Staff Exchanges Research Articles

Materializing global academic mobility through the eyes of program coordinators: Comparative insights from a Romanian-U.S. institutional Erasmus+ agreement

Erasmus+, the European Union’s mobility program has been researched extensively (e.g., De Wit, 2020), yet mobility program coordinators at higher education institutions responsible for student, faculty, and staff exchanges remain under-researched. This comparative study showcases a Romanian-U.S. Erasmus + partnership established between Universitatea Babeş-Bolyai in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and North Dakota State University in Fargo, United States. The study draws on (auto-)ethnographic explorations to investigate two coordinators’ roles, responsibilities, and experiences and explores the infrastructure and qualifications needed to facilitate mobility programs. It concludes that the materialization of mobility agreements relies on a combination of personal and institutional motivations, interests, and goals. High levels of individual initiative, linguistic/cultural knowledge, connections, and consistent involvement on the part of the coordinators facilitating the process are required. We advocate for more institutionalized incentives and recognition for coordinators to continue shaping the future of global mobility in higher education.

MEĐUNARODNA SARADNJA UNSA: VIZIJA 2030 – STRATEGIJA BRAIN GAIN? / UNIVERSITY OF SARAJEVO INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION TOWARDS A VISION 2030: BRAIN GAIN STRATEGY?

Academic mobility is a valuable and indispensable mechanism in each country's higher education quality assurance system. It also contributes to building and improving the capacities of individual universities because it enables the introduction of positive and proven teaching practices, modern teaching and research methods, and operational and administrative processes. The added value of mobility is the establishment of personal contacts and professional networking of teaching, scientific, artistic and non-teaching staff of the University of Sarajevo (from now on: "UNSA"), which has a long-term effect on the development of teaching, scientific and technological capacity. Studying through mobility gets an international note - students understand their work in a global context, their CV is enriched with new experiences, their knowledge of a foreign language (s) is improved, and after graduation, they become a competitive workforce. Teaching / scientific, artistic and non-teaching staff gain international experience through mobility, improve themselves, participate in active professional development, and increase the quality of the working environment. In the last 15 years, the University of Sarajevo has had over 2,500 outgoing mobility while hosting more than 1,500 international students, teaching / scientific, artistic and non-teaching staff. The mobility of students and staff significantly improves both the quality and the professional standard of UNSA activities. It indirectly contributes to the development and transformation of society as a whole. Through the integration of UNSA, many processes are uniform and simplified, but still, the heterogeneity and specificity of each organizational unit are present. In addition to all the benefits of student mobility, the most significant administrative challenge is the equivalence and recognition of ECTS credits earned at foreign institutions upon return to home institutions. Student services are faced with many formalities around keeping registers and other administrative forms that need to be tailored to exchange students. The current legal regulations in higher education do not value participation in mobility programs, which is undoubtedly not motivating for students and staff to get involved in them. On the contrary, the current vague legal framework and administrative barriers are significantly demotivating for students as they lose a semester or school year due to participation in mobility programs. It is necessary to develop more adequate regulations that will encourage more frequent, productive, more straightforward and better implementation of academic mobility for students. This could be achieved through participation in programs intended for international students (one-year specialist study, master's degree, dual education, summer schools, etc.). It is necessary to develop mechanisms for adequate evaluation of mobility for teaching, artistic and scientific staff of UNSA, which is particularly important for advancement to higher academic titles. It is also crucial to promote the exchange of administrative staff, which is often unjustifiably neglected, to improve the administrative processes at UNSA and its (sub) organizational units. To achieve this, we should be focused on developing cooperation with potential partners interested in administrative / non-teaching staff mobility.

