Campus Europae Newsletter, December 2007

Table of contents

  • New Charter of the European University Foundation signed in Luxembourg

  • Campus Europae = Erasmus +

  • Fast Facts

    • 2nd Meeting of the Language Teaching Experts Group

    • Teacher Training Subject Committee meeting

  • Turning the spotlight on... the University of Joensuu

  • Upcoming events

New Charter of the European University Foundation signed in Luxembourg

Rectors, Vice-Rectors and Rector’s representatives of seventeen Campus Europae member Universities convened in Luxembourg on the 4th of December 2007 at the Abbaye Neumünster, one of the most important historic and cultural sites in the City of Luxembourg for a historic mile stone in the evolution of EUF-CE for a Prime-Ministerial Conference.

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Picture 1: Prof. Germain Dondelinger, head of Luxembourg Higher Education Department, Minister François Biltgen and Prof. Estela Pereira, President of EUF-CE

The central event at this conference was the signing into law of the new charter of the European University Foundation, and in addition taking stock and reflecting on the many note worthy achievements of the network during the past four years. The conference thus marked the culmination of the development and construction period and signaled the beginning of EUF-CE as a consolidated, stable and functioning legal entity under Luxembourg law.

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Picture 2: The signing of the Charta was preceded by a thorough and lively debate

The discussion focused on the prospects of the future developments and goals of the contribution of EUF-CE in the European Higher Education Area and was presided over by the Luxembourg Minister for Culture, Higher and Research François Biltgen, who emphasised his continuing great interest in the Bologna Meets Lisbon programme conceptualised by EUF-CE, which envisages combining studying and learning. It was noted that no other European organization is currently engaged in more far-reaching and ambitious efforts to implement the Bologna Process in all of its dimensions, moreover taking into account that Campus Europae encompasses universities from Serbia, Belarus, Russia and Turkey. CE’s student mobility policies were thoroughly reviewed with regards the projects designed for the joint awarding of degrees, combining social dimension with employability and opening new avenues for increasingly high quality standards in European student exchange. 

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Picture 3: Prof. Noel Whelan, President Emeritus of EUF-CE, Prof. Christoph Ehmann, Secretary General, and Dr. Konrad Schily, initiator of Campus Europae

The Conference also provided the participating universities with an excellent opportunity and public platform to express their gratitude for the Luxembourg’s Government continued commitment to Campus Europae, who in turn renewed its pledge to remain as a vital ally of the initiative.

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Picture 4: Group picture of the Conference participants

The conference closed with a presentation ceremony in recognition of President Emeritus Prof. Noel Whelan, who has vigorously steered the EUF-CE as a whole for the last three years and a half and who is now succeeded by Prof. Estela Pereira, from the University of Aveiro.

The Charter of the European University Foundation - Campus Europae is available here.

 

Campus Europae = Erasmus +

The Campus Europae Conference on Student Mobility in Europe, jointly organised with the European People's Party grouping, took place in the European Parliament on Thursday the 8th of November. Attendance at the seminar was at capacity with standing room only for observers and composed of a healthy mix of students, European Parliamentarians, representatives of Campus Europae, members of the European Commission and press. Also in attendance were the European Council of Student Affairs (ECSTA) and the European Student Union (ESU), along with the assistants of numerous other parliamentarians who took interest in the initiative but were unable to attend due to prior commitments.

 

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Picture 5: Commissioner Ján Figel' speaking during the debate

 

The main points on the agenda were the social dimension of student exchange, the interdependence between the Bologna Process and the Lisbon Agenda and the future perspectives of student exchange and University cooperation in the context of the European Higher Education Area, with key speeches being delivered respectively by M.E.P Doris Pack, Commissioner Ján Figel’ and Prof. Jürgen Kohler. 

 

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Picture 6: The venue of the Conference at the European Parliament

 

Many interventions touched on sensible proposals and theories of how to improve on the currently existing student exchange financing mechanisms. Widespread consensus followed the discussion on how to improve their overall reach and efficiency, with proposals being summed up into a two pronged approach. Firstly to take into account the difference in living costs between the university of origin and destination in the design of grants schemes; secondly, and more importantly, to attract and combine private funding with the Commission’s budget, in order to reach a significantly higher number of students – a proposal which overlaps positively with Campus Europae’s “Bologna Meets Lisbon” project. With regards the strategic role of student exchange it was seen as an area on which European Universities have the responsibility to provide for a high-quality integrated approach to student services - a fundamental element which the external dimension of the Bologna Process can be levered upon. 

 

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Picture 7: MEP Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, promoter of the conference and a distinguished CE adherent with Prof. Estela Pereira, President of EUF-CE at the press conference

 

Both the European Commission and the members of the European Parliament present endorsed the efforts of the Campus Europae member universities and found the project to be worthy of their “full political and institutional support” as it indeed constitutes a best practice example with regards to enhancing the quality of student exchange and raising awareness for European citizenship. Campus Europae is fully aligned with the current Lifelong Learning Programme and in some aspects aspires to go well beyond the envisaged objectives, as Commissioner Figel’ noted while nicknaming it “Erasmus Plus”.

Fast facts

2nd Meeting of the Language Teaching Experts Group

As foreseen, the meeting took place on 9th November 2007 in Luxembourg. This intensive but fruitful meeting brought together for the second time in 2007 those, who within the networked universities have the critical role of organising and/or delivering fast track foreign language courses to CE movers. After reporting on the successes and the shortcomings of the intensive language courses organized during the year (some of which receive financing from EUF-CE), participants agreed that they most certainly give a competitive edge to those students who follow it. The key issues facing the group are therefore to increase the attendance rate and to make the ILC (intensive language courses) more “intensive” and “extensive”.

