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Mobility of higher education students and staff supported by internal policy funds (KA131-HED) - Coordinator: Akademia Kultury Spolecznej i Medialnej

2023-1-PL01-KA131-HED-0001131642023Mobility of higher education students and staffongoing
Countries: PL|FR|IN|IT|MT|RO|SK|ES|TR|UA · Grant: €67,853

Objectives

Project 2023-1-PL01-KA131-HED-000113164 involved the mobility of students, teaching staff, and administrative staff. Students had the opportunity to study abroad and undertake internships. Several employees took advantage of teaching and training opportunities. The project at the Academy of Social and Media Culture was largely implemented, but not completely. This was due to the fear caused by the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic and the numerous restrictions that took a long time to be lifted. It took a long time to ease the restrictions, including the mandatory vaccination requirement, which is not popular among young people. Consequently, in 2024 (the key year), there was a lack of natural participants in the Erasmus+ program, which we still see as a drawback to this day. The 2023 agreement assumed 27 mobilities, 14 for students (7 for studies and 7 for internships), 13 for university staff, and visits by specialists from abroad (7 for teaching trips/incoming visits and 6 for training trips). Erasmus+ mobility at the Academy of Social and Media Culture in Toruń is a popular program among students every year (though not sufficient), but also increasingly popular among teaching and administrative staff. In all these categories, we noticed a significant increase in submitted applications – especially among staff who had used their entire allocated allocation under the program. Unfortunately, we observed a high rate of student withdrawals from Erasmus+ mobility. After conducting a student review and analysis, we concluded that the most common reasons for withdrawal were the low scholarship compared to the standard of living in the host country, the multitude of bureaucratic requirements, and, above all, the post-epidemiological crisis. As a result, the structure of the trips is as follows: Staff trips – two political science lecturers, one law lecturer, and one computer science lecturer – a total of four people. In the STT category, staff from the International Relations Office, the Library, the Rector's Office, and the Dean's Office – a total of 13 people – traveled. However, among the only five students, four journalism students and one political science student participated in internships. Only one journalism student went on to study, and four Ukrainian political science students were invited, in accordance with the signed annex. Nursing, medicine, and media informatics students are not active in mobility projects under the analyzed agreement. As a result, we completed all staff trips: the entire allocated amount was used, and the shortfall was covered by organizational support and the permissible 10% of the student budget. Despite this, the trips had excellent educational and learning outcomes. Students on internships or studying at partner universities were able to improve their language and professional skills, enhance the quality of international communication through exposure to a multicultural and international environment, gain skills for functioning in a foreign environment, increase their independence, and enhance their intellectual development. This has led to increased interest in foreign language and subject classes taught in English at AKSiM. Students are very eager to engage in the integration process with incoming students and are eager to mentor them – a very good practice. This not only influences integration between students from our university and partner universities, but also strengthens their foundations of responsibility and provides opportunities for practical language development. These students are also more open to new opportunities and are increasingly willing to apply for Erasmus+ trips. The project also has a significant impact on the University through staff mobility. Thanks to the mobility, they have had the opportunity for academic and professional development, and collaboration in international projects. environment, learning about other research methods, work systems, innovations implemented at partner institutions, and discovering good teaching practices from other cultures. They were able to transfer the experience they gained to Poland. This particularly contributes to enhancing the attractiveness and quality of education. It also fosters increased motivation to work with students and engage in their own research. Mobility abroad provides the opportunity to prepare staff for operations in a competitive international market. Thanks to mobility, inter-university contacts were developed. Visiting students and staff also had the opportunity to share their best practices, which enhanced the attractiveness of education at the University. The opportunity to participate in mobility abroad has become a factor attracting students to AKSiM.

Project partners (1)