Vrije Universiteit Brussel Filip Callewaert Management of the

Vrije Universiteit Brussel Filip Callewaert Management of the Partnership

Overall objective § Management of the partnership and decision making boards § Promotion and visibility of the programme § Methodology for the management of mobility and student selection 2

1. Management of the partnership and decision making boards 3

The formation of the consortium §Egypt, Israel, Palestinian Territories (West-Bank and Gaza) § Palestinian U. : principles (Birzeit) § But: a lot of candidates (TG 1 – TG 2) § Egyptian U. : problems with involvement of Israel § Few candidates § April 07: visit to Egyptian partners; discussion of proposal 4

Needs analysis §Egypt & Palestinian T. : starting-point = needs: § Capacity building (faculty development programmes) § Introduction of new programmes Þ More focused educational portfolio §Israel: // Erasmus LLP partner: any discipline § mobility 5

EU partners §Existing relationships with 3 rd country partners §Focus on traditional partners § UNICA network, Europe. Aid partners etc. §Answer to needs of 3 rd country partners 6

=> Erasmus Mundus University II 7

Decision taking & Action § proposal § eg. Institution’s Mobility Flow 8

Institution’s Mobility Flow 9

Worries: Mid June: surprise & concern § Time schedule § General: § Degree-seeking students + 1 -year programme Credit Transfer students needed to start in Sept/Oct 2007 § Call/Application/Selection/Admission = 6 months > 1. 5 months § Visa Application: 2 months § Particularities: § Strikes in IL § No electricity in Gaza § Holidays everywhere (also embassies…) 10

Worries: Mid June: surprise & concern §Experimental character § Credit transfer programmes § Curriculum (in)compatibilities § Quality 11

Decision taking & Action § start call & preselection § protocols: to be discussed § steering committee (but: holidays…) § e-mail / phone calls / fax § intranet § Pull / Push § importance of LIVE meetings § absence of Palestinians (in all cases: Gaza) 12

Meetings §April 07: visit to Egyptian partners (TG 1 and TG 2) §July: Rome meeting: representatives from IL, EG, EU §August: visit to selection of IL, PA partners §September: Brussels meeting with all partners §September: Lille meeting with TG 2 EG §September: Paris meeting with PA (P. E. A. C. E. meeting) §November: visit to selection of EG partners (also TG 2) §December 07: visit to selection of EU partners §January 08: Steering Committee meeting §March 08: visit to selection of EU partners §April 08: EG meeting (or Turkey) 13

Meetings 14

Decision taking & Action § importance of having the EMECW implementation situated in a clear institutional structure § International office or other central academic office § Clear mandate towards executives § Visible responsibility § Support of institutional governors 15

Decision taking: Lessons learned § § Do not overestimate Pull-technology Do not overestimate Electronic communication Have live meetings Institutional mandate for executives 16

2. Promotion and visibility of the programme 17

Promotion § As 75 % of mobility flow is TG 1: major responsibility at TG 1 institutions § TG 2: “preferential” TG 2 -partners § TG 3: associate partners: GUPS, PEACE, … No open national calls, but open institutional calls 18

Websites § Central: www. erasmusmundus 2. eu 19

Websites: central 20

Websites: local; eg. www. ccast. edu. ps/emu 2 21

Ad Valvas 22

Magazines E. g. Local: American University Cairo: AUC Weekly VUB: electronic newsletter 23

Promotion & visibility § Towards local programmes: § Importance of ECTS information package! § Educational portfolio § Mainly in case of credit transfer! 24

Promotion & visibility § Timing 25

3. Methodology for the management of mobility and student selection 26

Management software The planned use of Move. On / Move. In failed - Move. On : for the management of mobility - Move. In: for the management of the application/selection process Main reason: software not intended for consortia but only for one single institution and Unisolution could not manage to alter it in time 27

Management software Registration/application module in our CMS website (Joomla based) www. erasmusmundus 2. eu Before 10 July, 148 people applied online for the first call (Ba/Ma level). 28

Management of mobility an exchange server and ftp server was set up for mail and internal document management (eg. application workflow); central databases were set up to manage, update and communicate scholarship availability and granting E-banking software was introduced 29

Selection: BA/MA §Preselection by partners § Impartial selection committee + procedure: report! § Ranking sent to HQ ; HQs dispatch §Final admission by hosting academics §Limited exceptional PRIORITY scheme allowed in framework of faculty building programmes 30

Selection BA/MA: TG 1, 1 st call: BA/MA 31

Selection BA/MA: transparancy & equal treatment - Reporting - Number of candidates = 3 x scholarships available 32

Selection BA/MA: CCAST For instance, the Community College of Applied Science and Technology (CCAST, Gaza) appealed to the following criteria and weighting: • Qualification General Grade (Excellent: 9 points / Very Good: 6 / Good: 4) • Language (Qualification with the required level: 7 / Qualification below the required level: 4 / Without qualification but with excellent CCAST English test: 3 / Without qualification but with very good CCAST English test: 2 / Without qualification but with good CCAST English test: 1) • Academic experience (1 point per year, maximally 9) • Motivation (maximally 5) 33

Selection: group mobility - Selection done at home university 34

Selection: Ph. D - Strategic use of scholarships: faculty development programmes (instructors as candidates) - Recommendation letters - Final acceptance: by hosting academic 35

Selection: postdocs & academic staff - strategically: they have a mission in the future of EMECW project, supported by institutional governors - Faculty development programmes 36

Selection: TG 2 - Cfr. TG 1, with limited number of TG 2 partners 37

Selection: TG 3 - Palestinian refugees - Reside in EU - Recommended by home university 38

Conclusions: specific - Management of partnership - Specific problems due to regional compostion - Meet - EMECW in organisational structure of institution 39

Conclusions: specific - Promotion - Start in time - Programme still unknown; profit in future from built up resonance now 40

Conclusions: specific - Selection & management of mobility - Software? ! 41

Conclusions: General - Learning process; hope to be able to use the lessons learnt in the future - ‘Of mice and men’: schemes do not always turn out as planned, in this case mainly due to tight time schedule 42