In conjunction with the need for better coordination amongst member universities, with CE coordinators and language experts in the delivery of the ILC (intensive language courses), it was felt that new language learning activities had to be put forward throughout the year. CIT-based (communication and information technology) language learning can in addition to introducing the foreign language, also be used to deepen knowledge during and after the ILC. However, all present felt that, if possible, face-to-face contact was critical: to motivate students to join the ILC. Universities will therefore explore the possibility to exchange in the spring semester foreign language teachers for an introduction to the foreign language at the “mother” university and consider offering CIT-based language learning to incoming/outgoing students. Further to these three areas of activities: (i) ILC, (ii) CIT-based learning and (iii) foreign language teacher exchanges, 2008 will also see the 1st seminar on methodology planned for mid January with the assistance of various invited experts and the contributions of  the network’s foreign language teachers and foreign language learning organizers.

Campus Europae and its language policy were present in Brussels last month at the TNP3-D European Dissemination Conference on Current and Future Linguistic Needs of Graduates on the European and International Labour Markets. Administrative Board Member Prof.Germain Dondelinger, of the Luxembourg Ministry of Education and Culture and Humanities Subject Committee Chair Prof. Gillian Moreira participated in a panel on Languages in Higher Education for Mobility and Employability, where the contribution of CE to the European mobility framework and multilingualism were widely discussed, among others.

Teacher Training Subject Committee meeting

The CE Teacher Training subject committee met at the University of Alcala, Spain on the 19th of November. It was with great pleasure that the committee welcomed representatives from two new member of the CETT namely the University of Ankara, Turkey and the University of Joensuu, Finland. During the meeting all committee members reported on situations with current CE movers at their universities and discussed their progress and issues where the exchange did not meet their expectations. In the discussion took three CETT students, spending their CE year at the University of Alcala also took part in the discussion.

The committee is proud to announce that a CETT student from Riga, studying this year in Hamburg, started her internship within a Learning Employability Placement (LEP) program, thus being the first CE student using the opportunity to gather working experiences during a CE exchange year.

Dr. Douda from the Austrian Ministry of Education, Art and Culture an invited guest by the CETT presented a model of successful cooperation between the Ministry of Education, School administration and Campus Europae in Austria - “Foreign Language Assistantship positions”. This academic year already two CETT students in Vienna are participating in this program. The committee agreed that such a program is vitally important in developing the European language awareness and intercultural exchange, and discussed the further possibilities of implementing this model in their home countries.

All represented universities declared that they open to exchange in the academic year 2008/2009 in sending and receiving CE students.

The next Teacher Training subject committee meeting will take place at the University of Vienna on 17th and 18th of March 2008. Main points of discussion will be the preparation for the upcoming academic year 2008/2009 and including courses offered at the new CETT member universities into the compatibility matrices. 

Turning the spotlight on... the University of Joensuu

The University of Joensuu was founded in 1969 and has around 8500 students, a staff of 1180 and eight Faculties: including the Faculties of Biosciences, Education, Forestry Sciences, Humanities, Law, Economics and Business Administration, Science, Social Sciences and Regional Studies and Theology. In addition to the main campus in Joensuu, the university has a second campus in the city of Savonlinna, which is known for its medieval castle and world famous Opera Festival. The Savonlinna campus hosts a Department of Teacher Education and a Centre for Tourism Studies, which coordinates the Finnish University Network for Tourist Studies.

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Picture 8: Joensuu and Northern Karelia - a destination to be discovered

The university offers the following Master’s degree programmes: Administrative Sciences, Arts, Economics and Business Administration, Education, Forestry, Psychology, Science, Social Sciences, and Theology (Orthodox Theology and Western Theology). The strengths and areas of expertise of the University of Joensuu are research and teaching relating to

    * education and human development
    * forests and the environment
    * optics, new materials, and information technology
    * border studies and Russia

The university has advanced teaching and research facilities. At their disposal, the students have the services of the University Library, the Karelian Institute, the Mekrijärvi Research Station in Ilomantsi, the Computing Centre, the Language Centre, the Botanical Garden, and the Muikku Research Vessel specialising in environmental studies in inland waters.

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Picture 9: The Carelia and Aurora building in the Joensuu Campus

Teaching at the University of Joensuu is primarily conducted in Finnish. For both international and domestic students, however, the university offers a variety of study programmes taught in English. Also worth noting is that the University of Joensuu is a partner university of the United Nations Environment Programme, which seeks to promote global sustainable development in accordance with the United Nations Millennium Declaration, as well as the coordinating institution of the Finnish-Russian Cross-Border University, a network of five Finnish and four Russian universities that offer joint Master’s degree programmes taught in English.

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Picture 10: The High-tech theme pervades throughout the Campus in Joensuu - here a sculpture made of optical cable at the Science Park

The city of Joensuu is situated in eastern Finland about 80 kilometres from the Finnish-Russian Border. The surrounding region of North Karelia is famous for the beauty of its unspoiled nature, dotted with thousands of lakes and islands. Joensuu, founded in 1848 at the mouth of River Pielisjoki on the shore of Lake Pyhäselkä, is a flourishing commercial and industrial centre with 58,000 inhabitants. As for Finland it lies on the north-eastern border of the European Union and has a population of 5,2 million inhabitants. Owing to its location, Finland’s unique culture has been impacted by influences of both Scandinavia and Russia. Today Finland is recognised as one of the world leaders in modern technology and has one of the highest standards of living in the world.

External link:

Upcoming events

Business Subject Committee Meeting

University of Lódz, Poland, 17th of December

The next Campus Europae newsletter is due for the 16th of January. To unsubscribe please visit this link.