Transcript The Joys and Anguishes of Developing International

The Joys and Anguishes of
Developing
International Teaching
Programmes
Some reflections on SEE
experiences in the field of European
Studies
Reinhard Meyers, WWU Münster
Contents
• International teaching programs: some
organisational patterns
• International teaching programs: the
Subotica Process and curriculum
development
• The joys and anguishes of developing
international teaching programs
• Considered facit
This PPT file can be downloaded
from our Website
www.uni-muenster.de/Politikwissenschaft/
Doppeldiplom/aktuelles.html
 There you can also find further material
referring to our international double diploma
courses
International teaching programs:
some organisational patterns (1)
• Since the mid-1990s, the Dept. of Politics
of the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität
Münster is involved in developing
international cooperative study programs in
the Field of European Studies taking the
particular form of Double Diploma Courses
one joint international course structure
+ two national diplomas
for a common bi-national/multi-national
student body
International teaching programs:
some organisational patterns (2)
• Programs at present exist
 between Münster and the IEP Lille/F
(Double Diploma)
 between Münster and the Faculty of
European Studies of Babes-Bolyai
University, Cluj-Napoca/RO
(Double
Diploma)
 between Münster and the University of
Twente in Enschede/NL
(Double B.A. in Public Administration &
Double M.A./M.Sc. in European Studies)
International teaching programs:
some organisational patterns (3)
• The duration of the program
 with Lille at first four years, now five
 with Cluj-Napoca (still) four years
 with Enschede three years for the B.A. and
another year for the Master course
N.B. The programs with Lille and Cluj are in the process
of changing into a Bologna-type structure (3+2);
however, the Dept. is experiencing severe cuts in its
teaching staff establishment and may have to give up
the cooperation with Cluj in the medium term
International teaching programs:
some organisational patterns (4)
a) Lille
languages: French & German
Students start their first year as a cohort in Lille after
passing a binational entrance exam; they move to
Münster as a cohort in their second year where
they pass the Vordiplom; they then move again as
a cohort to Lille in their third year where they pass
the Grand Oral in front of a binational exam board;
they then move back to Münster as a cohort in
their fourth year where they write and defend their
diploma thesis in front of a binational exam board;
they then can either stay in Münster for their fifth
year, or move back to Lille, or take part in the MA
course run jointly with Enschede; the IEP diploma
is awarded jointly with the German one at the end
of the fifth year
International teaching programs:
some organisational patterns (5)
• b) Cluj-Napoca
languages German & English
Students follow a common set of courses in their home
institution during their first two years; they then
change as a cohort to the host institution for another
two years, at the end of which they write a German
Diplomarbeit and defend this in front of a binational
exam board. They are then awarded a German
diploma and after some supplementary
examinations in Cluj also a Romanian Licence
International teaching programs:
some organisational patterns (5)
c) Enschede
languages Dutch/German & English
B.A. students pass the first two years in their respective home
institution; common third year courses in English are offered
for both German & Dutch students in Münster & Enschede;
staff and students ideally travel a lot between these two cities.
The Dutch require a B.A.thesis in English; the German side
relies on continuous assessment of course work. Students
acquire a German and a Dutch B.A. in Public Administration.
M.A. students pass a common series of English language courses
taught both in Enschede and Münster by bi-national staff; they
write and defend an English language Master thesis in front of
a binational exam board; staff and students travel a lot between
Münster and Enschede
Useful further information:
cf. our double diploma website:
• www.uni-muenster.de/
Politikwissenschaft/Doppeldiplom
or send your questions via email to:
• [email protected]
The Subotica Process and
curriculum development
• It is against the background described that, with the
support of the Stability Pact & the German Rectors‘
Conference, a dedicated band of academics from
Serbia, Romania, Great Britain, and Germany met in
Subotica from November 2001 onwards, much
inspired by the then Rector of the University of Novi
Sad, Prof.Fuada Stankovic, and aided and abetted by
the Dean of the Subotica Faculty of Economics, Prof.
Stevan Vasiljev, in order to develop a …
2-year Master Course in European
Studies…
The Subotica Process and curriculum
development (2)
• The original idea was to form a project consortium
consisting of
the University of Novi Sad,
represented by the Faculty of Economics
in Subotica
the University of Cluj-Napoca
the University of Timisoara
the University of Münster
the Nottingham Trent University
the Zentrum fuer Europäische
Integrationsforschung at the University of Bonn
The Subotica Process and curriculum
development (3)
This consortium should address itself to the following
tasks:
• To enhance university cooperation in the field of study and
research in European Studies, in correspondence with the
Bologna process of establishing a common European Higher
Education Area with a special focus on European Integration
• To develop common curricula for European postgraduate
studies that should be undertaken by the University of Novi
Sad, in particular by its Faculty of Economics at Subotica, with
the support of the above – mentioned universities
• To establish a network for the permanent exchange of
information in all relevant spheres of teaching and research
related to European Studies, which would be coordinated, in
the first instance, by the Faculty of Economics of the University
of Novi Sad in Subotica
The Subotica Process and curriculum
development (4)
The novel idea of the enterprise would have been a
border-crossing triangular cooperation between
Serbian, Romanian, and Hungarian universities,
supported by the Western European part of the
consortium with advice, teaching materials, and
exchange of staff.
