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Mobility of higher education students and staff supported by internal policy funds (KA131-HED) - Coordinator: Universität Siegen

2023-1-DE01-KA131-HED-0001164602023Mobility of higher education students and stafffinalized
Countries: DE|AT|BE|CY|EE|FI|FR|EL|HU|IS|IE|IT|JP|KR|LV|LT|MX|NL|NO|PL|PT|RO|SK|SI|ES|SE|TR|UK|US · Grant: €467,791

Objectives

The University of Siegen is a medium-sized university in the center of Germany with a broad range of degree progams from the Humanities and Social Science, Architecture and Fine Arts, Business and Economics as well as Engineering and Natural Sciences. The Erasmus+ program is the largest funding and scholarship scheme for international mobility across all subjects. The program contributes substantially to the University’s guiding principle "Shaping a Humane Future" by enabling mobility for all status groups – facilitating collaboration and maintaining long-lasting partnerships among partners in the program countries.This funding covers the majority of student exchanges, both long-term and short-term, across the various disciplines. The regional clusters of the receiving institutions mirror the student's interest in neighboring European countries (Spain, Italy, Portugal, France, Sweden, Slovenia and Turkey in this project). Participating in an international experience, be it study abroad, an internship or a BIP, is an important part of a well-rounded university education. In theory, the opportunity to go abroad should algin well with degree programs many students are enrolled in Siegen (teacher training, social sciences, media studies as well as business and economics). However, students in Siegen tend to be less adventurous and have very close regional ties, making mobility a less attractive option for many. The goal of this project was to maintain the number of student mobilities, implement a stabile and student-centered overall project and address the uncertainties and concerns, especially students are continually struggling to cope with. The International Office (IO) chose to address student indecision coupled with geopolitical tension with a lot of different advising and support offers, be it on a peer-to peer-level or with staff digitally or in person. Raising awareness about the program, its support mechanisms, and its benefits – both academically and socially – remain the main priority. The second priority was to continue to successfully implement the top-ups throughout the entire university, encouraging a growing number of students to make use of them. As many students in Siegen are first generation students and or have a migration experience in their immediate family, the top-ups are an integral part of the program’s success in Siegen. Furthermore, the IO wanted to continue to raise the number of students and PhDs participating in the short-term programs, making the whole range of Erasmus+ elements available to the status groups. In summary, the University of Siegen managed to utilize the grant to a high percentage across all mobility activities, including international mobilites to the focused partner in the US as well as universities in Japan, Mexico and the UK. However, still more marketing, awareness and advising about the advantages of study abroad are needed to address the students' manifold issues - such as growing uncertainties about international experiences given the current geopolitical situation. The high number of annulments, especially in long-term SMS mobilities at very late stage in the process, remains a cause for concern, that the IO wants to continue to address together with the Departmental Coordinators in the faculties and schools. Overall, the IO successfully implement a project with diverse forms of mobility for the status groups at the University of Siegen.

Project partners (1)