participate in the 2006 2007 stage of teacher training with four students outgoing and incoming. The subject committee members clarified their respective matrices content and incorporated the Limerick subject data into the overall matrices plan. Overall 36 potential students are envisaged will participate in this phase and the committee is well on its way to making a significant contribution to the implementation of the 2008 Global Strategy Action Plan and start preparations for the student exchange to be continued in 2006/2007. The next meeting is scheduled to take place in Lodz in June on the 24th and 25th.
Turning the spotlight on… Novi Sad
The Danube flows through many of Europe’s most reputed sights, but none is quite like the improbable city of Novi Sad. When the majestic river reaches its 1255th km and the massive Petrovaradin fortress begins to dominate its right flank it’s time to leave the prejudices that one might have about the Balkans behind and engage in discovering a region that has long been in the heart of Europe, even if not yet in its Union.
Picture 1: Liberty square and the catholic cathedral, Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the Vojvodina province and the second largest city of Serbia and Montenegro. Visitors seeking the majestic splendor of Vienna or Budapest might take a while to adequately perceive the subtle charm of the city. Novi Sad at its best is to be found at the colorful facades in Dunavska Street, in its various parks and in the contagious hospitality of its inhabitants. The imposing churches and the sandy beaches along the Danube also add to the fascination of the town where Einstein once lived.
Picture 2: Dunavska street, Novi Sad
Exchange students and visitors are likely to remain busy catching up with the Serbian music and cinema for quite some time - the lively cultural and night scene obviously benefits from the influence of the large student population. Novi Sad best known event happens each July, when thousands coming from all over the world convene for the renowned Exit music festival, one of the finest in Europe. The festival takes place at the citadel, where cultural activities also happen around the year. Petrovaradin is the venue for numerous galleries, fine arts studios, the Music Academy, a museum, a planetarium and a disco – not to mention the 16km of underground tunnels that will take the visitors back to the days where it used to be the largest fortification in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Picture 3: Petrovaradin fortress, Novi Sad
The University of Novi Sad (UNS) was founded in 1960 and has about 40.000 students and a teaching staff of 2.700. The University is divided in 13 faculties: Philosophy, Agriculture, Law, Technology, Economics, Technical Sciences, Medicine, Sciences, Academy of Arts, Civil Engineering, Physical Education, Pedagogical Faculty and the Mihajlo Pupin Technical Faculty. In addition to the postgraduate studies organized by its faculties, the University also operates specialists, masters’ and doctoral interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies and research within ten specialized university centres.
In the academic year 2002/03, the Centre for Serbian as a Foreign Language was founded within the Department of Serbian Language and Linguistics. This Centre organizes lectures which prepares foreign students attending to study in the University of Novi Sad or in any other university in the country. Students can learn Serbian and study Serbian culture, history, geography and the social and economic structure of the country.
Apart from comprehensive faculty libraries, the University Central Library possesses a significant collection of literature concerning interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies.
Picture 4: University of Novi Sad Campus
The UNS is now the second largest among six state universities in Serbia and Montenegro. The main University Campus, covering an area of 259,807m², provides the University of Novi Sad with a unique setting near the city center of Novi Sad, while some faculties are located at Subotica, Zrenjanin and Sombor. Having invested considerable efforts in intensifying international cooperation and participating in the process of university reforms in Europe, the University of Novi Sad has come to be recognized as a reform-oriented university in the region and on the map of universities in Europe.
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Upcoming events
Student Council plenary
The Campus Europae Student Council will take place in Liège on the 18th of March.
Law subject committee meeting
A Law subject committee meeting will take place in the University of Örebro on the 20th and 21st of March.
Engineering subject committee meeting
A Engineering subject committee meeting will take place in the University of Novi Sad on the 23-24th of March.
EUF-CE General Assembly
The next General Assembly of the EUF-CE will take place in Luxembourg, on the afternoon of the 27th of March. Prior to that the following meetings will take place:
- CE Coordinators Meeting: 26th of March
- Administrative Board Meeting: 27th of March
Medicine subject committee meeting
The Medicine subject committee meeting will meet in Nancy on the 1st of April.