The second novel idea of the enterprise would have
been an opportunity for the students to spend their
first year at the home institution and to chose any of
the consortium partners for spending their second
year.
However…
 the Hungarians decided that they were as yet
too weak for the exercise
 the Romanians discovered they had to travel
from Timisoara to Subotica via Bucuresti &
Belgrade
 the Dutch Government decided in 2004 that
they would charge non-EU students € 8.500 a
year in study fees
 Nottingham Trent got a new VC who was only
interested in the amount foreign students
could pay towards the running of HIS
university….
So what we finally got was…
 a two-year English language Master course in
European Studies run by the University of Novi Sad
 in the teaching of which the Faculty of European
Studies of Cluj-Napoca cooperates
 supported by Professors Mike O‘Neill and R.Meyers
on a more personal basis from abroad
and, not to forget
 a series of European Studies Summer Schools
starting in Novi Sad from 2003 onwards with the
intention to provide a crash course on European
Integration, thereby preparing participants for entry
to the Master Course
The curriculum is as follows:
• To obtain the MA diploma in European Studies
(120 ECTS credits), the student should complete
courses in four obligatory modules, one onesemester foreign language course as well as
five elective courses (4 if they have previously
earned credits in the Summer School of
European Studies). Total number of credits for
all completed courses should be 90.
• Master’s thesis:The student can submit his/her
Master’s thesis after he/she has earned at least
52 credits and with GPA (grade point average)
of minimum 8.00. Master’s thesis defended
successfully is worth 30 credits.
Finance…
…was coming forward for the project in 2001 – 2004
a) from the Stability Pact via the German Rectors‘
Conference
b) from the Central European Initiative mainly for the
summer schools
c) from the University Budgets of Novi Sad and
Münster to a limited extent to cover administrative
costs and the cost of preparing summer school
teaching blocks
d) from my third source funds bonus in order to pay
summer school student assistants.
The sources under a) and c) have meanwhile dried
up…
Further information:
• http://www.caesar.ns.ac.yu/eng/
• Useful email adresses:
• [email protected]
• [email protected]
• [email protected]
One last word of warning:
• In the academic year 2006/2007, students who started the
postgraduate European Studies Across Borders in English the
previous year, organized at the Centre for European Studies and
Research (CAESAR) will continue their secod year. After
finishing the third semester, they can choose between writing
their thesis (magister of science) or switching to the PhD
programme and finishing it with a PhD thesis.
Due to educational reforms in Serbia conducted in compliance
with the Bologna process and the new Law on Higher Education
from 2005, the traditional postgraduate studies after which a
traditional master's title (magister of science) is awarded, are
being revoked. Instead of this, three year PhD studies are going
to start in 2007/2008. Students who received both Bachelor's
degree (after three or four years of studies) and Master's degree
(after one or two years of studies) will be eligible for this
programme.Those students who have completed their studies
according to the old system of studying (four years), cannot
enroll in PhD studies directly. They will have to complete
master's studies and be awarded a master's diploma.Thus, the
Expert Council for CAESAR, having the approval of the Teaching
and Research Council of the University of Novi Sad, has decided
to start with one-year master's studies in the academic year
2006/07.
Will this be the future… ??
