Alfa-PUENTES: Building capacity of university associations in foresting Latin American regional integration
ALFA PUENTES is a three-year (2011-2013) project aimed at both supporting Latin American higher education convergence processes and creating deeper working relationships between European and Latin American university associations.
Partners
– Europe
1) European University Association (EUA)
2) Observatory on EU-Latin American Relations (OBREAL)
3) Spanish Rectors’ Conference (CRUE)
4) German Rectors’ Conference (HRK)
5) French Conference of University Presidents (CPU)
6) Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (CRASP)
7) Portuguese National Rectors’ Conference (CRUP)
8) SG European Universities’ Network (AGS)
– Latin America
Mesoamerican Region
1) Central American University Higher Council(CSUCA)
2) University of Veracruz, Mexico
3) National Council of University Presidents, Costa Rica (CONARE)
4) Panama Rectors’ Council (CRP)
5) Honduras National Autonomous University (UNAH)
6) National Association of Universities and Higher Educacion Institutions, Mexico (ANUIES)
Mercosur Region
7) University Association “Montevideo Group” (AUGM)
8) Council of Rectors of Brazilian Universities (CRUB)
9) National University Council, Argentina (CIN)
10) National University of Asuncion, Paraguay (UNA)
11) University of the Republic, Uruguay (UDELAR)
Andean Region
12) Association of Colombian Universities (ASCUN)
13) National Council of Higher Education, Ecuador (CONESUP)
14) Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH)
15) Executive Committee of the Bolivian University (CEUB)
16) National Assembly of Rectors, Peru (ANR)
Events:
15-17 May 2011 – kick-off meeting, Bogota (Colombia) [1]
The harmonisation agenda in Central America: ALFA PUENTES sub-regional project launch, July 07, 2011 [2]
6–9 November 2011 – the first regional seminar, Lima (Peru)
– Programme of the seminar [3]
4-6 March 2012 – Second Regional Integration Seminar – Santiago de Chile (Chile) [4]
CRASP President Prof. Wiesław Banyś, accompanied by Honorary President and Head of CRASP Office visited Brasil to attend the conference “Innovative Strategies for Higher Education in Latin America and Europe: International Collaboration and Regional Development”, which was held in São Paulo on 11-14 November 2012.
The conference was organized by the European University Association (EUA), the Association of Universities Grupo Montevideo (AUGM) and the Observatory of EU-LA Relations (OBREAL). The conference was hosted by: Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) and Universidade de São Paulo (USP) – participants in the Alfa Puentes project.
On 5-6 March 2013, the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, based in the province of Mendoza (Argentina), hosted participants in a conference devoted to consolidation and promotion of academic mobility. CRASP was represented by Prof. Rafał Molencki, Dean of the Faculty of Philology at the University of Silesia, who participated in a discussion on mobility and employment, as seen from the European perspective. Prof. Molencki held a lecture “Movilidad internacional de estudiantes y empleabilidad: perspectiva polaca y europea”.
On 7 March 2013, Buenos Aires (Argentina) hosted a panel discussion “La experiencia europea en la articulación de las Conferencias de Rectores” devoted to higher education. CRASP was represented by Prof. Rafał Molencki, Dean of the Faculty of Philology at the University of Silesia and Ms. Agata Kulesza, Head of CRASP Office, who participated in a discussion on coordination of cooperation between universities, as seen from the perspective of the European University Association (EUA) and rectors’ conferences, and shared Polish experiences in this regard.
14-15 November 2013 – the final workshop on academic mobility, Montevideo (Uruguay) [5]
Other events and details are available at Alfa Puentes website [7]
Accountible Research Environments for Doctoral Education (ARDE)
The ARDE project examined European doctoral programmes in order to gather information about existing structures, good practice and areas of concern in assuring and enhancing quality in doctoral education.
ARDE has been supported by the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission.
Please contact Joanne Byrne (joanne.byrne@eua.be [9]) if you have any questions related to the ARDE project.
CRASP Secretary General was the member of the project’s Advisory Board.
The duration of the project: October 2010 – March 2013.
One of the Advisory Board meetings was organized by CRASP Office in Warsaw on 20 May 2011 and one of the ARDE Focus Group meeting took place in Warsaw on 15 May 2012.
Raport: Quality Assurance in Doctoral Education – results of the ARDE project [10]
More about the project on the EUA website [11]
The TRACKIT project
The TRACKIT project was launched in the autumn of 2010 and was supported by the EU Lifelong Learning Programme.
It was initiated by:
− the European University Association,
− the Irish Universities Association/UCD Geary Institute,
− Hochschul-Informations-System GmBH in Germany,
− Lund University (Sweden),
− the University of the Peloponnese/Centre for Social and Educational Policy Studies (Greece),
− Aarhus University (Denmark).
The starting point for the TRACKIT project was to understand how higher education institutions actually know how students fare during their studies and, after graduation, in employment or further education for another qualification.
The main aim of TRACKIT was to provide an overview of efforts that concern tracking the career paths of learners and graduates in 31 European countries, analysing the various methods developed by higher education institutions in their own national context. The project not only sought to identify how tracking is carried out by different universities in Europe, but also how the information and knowledge gained from it is used to enhance curricula, student services and other activities.
The findings of this project are compiled in the final report that was published in 2012.
More about this project on the EUA website [12]
Autonomy Scorecard
University Autonomy in Europe I: Exploratory Study
In 2007, EUA began a Europe-wide Autonomy Survey to provide a broad overview of national and institutional trends regarding autonomy and governance.
The Survey was conducted through a questionnaire which was addressed to the National Rectors’ Conferences and was completed through a series of subsequent interviews.
It aims at establishing the necessary knowledge basis for further benchmarking of university autonomy and governance issues in the future. This work is currently
further developed in the Autonomy Scorecard project.
The findings of this project are compiled in the final report [13] that was published in November 2009.
University Autonomy in Europe II: EUA’s Autonomy Scorecard
The “Autonomy Scorecard” was intended as a tool useful both at system level and at institutional level. This instrument serves as the reference for national governments wishing to benchmark their progress on governance and funding reforms vis-à-vis other systems, while it also helps raising awareness among universities of the differences that exist in Europe. The scorecard also helps to record trends and progress on a regular basis, thus effectively contributing to the consolidation of the European Higher Education Area by improving comparability and promoting modernisation of the sector.
The EUA contact persons for the projects:
• Mr. Thomas Estermann, EUA Head of Unit Governance, Autonomy and Funding;
• Ms. Maria Kelo, Programme Manager;
• Ms. Enora Pruvot, Project Officer.
The CRASP contact person for the project is Prof. Andrzej Krasniewski, Secretary General of CRASP, the project Steering Group member.
Raport University Autonomy in Europe II – The Scorecard [14]
AUTONOMY ONLINE TOOL [15]
Trends 2010
The Trends 2010 Report was based on questionnaire responses from 821 universities, 27 national university associations, and site visits to 16 countries (including Poland, coordinated by CRASP, with the participation of national expert – CRASP Secretary General, 2 Polish academic schools: University of Warsaw and Poznan University of Technology, 3-8 March 2009). Download the Trends 2010 report [16].
CRASP always promotes all EUA projects to its member institutions – for more information on EUA projects consult the EUA webpage [17]