Campus Europae Newsletter, March 2009

Table of contents

  • A Presidential outlook on Campus Europae: interview with Prof. Estela Pereira and Prof. Vaidotas Viliūnas

  • Fast Facts

    • The impact of Erasmus – new study and recommendations

  • Upcoming events
    • Business Subject Committee Meeting
    • Engineering Subject Committee Meeting
    • Humanities Subject Committee Meeting
    • Law Subject Committee Meeting
    • Medicine Subject Committee Meeting
    • Natural Sciences Subject Committee Meeting
    • Teacher Training Subject Committee Meeting
    • Joint Meeting of the Board of Directors and Subject Committees
    • Board of Directors Meeting
    • Subject Committees Chairs Meeting
    • CE-Coordinators Meeting
    • Student Council Plenary Meeting

A Presidential outlook on Campus Europae: interview with Prof. Estela Pereira and Prof. Vaidotas Viliūnas

With Campus Europae having its most ambitious round of meetings in just a few days we have met with Prof. Estela Pereira and Prof. Vaidotas Viliūnas, respectively President and Vice-President of EUF-CE, for a short interview on how they see Campus Europae present situation as well as its future development. Prof. Estela Pereira (University of Aveiro) has been serving as President since November 2007, having previously chaired the Natural Sciences Subject Committee in the period 2002-2007, while Prof. Vaidotas Viliūnas serves as Vice-President since April 2008 and is a Vice-Rector at the Vytautas Magnus University, in Lithuania.  

Bearing in mind the popularity and reach of Erasmus how would you define the raison d’être of Campus Europae? What are its added-values in relation to other cooperation and exchange programmes?

 

CE main objective is that University students get the opportunity of studying in two different foreign countries, for one year period each, and that during their stay they learn the language and the culture of the host country. Therefore besides the academic experience common to the main mobility programs, like ERASMUS, the cultural dimension is also taken seriously. But by doing that CE is aiming to stimulate gifted students to expand their horizons and became real European citizens.  The infrastructures that are being put in place, like subject committees that define ex ante recognition procedures to guarantee that the credits taken abroad are included in the home program, the offer of language courses, the support of students of the host University (“buddy programme”), the existence of CE coordinators at the different partner Universities that help home and host students and a program of grants combined with the offer of work placements (LEP), give support to the aims of  CE. It is expected they would be in place in all Universities in the coming years. Also an important aspect is the award of a CE degree to the students that comply with the rules set by CE: reaching level B1 in the 2 languages, and achieving at least 45 credits per year during the period abroad. This degree is awarded under the degree awarding powers given to CE by the Luxemburg government and its final format will be decided in the next Board of Directors meeting on the 23rd of March.

 

How would you define CE’s contribution to the larger discussions that are taking place in the context of the Bologna Process, notably with regards the decreasing student mobility at BA level?

 

The subject committees are in the unique position to trigger the discussion about this issue in their Universities and define “concerted” programs, with well defined mobility windows. Also their mutual knowledge will facilitate the development of curricula and improvements of quality that motivate mobility.

 

The CE network already encompasses universities in Turkey, Russia and Serbia. What is the profile of institutions that we are to expect see joining Campus Europae in the times ahead? What are the main criteria for successfully applying for membership?

 

The main criteria for accepting new institutions is that they have well recognised quality standards both in teaching and research and pursue an open policy towards international cooperation, in particular in student mobility. But also it is important to have wider geographical and language variety for student choices.

 

In the days ahead the Board of Directors and the Subject Committees will meet in Luxembourg. Can you give us some insight on the importance of these meetings and how they are likely to impact the future development of Campus Europae?

 

The Board of Directors is the main body responsible for the policy of CE. It is expected that the next Board will make a critical overview of the progress made so far and define in particular the activity plan for the next year. Some topics under discussion would be the CE degree, the grants and LEP’s and the collaboration in joint curriculum development.

 

Fast facts

The impact of Erasmus – new study and recommendations

The study “The Impact of Erasmus on European Higher Education: Quality, Openness and Internationalization" was presented by European Commissioner Ján Figel on the 20th of February. This study provides a very comprehensive overview of how the European Commission Erasmus programme succeeded to shape the European Higher Education landscape over the last 20 years, both with regards policy making, the creation of tools and instruments (such as the ECTS) and fostering concrete organizational and curricular changes across participating universities. The survey that underpins the study also provides some insight on the challenges that Erasmus will face in the years ahead, notably that of increasing business cooperation.

The recommendations voiced by the consortium of researchers are of particular interest because amongst commonplace advice, such as improving recognition and promotion while decreasing bureaucracy, a somewhat novel approach to the recommended length of stay abroad is put forth: the average duration of the exchange should be reduced “closer to 3 months (...) which would free up resources for more mobility grants”. This is of course a controversial recommendation, and it was immediately frowned upon by the European Students Union. Other suggestions worth of note are targeting students that have already benefited from an Erasmus grant before, to offer internships to mobile students, promote mobility as an integrated part of the study programmes and for Higher Education institutions to allocate financial support on a means tested basis.

The study can be found online here (pdf file).

Upcoming events

Business Subject Committee Meeting

Luxembourg, 22nd of March

Engineering Subject Committee Meeting

Luxembourg, 22nd of March

Humanities Subject Committee Meeting

Luxembourg, 22nd of March

Law Subject Committee Meeting

Luxembourg, 22nd of March

Medicine Subject Committee Meeting

Luxembourg, 22nd of March

Natural Sciences Subject Committee Meeting

Luxembourg, 22nd of March

Teacher Training Subject Committee Meeting

Luxembourg, 22nd of March

Joint Meeting of the Board of Directors and Subject Committees

Luxembourg, morning of the 23rd of March

Board of Directors Meeting

Luxembourg, afternoon of the 23rd of March

Subject Committees Chairs Meeting

Luxembourg, 24th of March

Student Council Plenary Meeting

Greifswald, 3 and 4th April

Student Council Plenary Meeting

Vilnius, 25th April

The next Campus Europae newsletter is due for the 15th of April. To unsubscribe please visit this link.