Eracon INENTER conference 2012 Moderated and combined presentation from

Eracon/INENTER conference 2012 Moderated and combined presentation from the In. Enter workshop Starting of an Erasmus Placement Consortium and Eracon session Managing Placements via a Consortium 18. 19. 4. 2012. Katja Kurasto, Oulu University of Applied Sciences - Erasmus Consortium Coordinator, IIOHEI - International Relations Coordinator, School of Engineering

Erasmus Placement Consortium International Internships at Oulu’s Higher Education Institutions (IIOHEI) - Oulu University of Applied Sciences (Coordinator) - University of Oulu - City of Oulu • The first and only placement consortium in Finland, counts for 6% of the entire outgoing Erasmus placement mobility in Finland • A small & regional consortium

Objectives for the presentation • Give you one example of a small consortium with a focus on administration system & quality management topics • Share our views on the benefits and challenges of facilitating Erasmus placements via consortium = consortium vs. individual universities • Offer questions and tools for the possible starting of a consortium • Provide some food for thought: questions, comments, new ideas

What is an erasmus placement consortium? “A group of higher education institutions and possibly other organisations (enterprises, associations, chambers of commerce…) working together in facilitating Erasmus placement mobility” • more than 80 consortia in Europe of very different sizes • requires the Erasmus Consortium Placement Certificate from the Commission • applications & reports to National Agencies • receives and facilitates funding for student placement grants (outgoing) as well as for organising the mobility (OM) • different types: regional or thematic • each of the participating members of the placement consortium must be a legal entity of the same country as the applicant.

IIOHEI In numbers • • • 3 actual partners: Oulu University of Applied Sciences (9000 Bachelor students, 5 study fields), University of Oulu (16 000 students, 6 faculties) and the City of Oulu (app. 140 000 inhabitants) started in 2007 budget/ used money (2010 -2011) including organisation grant (OM) and student grants (SMP) 96 833€ placement grant for the student: 200 -400€/ month, depending if the placement is paid/ unpaid main role: to provide the common administration and financing system of the Erasmus placement mobility for the universities.

In numbers • • • Mobile students / months (incl. both Finnish and intl. students) - 07 -08 22 outgoing students - 08 -09 50 outgoing students (205 months) - 10 -11 69 outgoing students (262 months) - 11 -12 49 outgoing students (190 months), current situation Average lenght of the placements 4 months App. 90% of the placements abroad unpaid Mobility in all the study fields Facilitation of the incoming mobility via the consortium just started and limited Placements in companies, organisations, universities…

Administration • The consortium work is run by the following actors: - steering group representation: both HEIs, the City of Oulu, student unions of the HEI’s, Nothern Ostrobotnia Entrepreneurs - consortium coordinator - consortium contact persons in the universities - departmental international relations / practical training coordinators There is no separate funding for the administration except of the consortium coordinator whose work is partly funded by the consortium funding.

Steering group - Decides the main functions of the consortium. - Makes decisions on the placement grant amount and requirements. - Monitors the actions, budget and annually drafted promotion plan (for internal and external promotion) for Erasmus placement mobility opportunities.

Coordinator (app. 1 -2 days/week) - Writes the needed applications/reports. - Communicates with CIMO, the national agency. - Allocates/ makes the decisions on the student grants, monitors the budget. - Communicates with the contact persons of both HEIs. - Carries out the Erasmus placement mobility promotion, maintains the consortium website. - Coordinates and communicates the placement offers. - Develops the consortium functions in general.

Consortium contact persons - Communicate information related to Erasmus placement mobility to the departmental level. - Deliver placement opportunity information to the students/ staff. - Guide the students with Erasmus placement issues. - Do the final check of the Erasmus placement agreements and send them further for the Consortium Coordinator. - Collect and monitor the student’s placement reports and certificates/ reports the finalised placements to the coordinator final grant payment.

Departmental coordinators - Promote the Erasmus placement mobility opportunities to the students. - Guide the students with Erasmus placement issues. - Approve and credit the possible placements. - Help with/ sign the Erasmus placement agreements. - Main responsibility in monitoring the placements. - Collect and monitor the student’s placement reports and certificates.

Students - Look for the placement themselves. - Have the main responsibility with the training agreement. - Report the placement according to the requirements of their own HEI/faculty and the consortium. NB! For the Oulu UAS students work experience/placement is a compulsory part of the degree studies. In the University of Oulu the role of the placement is a degree programme specific.

QUALITY assurance Consortium work in general - Clearly defined and efficient administration -> quality and transparency of services for all the beneficiaries. - Tool examples: readily structured agenda for the steering group, annual promotion plan (internal/ external promotion). - Benchmarking of and networking with other consortia.

Quality in the placements • Mobility documents Centralised and readily structured three party placement agreement as well as a placement certificate. • Placement report of the student Each placement experience is reported by the student. • Grant payment 20% of the grant is paid when the student has returned the certificate and final report. • Employer’s report A formatted online questionnaire for the employer sent by the consortium after each placement -> a starting point for collecting a database of potential employers for the future placements.

Questions for the planning phase • • Size and type of the consortium? Partners, roles, possible partner cooperation agreements? Who is/are the coordinator/s? Funding and work resources? Application preparation – who and with which resources? Any ready networks (Leonardo etc. ) that you could utilise? Cooperation vs. competition? Added value, is there any for your situation?

Benefits/ Oulu PERSPECTIVE • Common facilitation and administration of Erasmus placement mobility: sharing of costs and resources. • Increased amount of Erasmus placement mobility – outgoing and incoming. • Centralised marketing of Erasmus placement possibilities among the students and staff of the HEIs: www. oulugogo. fi -> strengthened image and visibility among the students and staff. • Enhanced cooperation with the City of Oulu in terms of making Erasmus possibilities known in the organisation.

added value? For administration • common and shared administration procedures, clearly defined responsibilities • common and enhanced promotion of Erasmus placements among the students as well as the staff, www. oulugogo. fi • saved money & saved and shared and resources after the first year/years. • a way to receive international trainees and via that support the internationalisation of the university administration.

For students • clear and transparent system of Erasmus placement mobility organisation, documents, grants etc. across the universities • one ”door” for information. For departments/ faculties • centralised support with Erasmus placement mobility issues • ready information, forms & documents from the consortium.

For the city, companies & local organisations • a channel to look for international trainees • support services in facilitating a traineeship for an international student.

Thank you for your interest! For more information/ documents: www. oulugogo. fi Katja Kurasto, Consortium Coordinator katja. kurasto@oamk. fi