The Link Between Foreign Policy and Science Diplomacy: Review on India-Indonesia Partnership in Education

AbstractThis research tries to describe the process of India-Indonesia collaboration in the education sector, using science diplomacy as an endeavor to accomplish India's foreign policy goals during the Modi period. A descriptive qualitative method is used in this investigation. The data is sourced from the results of literature studies, analysis of government report documents via the internet, and strengthened by interviewed of representative of the Indonesian student organization (PPI India). The analysis technique uses a triangulation method that applies to data selection and categorization. Conclusions and verification are carried out by applying the conceptualization of science diplomacy based on India-Indonesia cooperation in the education sector. The results of the study show that India seeks to build a positive image to realize the "Act East Policy" by facilitating further study scholarships, research collaborations, and the exchange of university teaching staff to Indonesia. For the Indonesian government, India's facilitation through a program to increase knowledge and resources in the field of education is a prospectus for strengthening Indo-Pacific cooperation.

What are the disadvantages of having a foreign background as a female academic and working at a university in Europe?

The main goal of this project was to explore foreign female academics' experiences working at universities in Europe. The Bologna Declaration has enabled the cross-border exchange of academic staff within Europe. Female academics represent an essential and steadily growing group within academia; they are occupying desirable academic positions at unprecedented rates. For women, building their teaching and scientific career at another university is associated with both privileges and challenges. The main goal of this project was to explore foreign female academics’ experiences working at universities in Europe. Methodology, this study had a qualitative design. Twelve female academics with a foreign background participated in the study. Data were collected via a digital workshop and analysed using the story dialogue method. The results show that the participants have faced daily challenges in the form of discrimination, bullying, and injustice regarding their personal, pedagogical, and research skills. All participants emphasized the importance of a structured introduction to a new country and university with a designated mentor. To retain female foreign academics who are an important scientific resource European universities, as employers, must develop and implement clear guidelines for a good, welcoming working environment.

The Role of Pegasus in the European Aeronautics and Space Universities Exchange of Students and Professors

Abstract The objective of all universities in the Partnership of a European Group of Aeronautics and Space UniversitieS (PEGASUS) network is to offer highly relevant educational and research programmes and thereby attract the best students and scientists. Coordinated developments, exchange of students and staff and innovation are the basis on which these objectives are achieved. The paper shows how PEGASUS is contributing to the increase in students’ mobility among the partner universities, providing a tool to visualise, illustrate and quantify these flows. The tool provides a mapping of agreements and flows, using data based on a questionnaire sent to all PEGASUS partners. The data is available from the courses offered in the years 2012–2019 and has been prepared for display in the Google Earth application. It is a very flexible tool that allows for multiple searching criteria: per university of origin, per university of destination, per country, per course, etc. The current state of international exchange is shown, emphasising the noticed strengths and weaknesses. Initiatives taken to improve the weaknesses in cooperation are discussed and summed up with final conclusions.

Comparison of the University Pharmacy Education Programs in Germany and Vietnam.

During the global COVID pandemic, the importance of professionals in the health care sector has been put in a new light, including pharmacists. In this context, the focus is also on how pharmacists are trained in different countries. Through an exchange of pharmacy teaching staff from a German to a Vietnamese university, the pharmacy education programs in both countries were compared. Aspects such as access to studies, structure of studies, and further training opportunities were considered. Differences and similarities emerged. In both countries, students first acquire basic knowledge and then delve deeper into pharmaceutical content in main studies. There is, expectedly, a great overlap in the content of the courses. Overall, the education at Vietnamese universities seems to be more practice-oriented due to a large number of placements. This also allows a specialization, which can be pursued in Germany with self-interest after graduation. There, the preparation for everyday work in the community pharmacy is separated from the university by a mandatory practical year. For the future, efforts are being made in both countries to strengthen the importance of clinical pharmacy in the curriculum. To this end, the Vietnamese are taking their inspiration from abroad in many cases, including Germany.

Translation through collaboration: practice applied in BAMOS project in in vivo testing of innovative osteochondral scaffolds.

