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Mobility of higher education students and staff supported by internal policy funds (KA131-HED) - Coordinator: Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles

2023-1-BE01-KA131-HED-0001179972023Mobility of higher education students and stafffinalizedGood practice
Countries: BE|AT|BO|HR|EE|FR|DE|IE|IT|NL|RO|SI|ES · Grant: €57,794.7

Objectives

Despite limited support for the International Relations (IR) department, the overall project was a success. It is worth recalling that our IRC lost 3 hours of support due to the refusal of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (FWB) to grant an administrative secondment of more than half-time, even though this had been possible in the past. Higher Arts Education institutions (ESA) have no dedicated framework for IR work. However, the new Conservatory management has significantly contributed to a renewed international momentum, providing substantial support on human, psychological, administrative, and financial levels. This deserves to be highlighted, given how complex and responsibility-laden the IRC’s work is. The new management has compensated for the loss of administrative support by offering equivalent assistance with accounting tasks, easing the significant workload of our IRC. Accounting tasks have thus been delegated, but remain under the direct supervision of the IRC. Thanks to this structure, project management has improved, and our accounting is gradually returning to its pre-COVID administrative state. We currently have three simultaneous calls for projects, which is why this final report is being sent now. International projects have continued to grow significantly, with a management team that actively supports our internationalization policy, elevating it to a high strategic level. The number of mobilities, for both staff and students, has increased considerably, reflecting an optimal achievement of objectives. We carried out 29 mobilities, exceeding the 23 planned in the grant agreement. Regarding outgoing SMS mobilities (SMS OUT), the implementation of a preselection procedure since 2016 has proven to be a real success. This process is based on a call for applications that emphasizes student motivation and information, with mandatory registration as a “candidate” by a clearly defined deadline. After that, a preselection phase is organized to ensure that students can obtain an Erasmus grant. Students must contact their instrumental teachers to receive an informal evaluation of their selection chances, requiring at least three positive (though unofficial) opinions. This preselection phase, running from October to January, serves to filter candidates and destinations, narrowing the field to six potential destinations, of which three must receive favorable feedback. In the context of higher arts education institutions (ESA), the artistic portfolio is a key selection criterion, resulting in strong competition among candidates. This preselection process helps reduce unnecessary applications and prevents the allocation of grants that might otherwise go unused. It also encourages candidates to take their mobility project seriously. As a result, we achieved a 100% acceptance rate for the selected (nominated) candidates. In addition, we now organize short-term SMS OUT mobilities to support specific projects from various departments (early music, voice).

Project partners (1)