The project is an example of a strategic partnership, the product of which will be three results of intellectual work. The partnership is made up of four universities: three from three EU member states and one from Ukraine. The main goal of the project is to better prepare the University for the Internationalization Process. The need to implement the project tasks is primarily due to the enormous importance of university internationalization for their current functioning. Universities are now interested in expanding the offer and accepting a growing number of foreign students, Universities’ authorities also strive to maintain contacts with foreign universities and conduct foreign mobility of their employees and students. Activities in the area of internationalization are highly positioned in all rankings indicating the place of a given university on the domestic or international market. Hence the intensive interest of the university in the subject and undertaking many actions to provide an interesting offer for potential foreign students. However, when preparing to receive foreign students, universities mainly undertake activities in the area of tangible preparation of the study offer – to improve the subject matter, to adapt it to current trends, an increasing proportion of courses offered in foreign languages, most often in English. Universities’ authorities tend to neglect the formal preparation of the university in the sense of administrative procedures, and the preparation of administrative staff dedicated to students' support such as dean's offices, student houses, libraries, etc. Extremely important, usually without proper interest, are issues, of measures to ensure full inclusion of foreign students into the academic community of a given university. This mainly applies to the so-called new EU countries where internationalization processes are relatively new. Speaking of foreign students, we mean two situations: 1. International mobility in the Erasmus+ Program (usually for one semester). 2. The whole cycle of tertiary education carried out at a foreign university. The problem of university’s proper preparation for the internationalization exists and has been recognized for a long time. Studying at a university in another country has always been accompanied by issues of the need to adapt to cultural differences – even in the case of geographically close partners, such as Poland and Germany or Poland and Ukraine. After the EU was opened to new countries in 2004, the problem grew significantly – many more young persons can study abroad as a result of the opening of borders and mobility programs (Erasmus+). Currently occurs, the second wave of growth in the number of students studying abroad. This phenomenon is resulting from the arrival of young people from countries outside the European Union. The problem of the need for internationalization is growing because in the case of this type of students there is no formal source of financial means, which may be devoted for their preparation before the trip – as a rule, they are not in the Erasmus+ mobility program, as a rule, students decide to pay for studies, usually not quite sure what the study will look like. The consequences of lack of preparation of the university to receive international students are manifesting themselves in a decrease of the quality of teaching and leads to the frustration on the part of foreign students and university staff. Two target groups of the project may be indicated: ─ Universities understood as their administrative, scientific and didactic employees. ─ Students studying at foreign universities (young people pursuing full diploma program within a foreign university and students taking part in the curricula program as part of international mobility). As part of the project, three results of intellectual work are planned: 1. O1: Manual for the university: How to prepare for the reception of a foreign student? 2. O2: Manual for a foreign student: What should I know before I go to a foreign study / foreign exchange? 3. O3: Syllabus and didactic materials for trainings for universities’ administrative staff preparing for servicing foreign students.
Project duration: 01.09.2018 – 30.06.2021 (34 months) Partnership: Poland (Leader) - Wroclaw University of Economics Greece - Hellenic Open University Ukraine - West Ukrainian National University Hungary – The University of Pannonia The partnership was made up of four universities: three from three EU member states and one from Ukraine. The project responds to the needs of all Partners and results directly from the current and forecasted situation for the coming years. The need to implement the project was primarily due to the enormous importance of university internationalization for their current functioning. Universities are now interested in expanding their offer and admitting a growing number of foreign students. Also, they strive to maintain contact with foreign universities and ensure international mobility for their employees and students. Universities are assessed for this type of activity. Activities in the area of internationalization are highly appreciated and indicate the position of a given university in the ranking on the domestic or international market. Hence the high interest of universities in the subject and undertaking many actions to provide an interesting offer for potential foreign students. However, when preparing to admit foreign students, universities mainly undertake activities in the area of substantive preparation of the study offer - they strive to improve the subject matter, adapt it to the current trends and increase the proportion of courses offered in foreign languages, most often in English. They tend to forget about formal preparation in terms of administrative procedures, the functioning of administration offices expected to support students such as dean's offices, student houses, libraries, etc., or taking actions to ensure full inclusion of foreign students in the academic community of a given university. This mainly applies to the so-called new EU countries, where internationalization processes are relatively new. Speaking of foreign students, we mean two situations: 1. The Erasmus + Program mobility groups (trips usually for one semester). 2. Completing a full cycle of study at a foreign university. The problem of proper university preparation has been visible for a long time. Studying at a university in another country has always been accompanied by the need to adapt to cultural differences - even in the case of geographically close partners, such as Poland and Germany. After the EU opened to new countries in 2004, these issues became more visible as several times more people study abroad as a result of the opening of borders and mobility programs (Erasmus +). We are currently observing a second wave of growth in the number of people studying abroad as a result of the arrival of young people from countries outside the European Union. The problem is growing because in the case of this group of people there are no formal financial resources for their preparation before the trip - they are not in the Erasmus + mobility program, they most often pay for their education, and they do not quite know what studying will look like. The problem is aggravated by the lack of or non-compliance with EU standards. The main goal of the project was to better prepare the university for the internationalization process. Implementation of this objective was possible by ensuring better preparation of the university for admitting foreign students (the first detailed objective) and ensuring better preparation of foreign students for studying (the second detailed objective). As part of the project, we have developed three results of intellectual work: 1. O1: Manual for the university. How to prepare for the reception of foreign students? 2. O2: Manual for foreign students: What should I know before I go to a foreign study / foreign exchange? 3. O3: Syllabus and didactic materials for training courses intended for university administrative staff and preparing them for providing support to foreign students. There are two target groups of the project: - Universities understood as administrative employees and scientific and didactic employees. - Students studying at foreign universities (people completing either a full cycle of study at a foreign university or only its part within international mobility). Without doubt, these issues deserve a debate as well as finding good practices and effective solutions. Although the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the processes related to studying at foreign universities to a large extent, the problem of formal preparation of universities for admitting foreign students has remained the same. The importance of the subject matter is evidenced by great interest in the developed solutions - over 130 university administration employees participated in the training courses (with the initially forecast number of 40-50 people).