ABSTRACTOsteoarthritis is the most common chronic degenerative joint disease, recognized by the World Health Organization as a public health problem that affects millions of people worldwide. The project Biomaterials and Additive Manufacturing: Osteochondral Scaffold (BAMOS) innovation applied to osteoarthritis, funded under the frame of the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Staff Exchanges (RISE) program, aims to delay or avoid the use of joint replacements by developing novel cost-effective osteochondral scaffold technology for early intervention of osteoarthritis. The multidisciplinary consortium of BAMOS, formed by international leading research centres, collaborates through research and innovation staff exchanges. The project covers all the stages of the development before the clinical trials: design of scaffolds, biomaterials development, processability under additive manufacturing, in vitro test, and in vivo test. This paper reports the translational practice adopted in the project in in vivo assessment of the osteochondral scaffolds developed.

The critical role of funders in shrinking the carbon footprint of research

The critical role of funders in shrinking the carbon footprint of research

Erasmus staff exchanges: A critical exploration of intentions and effects

This article outlines the expected benefits of ERASMUS+ Teaching/Training Exchanges for individuals, the institution as a whole and the degree programmes of The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS), the Netherlands. The method employed was a series of semi-structured interviews, following initial email contact of 32 (approx. 1.5% of staff) who had been on exchange, or were scheduled to be, during the academic year. Interviews were agreed with 7 staff. Leask (2015) identified a lack of research in this area, and it is hoped this research will help to stimulate thinking on this issue. Despite the small sample size, general preliminary conclusions can be drawn and further research is encouraged. The article examines processes and procedures in place for monitoring such exchanges, and it also explores control and monitoring prior to the exchange taking place, as well as post-exchange outcomes and evaluations. It describes the context and theoretical frameworks and discusses the major findings, including accounts of the participants’ experiences and the benefits for them as individuals, their perceptions, their line manager’s responses and institutional policies and processes. The conclusion has recommendations for improvement based upon the participants’ comments. The main message of this article is the need to set goals for the individual and the institution and to evaluate them upon return.

Academic Mobility and Intercultural Pathways for Knowledge Transfer

This article focuses on academic mobility with the view of examining intercultural relations and knowledge flows. Academic mobility refers to the global mobility and exchange of tertiary students and university staff, which is a growing phenomenon worldwide. This article seeks to highlight additional possibilities for exploring effective intercultural pathways for knowledge mobility, translation and transfer that are created through academic mobility. Academic migrants in particular have been acknowledged as important agents of intercultural knowledge transfer, interchange and knowledge creation. This paper sets up the theoretical parameters for exploring intercultural knowledge flows within academic mobility. It explores diverse aspects of intercultural encounters to reveal underlining conditions for effective knowledge transfer and knowledge creation between cultures. The theoretical notions and ideas discussed provide the foundations for subsequent ethnographic research which form the basis of this paper: a pilot survey conducted among academic migrants at two international educational institutions in Italy. This survey sought to analyse empirical manifestations of cosmopolitanism in everyday intercultural academic interactions, as preconditions for successful knowledge transfer, interchange and ultimately, knowledge creation.

PROFESSIONAL MOBILITY IN FUTURE PHILOSOPHY DOCTORS’ TRAINING

The article defines the essence of professional mobility and importance in future philosophy doctors' training in pedagogical universities. It was proved, that the basis of the sociological approach of determining professional mobility was based on changes in an individual position in the social structure of society. Features of individual personality were at the heart of the psychological approach. Pedagogical approach combines those two approaches, as it aims to ensure the movement of an individual in the social structure of society by future professionals’ appropriate training during their studies. Professional mobility was defined as a professional training component of future philosophy doctors; ability for successful switching from one activity to another during the process of thesis writing and for changing of activity types in the professional field; ability of efficient use of professional techniques system for implementation of any tasks in the field of thesis writing. The following factors have been proved to have positive influence on the development of future philosophy doctors professional mobility: organization of international relations and joint programs of international cooperation with foreign educational institutions, organizations, associations in the field of science and education; organization of participation in programs of bilateral and multilateral international exchange, internships and practices of postgraduate students, doctoral students, pedagogical staff and students of the university, organization and implementation of joint international educational programs with foreign partner universities considering obtaining diplomas of these universities.

