Internationalisation of European Higher Education:

Trends, Challenges and Opportunities under Erasmus+

Elizabeth ColucciEuropean University Association

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EUA: An Overview

Membership organisation of 850 universities and national rectors’ conferences in 47 countriesMission Position European universities in the centre of the European knowledge

society Strengthen the leadership and management of universities Promote/support the internationalisation of universities within Europe

and globally

Emphasis: European added value: Positioning European Universities in the European and Global policy debatePrivileged partner of DG research (MoU) and consultative member in the Bologna Process

EUA Membership: Diverse

landscape, diverse needs

Activity update

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University Quality Culture: Revising the ESG

Global Rankings: An update

MOOCs: updates

Memberships survey on e-learning

Trends 2015

University Funding Forum

Energy Platform

Smart Specialisation

Arab-Euro Dialogue (AECHE)

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EUA’s International Agenda: Objectives

Policy dialogue on global trends Understand where different agenda’s are interlinked (research

excellence, quality of education, access....) Support policy processes related to external affairs,

development cooperation, etc. Provide information on development trends in other regions Respond to the interest in regional HE convergence processes

Who is learning from the EHEA....Is it a reference for quality?

Institutional support for internationalisation Support strategy development internationalisation in institutions

Evolving priorities for EUA…..

EUA Autumn Conference, University of Giessen, Germany

8–10 October2009

Internationalisation beyond Europe’s frontiers: enhancing attractiveness through global Partnership and Cooperation

EUA Annual ConferenceGhent University, Belgium11-12 April 2013

European Universities – Global Engagement

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International cooperation beyond European borders

European universities always have…..So what is different? Growth in global demand for HE Growth in mobile students and international student market Globalisation: Jobs have become increasingly international so training must

become international Interconnectivity and ICT – changing traditional modes for learning

A shift from scattered academic cooperation to more strategic institutional, national and regional approaches

EUA membership survey: Internationalisation (2013)

56% have an international strategy and 13% are developing one (30% consider it in other strategies)And these strategies have had an impact.....Yet all would like additional support is revising, developing and implementing strategiesFocus should be on more comprehensive and systematic approaches (considering resource allocation, staff recruitment and development, support services....)

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• 86% have one• 13% want to develop one• Very positive impact• But: has to be improved …

Internationalisation: strategies matter

2013 EUA membership consultation: :175 institutions – 38 countries

EUA supporting institutional strategies for internationalisation

Mapping University Mobility of Students and Staff - MAUNIMO (2010-2012) Created an online mobility self-assessment tool for universities – questionnaire

based Based on pilot with 35 universities Published policy recommendations on closing the gap between

national/European mobility policies and targets and institutions practices

FRINDOC (2012-2014) An international strategy development tool for doctoral education Self-analysis, can also be used for benchmarking Assessment around indicators in 3 categories (Resources, Governance and QA

and International research environment)

ALISIOS project: Academic Links and

Strategies for the Internationalisation of the HE Sector

EMA3 project – focus on aligning European HE cooperation with Brazil

Objectives: Launch a systematic dialogue between European agencies

managing the ‘Science without Borders’ programme, Brazilian associations and university partners (‘SwB Forum’)

Capitalise on the opportunites afforded by SwB – Generate partnerships between Brazilian and European Universities

Use EU-Brazil relations as a test case for European cooperation beyond Europe

An EU strategy for Internationalisation? Perception of universities

EU programmes have had a significant impact on European universities’ internationalisationPrimary expectations from an EU strategy: 1) Additional funding for mobility and cooperation 2) Strategy development support 3) Impetus for drawing attention to the national policy discussion on

internationalisation

EU Higher Education in World: EUA reactions

Nothing new...But timely (given launch of Erasmus +)And almost over-due (EU programmes have had a global orientation for almost a decade)Focus on providing students international skills and on European HE attractivenessPositive: Emphasis on institutional strategy development Emphasis on reciprocity in mobility Attention paid to e-learning and its role in internationalisation Focus on strategic partnerships and capacity building Focus on recognition tools Focus on European higher education visibility Focus on policy dialogue

Erasmus+: key features

40% increase in EU funding for 2014-20 – higher than in any other chapter of the EU budget – 14.5 billion*

3 key actions:1.Learning opportunities for individuals (63%)

Credit/degree mobility, joint masters, Masters Loan Scheme

2.Institutional cooperation between educational institutions, businesses, local and regional authorities and NGOs (25%)

Strategic partnerships and Knowledge Alliances Capacity Building Partnerships

3. Support for policy reform

Integration of all existing international programmes

Consultation 2010: EUA recommendations

Put all currently fragmented EU programmes for HE under one umbrella (√)Build programme around 1) mobility grants, 2) partnerships (√)Improve Erasmus by: Encouraging co-funding via structural funds in less-resourced

countries (?) Embedding mobility in partnerships (more widely than just EM) (√) Opening it up to non-European students and destinations (√)

Flexibility in partnerships: curricula development, capacity building, joint-research.... (√ +/-)

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Consultation 2010: EUA recommendations

Employ a range or funding levels and periods (that are fit-for-purpose) (?)Open calls for policy dialogue, dissimination, promotion of results and enhancing project synergies (?)Streamline application and admin procedures (√ +/-)Flexible funding for diverse geographic and thematic areas (√ +/-)

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2012 Response to E4A proposal

Employability focus: Yes, provided that the intention is not to simply and only align higher education curricula with the needs of the industry……Strategic partnerships should be as flexible as possible (to different institutions and actors) (√ +/-)Masters Loan Facility: An innovative idea, but ensure equity and avoid excessive student debt – more details needed (?)Capacity building partnerships (YES – but don’t bind them to regions/ fit-for-purpose) (√ +/-)Concerns regarding decentralisation of some actions and the loss of the European dimension (-)

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Erasmus+ and Internationalisation

Programme underpins the EU Strategy ‘EU Higher Education in the World’ – developed in parallelIn design, a responsive and hopefully flexible mechanism to internationalise institutions Mobility embedded in partnerships Mobility in and out of Europe at all levels Focus on quality and recognition (revision of Erasmus Charter,

learning agreements go global, new and improved ECTS user’s Guide, etc)

Flexible (?) capacity building partnerships Policy dialogue (KA3)

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Erasmus+: What to question

Streamling rules and procedures versus simplification (maybe only the former)Streamlined....but different funding mechanisms still need to be fed in (EDF, EDI, etc) when it comes to global cooperationProgrammes remains complex (large number of actions)- How to promote participation globally?Mobility beyond Europe... Yes, but littleBudget increase: Yes, but rather more for mobility and less for projects = increased competitionStrategic partnerships: too few grants

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General reflections

Overall, it is telling that education is one of the only sectors that has seen a budgetary increase Erasmus+ is an opportunity to demostrate European leadership and innovation in higher education internationalisationAnd to address the ambitious objectives of the modernisation agenda and EU2020, which, given current economic malaise, may seem idealistic and improbableBut the proof is in the pudding....(we have the recipe, and now we need to see what we can actually make with it)

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Conclusions

Internationalisation of European HE is not an optionThe question is how to do it strategically and coherently...Erasmus+ will be an important toolBut not the only toolCountries and institutions also need to define their own strategic means to internationalise and investTaking into account the fundamental question of what type of HEI we need World class universities? Locally inclusive universities? Transnational universities? Online universities?

For more information on the latest

EUA activities and events visit:

www.eua.be

Děkuji!

Elizabeth.colucci@eua.be

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