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ACA Newsletter nr 1629 March 2002
ACA is proud to announce "The Virtual Challenge to Internationalisation in Higher Education", the latest publication in the ACA Papers on International Cooperation in Education, which came out of the printing press a few days ago. Based on the outcome of an expert seminar held in Fjaerland/Norway in June 2001, the book explores the phenomenon of online learning and its relationship to the present concepts of internationalisation. Will e-learning replace partly or fully classroom-based instruction, and will the new "click universities" perhaps even endanger the existence of (some of the) "brick-and-mortar" institutions? Will online education put an end to international mobility and exchange, and other forms of internationalisation? How can and should funding agencies in the field of international cooperation respond to the new virtual paradigm? The publication tackles these and related questions in the form of 12 articles by authors from four continents, and an introduction by the editor. ACA members will receive 10 copies of the book in the coming days. The book can also be ordered from the publisher, Lemmens Verlag, Königswinterer Strasse 95, D-53227 Bonn, E-mail: info@lemmens.de. When ordering, please quote the full title: Bernd Wächter (ed.), The Virtual Challenge to International Cooperation in Higher Education, Bonn, Lemmens Verlag (ACA Papers on International Cooperation in Education, 2002. ISBN 3-932306-40-6. Price: 19,90 Euro.
A recent study of the German Studentenwerk reveals that the country makes progress in attracting foreign students. Between 1997/98 and 2000/2001, foreign enrolment went up 21%, from 104,000 to 126,000. Estimates for the past academic year show a further rise to 140,000. Growth rates are particularly high for students from Central and Eastern Europe ((204 % for Poland and Bulgaria) and China (83%). Federal Education Minister Buhlmahn attributes this success to the large-scale introduction of Bachelor and Master programmes (+/- 1,100), of which over 600 are on offer in a foreign language, as well as to determined marketing measures, in which ACA member DAAD plays a key role. Study abroad of German students is also reported to have increased, by a quarter since 1991. For more, please visit http://www.bmbf.de/presse01/595.html
Following on a July 2001 Communication of Commissioners Patten and Reding, the European Commission appears in the meantime to have established the rough contours of its future programme for global higher education cooperation. We are happy to report that some of the major recommendations in the ACA "globalisation study" seem to have had an effect on the Commission's programme design, which blends "traditional" scholarship elements with more "structural measures" geared to enhance the attractiveness of European higher education. The main elements of the programme are European Union Masters Courses, which will serve as an "anchor" for other programme lines. These Masters Courses, to be identified and/or developed in a first step, will be the key receivers of inbound mobility of graduate students and scholars. For this mobility, the EU will create a global scholarship programme ("European Fulbright"), for up to 2,700 students and 270 scholars per year. The programme will also fund the outbound mobility of EU graduate students and scholars, within consortia of non-EU universities and the EU institutions offering the Masters Courses. Last but not least, measures to enhance Europe's attractiveness (marketing, improvement of access conditions and services for foreign students) and the creation of a programme alumni network are likely to be part of the programme. Indications are that the Commission intends to make programme administration as u bureaucratic as possible. The programme is to be administered by a new Executive Agency to be established by the Commission.
The European Commission has launched on 8 March 2002 a new call for proposals for "General activities of observation and analysis" under the action 6 of the SOCRATES Programme. The objective of this call is to support studies, comparative analysis, exchange of experiences and other appropriate activities on two priority key issues of the "Report on the future objectives of education and training systems", basic skills and teaching of mathematics, sciences and techniques, and to encourage medium and long term reflection on the development of education and of training systems as a whole in Europe. The deadline for applications is 3 May 2002. http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/socrates/observation/call.html
EDEN, the European Distance Education Network, is organising its Annual Conference from 16 to 19 June 2002 at the University of Granada in Spain. The theme of the conference is "Open and Distance Learning in Europe and Beyond: Rethinking International Cooperation". The conference will look at the issue of international cooperation but with the focus "within and beyond Europe" in ODL and e-learning, and will develop the following main themes: cooperation and joint research in ODL, design and development of e-learning courses, distance education to create virtual communities of learners and Europe's educational import and exports relationships. The Call for Papers remains open until 15 April. To follow the development of the conference programme and for details, visit the conference web site at http://www.eden.bme.hu/contents/conferences/annual/Granada/granada0.html or contact the EDEN Secretariat eden@eden.bme.hu, phone +36 1 463 1628 or +36 1 463 2259.
In November 2000, the Directorate General Education and Culture of the European Commission started a project called IRIS in cooperation with ACA's Norwegian member SIU, the Centre for International University Cooperation. The aim of the project was to provide a service to both students and universities involved in Erasmus. SIU, as developer of the project, has recently launched the Database IRIS (Integrated Reporting for International Students) which provides updated information and statistics on Erasmus students experiences and on Higher Education institutions from all countries taking part in SOCRATES. To feed the database, Erasmus students are welcome to submit online an 'IRIS report' describing their experience on their study abroad. The IRIS project is foreseen to be completed in November 2002. Read more on http://www.iris.siu.no
Norway Proposes a New Degree StructureA few weeks ago, the Norwegian government proposed to Parliament a new
degree structure for universities and university colleges. The new
structure will be based on a two-tier, Bologna-compatible architecture,
consisting of a three-year Bachelor and a two-year Master. Exception will
be the subject areas of Medicine, Psychology and Veterinary Medicine,
which will continue to exist as one-tier education, together with their
old names (e.g. cand. med.). The European Commission's Contribution to the Bologna ProcessThe Bologna process is an intergovernmental process, of public authorities in the 32 signatory countries. However, since the Prague follow-up summit, the European Commission, for a long time "sidelined", entered into the process as a member of the Follow-Up Group (all countries) and the smaller Preparatory group for the Berlin 2003 conference. Through 10 "concrete measures", the Commission intends top make its own contribution to the process. They are:- the wide-scale introduction of the Diploma Supplement; A European Joint Declaration
On 6 March 2002, ESIB (The National Unions of Students in Europe) and EUA
(European University Association) signed a joint document outlining main
points of political agreement and significant areas for joint actions in
order to strengthen the European Higher Education Area. As part of the
implementation of the EUA Action Plan 2002-2003, the joint declaration
called 'Students and universities: An academic community on the move', was
presented and signed at the final meeting hosted in Paris by the French
Minister for Education, Mr Jack Lang.
Almost four years have passed since UNESCO held the World Conference on
Higher Education in Paris in October 1998. The so-called conference
"Higher Education in the Twenty-first Century: Vision and
Action" had known a tremendous success with more than four thousand
participants from 182 states.
Internationalisation of Higher Education in the United States of
America and Europe
4 - 6 April 2002 11 - 12 April 2002 12 - 13 April 2002 19 - 20 April 2002 16 - 17 May 2002 16 - 17 May 2002 24 - 25 May 2002 27 - 29 May 2002 3 - 5 June 2002 16-19 June 2002 19 - 22 June 2002 24 - 27 June 2002 |
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