The management of academic programmes in emerging universities of Uganda

In this study, an attempt was made to establish how the management of the academic programmes in emerging Universities of Uganda particularly the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) Mbale is done. Specifically, the study sought to establish how planning, organization, direction and coordination of academic programmes were done at IUIU. The primary data were collected using structured questionnaires. Secondary data were obtained from academic reports and other evaluation reports from IUIU. A case study design was conducted and a total sample of 324 respondents including students, lecturers and University administrators were consulted. Data collected was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS). Descriptive statistics were used in presentation of findings. Research findings indicate that there is proper planning of academic programmes at the Islamic University of Uganda evidenced by the activities performed by both students and lecturers like attending lectures, tutorials, and students doing course works, tests and exams as scheduled. Despite the majority view that academic programmes at Islamic University are adequately organized, students expressed the need to create more departments for reasons like improving efficiency, reducing overcrowding, integrating other courses and supplementing course units. While students were motivated to improve performance through retaining the best performers as part of staff, lecturers are not adequately motivated in terms of remuneration. Collaboration between departments was also indicated through exchange of staff, instructional materials, conducting joint research, sharing course units, seminars and discussions. Finally, the study recommends involving all stakeholders (students, parents, government and the community) in the planning of its academic programmes, increasing the resource base and need to increase incentives to staff to motivate them among others.

International Scholarly Activity among Academic Librarians in the United States

The extent of U.S. librarians’ collaboration with international partners in the area of scholarly activity and research publications is still unexplored. Guided by Jane Knight’s “At Home” framework for international research and scholarly activity, this study examines the extent of scholarly activity between librarians from the United States and international institutional and individual collaborators (that is, conference attendance, collaborations and staff exchanges, publications and collaborative authorship). A total of 193 U.S. academic librarians participated in an online survey. The results show that international research and scholarly activity is rare among U.S. librarians. Among the librarians who do participate in these activities, the results indicate that their participation in international conferences is associated with more internationalization activities.

MY ENCOUNTER WITH THE PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA: A TRIBUTE TO DR CYRIL RAMAPHOSA

Ponte Academic JournalOct 2020, Volume 76, Issue 10 MY ENCOUNTER WITH THE PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA: A TRIBUTE TO DR CYRIL RAMAPHOSAAuthor(s): Tuntufye S. MwamwendaJ. Ponte - Oct 2020 - Volume 76 - Issue 10 doi: 10.21506/j.ponte.2020.10.17 Abstract:The aim of this Paper is to narrate a personal experience, which led to my encountering the President of South Africa through research. I was at the University of Transkei, which now is known as Walter Sisulu University in Mthatha, South Africa. I served as Professor of Educational Psychology and Executive Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor Professor Alfred Moleah who had returned to South Africa from exile in America after 27 years. One of my engagements was to coordinate exchange academic progammes between South African and American Universities. With Unitra the exchange programme was with the City University of New York. The programme involved exchange of both students and academic staff. In the process of doing this, I ended up in New York as a Fulbright Senior Resident Academic at New York Metropolitan College for a year. While there, some of the research involving world cultures, which were published in the Encyclopedia of World Cultures. Mine was on Banyankole ethnic group in Western Uganda, where my spouse was born and grew up. About ten or more years after the publication of my research, President Cyril Ramaphosa, was busy researching on Ankole cattle, as he had a keen interested in Ankole long- horned cattle. In his literature review, he came across some of my national and international research on Banyankole. He found my publication valuable to his own research. His interest was not only in what I had written, but also wanted to meet the author of such Papers. Therefore he launched an earnest search for Professor Mwamwenda! Only, finally to find me at the University of Mpumalanga, Nelspruit! During our first meeting, we must have talked for more than an hour. In brief, This is the story I want to share with you, as you read this Paper. Download full text:Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution Username Password