We started on a rather grandiose scale, trying to construct a triangular European Studies across Borders
Master course depending on a lot of staff mobility and
cooperative compromises between different regional
university systems…
We opened after a lot of organisational hassle in October
2005 with a two-year English language Master course
in Novi Sad on a more limited regional basis: students
came from Serbia, Montenegro, Moldavia; Novi Sad
staff was supported by professors from Romania,
Germany, and Great Britain…
We now look forward – mainly due to recent Serbian
legislation – to a one-year Master in European Studies
in Serbian AND PERHAPS another English-language
Master course from 2007/2008 onwards…
Provisional facit…
The project is a good example for the grinding
down of a great idea on the stones of
 limited administrative imagination underestimating
the social and political potential of well preparing
students for a role in a potential EU member state
 limited, if not receding financial & personnel
ressources dedicated to Higher Education in
(Western ??) Europe in general and the support of
SEE programs in particular
 the commercialisation of Higher Education with the
concomitant change in Departmental attitudes –
from „Where can we help“ to „What will this bring –
in costs and in gains – for the Department and/or the
University ?“
The joys and anguishes of
developing international teaching
programs : The Joys
• Persons to choose as your allies
• Students: They see in the new program
• a chance to broaden their horizon,
• gain new insights in and perspectives on the
outside world,
• to travel and to learn languages
• and in toto to considerably increase their
prospects on the employment market
The joys and anguishes of developing
international teaching programs : The Joys (2)
• Colleagues:
• Some participate in the new program
• because it offers them a chance to escape from
Departmental routine
• because they like to practice their hand in academic
innovations
• because they are interested in improving their
department’s standing in the university as a forward
looking or enterprising institution reacting to the
demands and requirements of the employment
market
• or simply because they like to wine and dine well in
the convivial company of their foreign colleagues …
The joys and anguishes of developing
international teaching programs : The Joys (3)
• Deans:
• The less said, the better – or: the new program gets on best, if
you are, at the moment of its formulation and development, the
responsible Dean yourself…
• Rectors:
• Rectors can be immensely helpful
• if they have a far-sighted strategic view of their University’s
future development
• and if they stress the importance of international contacts for
– the advancement of learning
– the international exchange of ideas and innovations in
research and teaching
– and the adequate positioning of their institution in a competitive academic education market based on employmentrelevant instruction packages
… The Anguishes
• Persons to beware of:
• Colleagues:
• 1) Is this really necessary that M. travels abroad again ??
•
[Why did not I have the idea for this project anyway ?]
• 2) If we let ourselves in on this new Master course – will it
•
not increase my examination load and formalise my
•
teaching plans [ to the extent that I cannot ride my personal
•
hobby horses any longer but will have to abide at least
•
partly by what the syllabus and the examination regulations
•
demand... ] ?
• 3) Horror of horrors: would the program demand from me
•
that I go abroad myself to take a bunch of students to A,B
•
or C for a week ?
… the Anguishes (2)
• Deans:
• 1) cf. 1) above under Colleagues
• 2) Will the new program put the Politics Dept. in the limelight
again proving that the rest of the Faculty is an assembly of
snoring sleeping beauties ?
• 3) Will the new program make financial or personnel demands
on the Faculty resources, and, if so, how can we shove these
back to the Politics Dept. without appearing too conservative or
tight-fisted ?
• 4) Will the new program turn into a hotbed of elite production
[in technical terminology: a center of excellence] to which we
have to object as staunch defenders of the 1968 generation of
values seeing mankind’s greatest happiness in the levelling of
intellectual promise and diversity to a common level of
mediocrity ?
… the Anguishes (3)
• Rectors:
• 1) cf. 3) under Deans – writ large
• 2) How can we profit – as an institution – from the
additional (public, ministerial, employers’) acclaim
the new program will bring to this university without
having to commit us financially over the medium or
even long term ?
• 3) Will the new program not give rise to a brain drain
effect by which we are going to loose the best and
brightest of our students to the West instead of
getting them back, after graduation abroad, as welltrained (and underpaid) teaching assistants ?
… the Anguishes (4)
• The Man from the Ministry:
• 1) What is a double diploma anyway ?? There is no
provision for this in the University Law !
• 2) We give you all our moral support and best
wishes for your project – but we’ve just reduced the
budget title for international cooperation, and you
won’t get a single penny from us in material
assistance !
• 3) We have just hit on two brilliant obstacles to
staff and student mobility: an ordinance demanding
that staff is present in the Dept. and distributes the
teaching load over four days a week – and the
modularization of teaching packages meaning that
students can no longer go abroad for just one
semester…
…the Anguishes (5)
• The Man from the European Commission:
• 1) Serbia is not yet an EU member state and has not
yet got Erasmus Agreement status. We are sorry, but
we cannot support Curriculum Development Projects
with that Country !
• 2) A 45 page application form for Erasmus
Curriculum Development projects [ not to be passed
around !! ] … followed by a somewhat opaque
decision-making process…
Considered facit
• The fate of international teaching programs
depends on and thrives with the willingness
and ability of individuals
 to engage themselves in their formulation
and execution well beyond the normal call of
duty
 to run the risk and danger of self-exploitation
by working hours far beyond the limits of the
official working week
 to find like-minded colleagues and collaborators abroad who all pull at the same end
of the rope.
Considered facit (2)
• Contrary to integration theory, where Liberal
Institutionalism stresses the importance of norms,
rules, and values embedded in an organisational
framework for integration under the motto of
“Institutions matter”, my considered opinion after
nearly two decennia in the field of international
program making is that
individuals matter
or
individual will and determination in the organisation of
international teaching programs is not everything,
but without individual will and determination
everything is nothing !
Thank You for Your Attention