Blog posts
EAR2 – online recognition manual and training
On 24 April, the kick-off meeting for the EAR2 project took place in The Hague. EAR is short for European Area of Recognition, and EAR2 is one of the follow-ups to the successful EAR project that ended last January with the delivery of the European recognition manual. This manual aims to provide clarity in the divergent world of recognition procedures for foreign qualifications by agreeing on recognition standards and providing examples of good practices in Europe.
Recommendation EAR manual in Bucharest Communiqué major boost for fair recognition practices in the EHEA
On 26 and 27 April the ministers of education of 47 countries gathered in Bucharest, Romania to take stock of the Bologna Process and set out the key policy issues and goals for the next three years. The outcomes have been published in the Communiqué, one of the main political documents of the European Higher Education Area EHEA. One of its recommendations is the use of the European Area of Recognition manual.
Benchmarking internationalisation
In this blog we look at how higher education institutions can benchmark their internationalisation initiatives.
Heading in the same direction?
Within Europe, national policies on international student mobility are influenced by European-level policies, developed by the European Commission or in the framework of the Bologna Process. Does this mean that national policies on student mobility in Europe are converging? And if so, in which ways?
Erasmus for All: more money, less paperwork
On 23 November 2011 the European Commission released its long-awaited proposal for Erasmus for All, the successor of the Lifelong Learning Programme. We already knew that the Commission wants to increase the budget for education purposes to approximately 19 billion euro. Now we also know how this money is to be spent.
HR capacity building firmly embedded in Europe’s current growth strategy
Human resource development is a major cross-cutting theme in Europe's overall growth strategy for the current decade: Europe 2020.
National policies on internationalisation: boon or curse?
The chicken or the egg? Is internationalisation a bottom-up or top-down process? It is probably safest to say it is both. But if that is true do they meet? And if so where?
Costs and benefits of foreign students in the Netherlands
Last week, Dutch newspapers published several articles on the costs of foreign students in The Netherlands. Especially the large number of Germans in Dutch higher education seemed to be a problem for some commentators.
Mapping Mobility 2011: international mobility in Dutch higher education
This month, Nuffic published its annual publication on international mobility in higher education: Mapping Mobility 2011. The document gives information about the number of international students, their countries of origin, the most popular Dutch institutions and many, many other facts on international students in the Netherlands.
EU Programme for Lifelong Learning: Stimulating LLL or just mobility?
The Learning Agreement: still essential? How to set up and measure quality abroad
Both the quality of Erasmus mobility and the recognition of credits remain returning topics when it comes to international credit mobility. There are several tools and initiatives that try to look into these matters. Some are older, like the Learning Agreement, some are younger, like recent mapping, benchmarking and quality assurance initiatives.
JOQAR: a big step towards the recognition of joint degrees
The recently launched JOQAR project seeks to facilitate Erasmus Mundus programmes and other joint programmes in the areas of accreditation and recognition.
Learning outcomes and competences: light at the end of the tunnel?
CoRe guide to help institutions define their programmes in competences and learning outcomes receives very positive reactions at European and higher education levels.
The teacher of Europe
Today, I go back centuries, to the eighteenth century to be more precise. To the days of the legendary Hermannus Boerhaave, and his influence on modern-day university education.
Universities, national budget cuts and the European Higher Education Area
The European University Association (EUA) recently published an overview of the impact of the economic crisis on European universities. The EUA states that "the collected evidence points to changes taking place especially in relation to tuition fees, collaboration with industry, as well as philanthropic funding and funding from donations."
Internationalization, certification and the performing arts
Please don't let me be misunderstood...
Certification of internationalization: what is the value?
Certificates and labels... I am not generally a fan of them as they tend to limit diversity and creativity. However, this week I would like to make an exception.
The challenging future of European universities
More European cooperation in higher education is a necessity, says former Dutch education minister Jo Ritzen.
Regional harmonization of higher education: a global perspective
Developments in various parts of the world indicate that there is a global trend towards regional harmonization of higher education (i.e. working towards greater comparability of higher education structures and practices – not necessarily standardization of higher education).
The Bologna 20% mobility target for 2020: only for outgoing credit mobility, please!
(Possibly after an upward revision, for some or all countries…)