Stan kadr administracji publicznej z perspektywy ogólnokrajowej i regionalnej

This paper tackles staff problems of contemporary public administration. It starts with an analysis of the dependence between the efficiency of administration and the effi ciency of public servants in administration, whose efficiency depends on the level and quality of their qualifications. The analysis was carried out in three perspectives (i) with regard to the whole public administration of the State, (ii) with regard to the State and government central administration and (iii) with regard to regional public administration, on the example of the Lower Silesia region. It was assumed that the quality of the staff in administration is related to and depends on the legislation regulating the recruitment for public administration offices. The relevant provisions determine the choices made in the recruitment process and the subsequent creation of career paths. However, unstable and poor legal provisions have a negative impact on the quality of public administration personnel, which is manifested in poor performance, high employment fl uctuations and a diminishing interest among the younger generation in a career in public administration. This, in turn, may distort the natural generation exchange of administration staff in the future. As can be seen from the statistical analysis conducted in respect of the numbers of public administration employees and the fluctuation among them, as well as the demographic structure examined with regard the gender, age and length of employment, the initially assumed hypothesis of the negative consequences of the inconsistent legislative policy governing the regulations of the public administration staff. The sociological picture illustrating the attitudes among the members of the society to public administration confirms the hypothesis of the poor condition of public administration and a loss in confi dence in its activities or actions. The main reason for the current situation is that the constitutional principle of the neutrality of civil servants is realised only by orders that prohibit combining civil service with political activity, but do not limit or reduce the strong and direct influence exercised by political parties on the legal regulations within public civil service or the policies of appointing candidates to key administrative positions in (not only government) offices.

Designed to Inspire: A One-Year International Exchange of Academic Librarians

This paper, based on an exchange of librarians between academic libraries in Canada and Australia, describes the process of planning for and participating in an international job exchange. It highlights the benefits of the exchange and lessons learned from it and reflects on the opportunities for career development and renewal afforded by such a swap. This experience will be contextualized within the continuum of literature on library exchanges. By describing our successful exchange process, the authors aim to encourage more library staff exchanges.

A Proposed Design of Campus IP Network for Duhok University Using OPNET

Duhok University has two main campuses. The first is the Malta campus located at the western part of the city and consists of seven colleges. The second one is the Duhok center which is located in the city center, it comprises six colleges in addition to the university chancellor office. This research paper proposes a network design for Duhok University to enable student and academic staff exchanges their academic and administrative information efficiently. The proposed IP Network design is made of three layers of which the core layer consists of two Cisco SONET 12012 which is connected by dual links. One of the SONETs is assigned to the Malta Campus and the other to Duhok center campus. The minimum spanning tree is calculated for the proposed IP network by using real distances between university colleges. At the distribution layer, a hierarchical topology is used to connect the college campus to its nearest main campus. The network is attached to the two main FTP and HTTP servers. The data stream of each college is forwarded to Cisco router 4700. The user layer in each department is implemented using star topology through a Cisco switch 2924. Mobility access is added to the proposed design to support wireless devices. The design is implemented using OPNET 14.5 modular. Network performance and server's quality are tested by calculating (packet/second), delays, traffic send, traffic receives utility, and throughput in case of heavy load the network performance and server's quality. The results show that the proposed Duhok University IP network fulfills the network requirements and future expansion

3rd China-Romania Science and Technology Seminar (CRSTS 2018)

