JDAZ - A reference guide on joint degrees
Joint degrees are high on the internationalisation agenda in the European Higher Education Area. This month a new project started titled ‘Joint Degrees from A to Z’ (JDAZ) The project, which Nuffic coordinates, aims to provide clarity by developing a reference guide on joint degrees. But why develop a new guide if so much has already been published about joint degrees over the last years? And how to make sure that such a guide keeps providing state of the art information?
The first question we have already been asked many times as a project team. The answer is rather simple. By now there have been so many publications and good practices, that if you want to set up a joint degree, it takes some effort to collect the information you need; it’s not always clear what information is out there. The result is that people are doing the same exercise and/or might miss out on good practice.
The ‘reference guide’ that will be developed in the JDAZ project aims to tackle that problem by providing ‘how to’ recommendations on different aspects of joint degrees, based on existing material. The topics included will cover a wide range of issues from establishing and sustaining partnerships to accreditation of joint degree programmes, recognition of the qualifications awarded and the connection to the labour market.
Piecing together the wheel
Overall the guide can best be compared with literature review, to which practical examples are added. It will be more than a listing of sources and less than a handbook. The aim is thus not to reinvent the wheel, but to piece the wheel together from the different publications and practical examples already available.
EMNS, experts & institutions
The guide will be developed by a group of six 
Erasmus Mundus National Structures (EMNS) from Austria, Finland, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and the Netherlands. The core task of these national information points on Erasmus Mundus is to provide information about Erasmus Mundus issues. So apart from assisting everyone involved in joint degrees at a higher education institution, the guide is also expected to help the EMNS in their work. They will also play an important role in the dissemination of the guide.
To strengthen the expertise of the project team, the EMNS are assisted by two external experts who are coordinators of major joint degree projects (JOIMAN & JOI.CON and JOQAR). Through their work and projects they both have gained extensive experience on various aspects of joint degrees. Further good practice examples from institutions will be collected for inclusion in the guide.
Although the guide is first of all aimed at Erasmus Mundus programmes, the project will attempt to make the guide useful for ‘other’ joint degrees as well.
State of the art?
The guide is expected to be ready by spring 2015 and will be published as a PDF on the JDAZ website, which is still to be launched. In the meantime, preliminary results will be distributed to relevant stakeholders and their feedback will be included in the project.
Good practice on joint degrees is still being developed and hopefully will be developed during and after the lifetime of the project. Therefore one of the big questions for the JDAZ project team will be how to best ensure the guide will continuously be providing state of the art information. Apart from simply including this information and work with different versions, the project team welcomes any ideas on how best to deal with this!