Council of Europe seminar, Vienna 26-27 June 2012 Student and staff mobility in higher education: Challenges and opportunities on the two sides of the river Dniestr/Nistru Per Nyborg How can higher education institutions contribute to enhancing student and staff mobility? Mobility of students and staff may have one of two purposes: - Academic mobility for increased competence and personal development (exchange of students and staff); - Migration on the international (global) education or labour market. The Bologna Process focuses on academic mobility. It is believed that a period abroad will benefit both the home country and the host country, both the home institution and the host institution. This means exchange and active participation of home and host institutions. That will be my main topic. However, the EU Lisbon strategy also aims at facilitating the recruitment of highly qualified students and personnel from other countries – inside or outside the European Union. The home country and the home institution may then be at the loosing end, this will in particular be the case for countries outside the European Union: Bernd Wächter in his presentation told us that the student flow from Moldova to EU countries was nearly 7 000 with only 400 going from EU to Moldova. Bernd refers to degree mobiliy. We don’t know how many of those going out will come back to Moldova. However, I fear there is a brain drain and I am not the only one. In their 2012 Bucharest Communiqué, the “Bologna” ministers pointed out that they wanted better balanced mobility in the European Higher Education Area. Brain drain should not cripple the poorer European countries and regions. I shall focus on exchange of students , that is a two-way process, not a brain drain. Student exchange is based on credit mobility, students must have their study periods and exams recognised both going abroad and coming back to their home institution. As Bernd told us, we have very little information on credit mobility. The assumption is that it is low. However, this means that exchange mobility can be improved, it should be improved – for the benefit of both students and institutions. How then can higher education institutions contribute to this? The basic responsibility for mobility is with governments: The legislation must make it possible; mobility must be recognised and supported. However, within the framework set up by the authorities, higher education institutions should support their own students who want to go abroad for one or two semesters, and the institutions should also welcome students from abroad. Institutions may gain a lot by the exchange of students and staff with institutions in neighbouring countries. This topic was on our agenda already a year ago, but the seminar had then to be postponed. However, preparing for that seminar, I was approached by the rector of the Shevchenko University in Tiraspol, confronting me with three challenges very relevant to mobility:
- How to find ways by which the university diplomas can be recognised in EU countries - How to set up direct inter-university relations with European universities - How to be accepted as a member of the European University Association (EUA) These challenges are equally relevant today, and they are relevant to universities on both sides of the river Dniestr. I shall take them as the starting point for my presentation. First: Both for outgoing and incoming mobility, your university must be known outside your home region. If you will be looking towards the West, a presentation of the university must be available on the world-wide-web, not only in Russian, but also in English. There should be a link to an official presentation of the higher education system to which your university belongs – Transnistrian or Moldovan. This presentation should also include a description of the quality assurance and accreditation procedures in the higher education system. Such information is relevant for each of the three challenges mentioned previously. For university diplomas to be recognised by institutions in other countries in the European Higher Education Area, the Lisbon Recognition Convention is a key instrument. The convention says that each country shall recognise qualifications (for access to higher education, for periods of study or for degrees) as similar to the corresponding qualifications in its own system unless it can show that there are substantial differences between its own qualifications and the foreign qualifications. 46 European countries, including Moldova, have ratified this Council of Europe / UNESCO convention. You will realise that recognition “unless there are substantial differences” is something very different from the system of “nostrification” that has been used in Moldova and also in the Transnistrian Region. Your diplomas may be accepted abroad, but you must yourselves have an open mind for the recognition of foreign qualifications. To set up a direct inter-university relation with another institution, an exchange agreement will be necessary. Usually this formal agreement is a result of an informal cooperation over some time, a cooperation that partners want to continue and possibly also strengthen and widen, for instance including the development of joint courses or research projects. A mutual trust and understanding will probably have prepared the ground for constructive negotiations. Each party may have its own ideas on how to set up an agreement, each party may have positive experiences from previous agreements with other partners. In any case, it is important that each partner has an idea not only of the privileges one want to achieve from the partnership, but equally important, the responsibilities one must be able to take on to make the partnership a success. If the institution really wants to contribute to enhancing mobility, the institutional responsibility must be in focus. The best way to visualise the institution’s challenges and responsibilities for academic mobility may be to draft a model exchange agreement . I have drafted a model for this presentation, based on one of many agreements signed by my own Alma Mater, the University of Oslo. I’ll use it as a check-list for elements to be agreed between partners. 2
Purpose of the Exchange Agreement • The general purpose of the agreement is to establish educational relations and cooperation between the two participating institutions. • The purpose of each student exchange is to enable students to enrol in subjects at the host institution for credit towards their degree at the home institution. • The purpose of exchanges between faculty members is to promote educational developments and to further mutual understanding. Responsibilities of Participating Institutions • Exchange students shall be enrolled both at their home and their host institution in the exchange period. They shall not pay for tuition at the host institution. • Exchange students will be provided with the same academic resources and support service that are available to all students at the host institution. • The home institution will have responsibility for recognition of credits for subjects taken at the host institution, following the Lisbon Recognition Convention. Responsibilities of Participating Students • It is the responsibility of each student to obtain official recognition from the home institution for subjects to be taken at the host institution. • It is the responsibility of the student to receive a copy of the official academic results obtained during the period of exchange. • Exchange students will be financially responsible for - travel, accommodation and living expenses - books and other learning material - adequate health insurance coverage. Numbers • Each institution will offer X places free of tuition each academic year during the period of the agreement. • In principle, the exchange of students will occur on a one for one basis. Selection and Enrolment of Students • It is expected that only students of high academic quality will be selected to participate. The selection of participants is the responsibility of the home institution but the host institution has the right of final approval of the admission of a student. • Students must have obtained agreement from their home faculty, that upon successful completion of the subjects at the host institution, full credit will be granted towards the degree at their home institution. Faculty and Staff Exchanges • The two institutions recognise the benefit derived from the exchange of staff. The details of such arrangements will be negotiated will be governed by institutional staffing rules and relevant approval processes. Implementation • The operational units/officers for implementing the terms of this agreement are: For Institution1: xxxx For Institution 2: xxxx 3
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