FOREWORDAfter the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, Romania was among the first countries in the world to have developed diplomatic relations with China (October 5th, 1949) and, in the following decades, the political, economic and cultural relations between the two countries have continuously evolved, being based on friendship, confidence and reciprocal support. Thousands of cooperation projects in almost all sectors of industry, agriculture, education, science, culture etc. were implemented for the benefit of China and Romania. Whilst the post-1989 changes in the Romanian society partially affected the intensity of this fruitful cooperation, more and more Romanian decision-makers and representatives of the business sector, the academia, as well as of the scientific and cultural life have recently understood that reviving the cooperation with China should be a priority. And not only because of the tremendous economic and technological development of China nowadays, but also because of the long-lasting friendship and trust between the two countries.In recent years, Transilvania University of Brasov has been at the forefront of the academic and scientific cooperation between Romania and China. The establishment of the Confucius Institute in 2012, in partnership with Shenyang Jianzhu University, represented the impulse for a new stage of intensive cooperation between the two universities and also between the two countries. Hundreds of staff and student mobility exchanges, the participation in scientific events in China and Romania, the establishment of new cooperation partnerships in Beijing, Tianjin, Hunan province etc., the establishment of a Chinese language Bachelor’s study programme, the implementation of an international joint laboratory project and a “111” project, and the active involvement in the “16+1 cooperation” in the field of forestry and education are only a few examples of this excellent cooperation in recent years. Our university is fully committed to the further development of the academic and scientific cooperation between Romania and China, and we are convinced that the approaching of the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China and 100 years of modern Romania, will represent the beginning of a new stage of intensive cooperation between the two countries for the benefit of our peoples.List of committees are available in this pdf.

Suitability, challenges and way forward for university accounting education in Nigeria

The purpose of this paper is to identify the suitability, challenges and the way forward for University accounting education in Nigeria in producing graduates fit for the labour market and the profession. The study is motivated by the report of the ACCA on drivers of change and future skills expected of accountants and problems facing higher education in Nigeria. The study adopts a mixed research method. It used a structured questionnaire to elicit information from the accounting students, academics and practitioners. Focused group discussion was undertaken to explore the issues at stake further. Descriptive statistics and T-test statistics were used to analyse the data and compare perceptions across the various stakeholders. The study found a deficient university accounting curricula, poorly motivated Nigerian accounting lecturers and poor cooperation between professional accounting bodies and the academia, among others. Two stakeholder groups had reservations on the ability of the present university education in Nigeria to produce future accountants fit for the labour market and the profession. Recommendations for repositioning include internationalisation of Nigerian university accounting curricula, motivating university accounting lecturers through improved conditions of service and international staff exchanges. This result should be of interest to Nigerian regulators, professional bodies and the universities.

The Borders of Europe A Roundtable Discussion

In response to the theme, The Borders of Europe, guest editors Sjoukje van der Meulen and Nathalie Zonnenberg invited four players in the cultural field to discuss the borders of Europe and the role of art and culture within the European project since 1992. All four participants in the discussion organize cultural projects that center on or are related to Europe. In 2016 Yoeri Albrecht organized the first edition of the biannual Forum on European Culture in De Balie with DutchCulture. The forum offers thinkers and artists a platform to imagine the idea of Europe. In 2017, with Gijs Frieling and twenty artists, Valentijn Byvanck co-curated a joint artwork at Marres, The Painted Bird: Dreams and Nightmares of Europe. It involved painting 750 square meters of the historic building’s surface area, and was accompanied by a soundtrack. Hedwig Fijen is director of the European Biennial of Contemporary Art, Manifesta, which she founded in 1996; an exhibition that explores the changing DNA of the European climate, together with the underlying geopolitical and sociopolitical agenda, from the perspective of art and culture. Every two years the roving biennial takes place in a different location in Europe: from Rotterdam in 1996 to Zurich in 2016. Manifesta opens in Palermo in June 2018. Finally, Steven ten Thije is the project leader of the platform The Uses of Art – The Legacy of 1848 and 1989 (2013–2018), initiated by L’Internationale, a confederation of six European museums for modern and contemporary art. L’Internationale proposes a space for art within a non-hierarchical and decentralized internationalism, based on the values of difference and horizontal exchange among a constellation of cultural agents. With exhibitions, symposia, publications, education programs, and staff exchanges, L’Internationale seeks to foster a substantive, long-term partnership in the museum world.