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Higher education student and staff mobility project
Start date: Jun 1, 2014, End date: May 31, 2016 PROJECT  FINISHED 

The Erasmus+ project represents a perfect tool for internationalization of a higher education institution in the global environment. A prevailing trend is seen in the area of development of student, teaching and research staff, as well as administrative staff mobilities of VŠMP ISM Slovakia in Prešov. This mostly concerns the fulfilment of targets of integration and internationalization in the European area. In 2014, the institution concluded new inter-institutional Erasmus+ agreements regarding mobilities with all partner higher education institutions. Currently, we have 21 inter-institutional agreements with institutions in the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Germany. A negative side we perceive is the termination of cooperation with two higher education institutions (FR and GB), a positive side is the establishment and development of cooperation with institutions in Ukraine. Within the assessed period of the Erasmus+ project (2016-2016), 12 students (6 study periods and 6 traineeships), 12 members of staff (9 members of teaching staff and 3 administrative workers) of VŠMP ISM Slovakia in Prešov participated in mobilities. With these figures, we exceeded the number of mobilities by 1 member of teaching staff compared to 11 planned mobilities. One of the students came from disadvantaged backgrounds, one of the students participated in the graduate traineeship. In overall, more women than men participated in the mobilities, considering both student and staff mobilities. We keep a record of a decreasing interest in student mobilities due to a demographic change and a drop in the number of students of the institution, but also due to their concern to travel to those countries where the number of refugees is higher or a threat of a terrorist attack exists. The interest in staff mobilities is still sufficient, even higher than the assigned number of mobilities. The student mobilities lasted the average of 4 months and the average number of accepted credits was 18.33. The sending institution accepted the results/credits in case of all students who took part in a mobility, either “study period” or “traineeship”. The teaching staff mobilities lasted the average of 2 days, in case of administrative staff it was 3 days. Most of the mobilities took place in the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany. In case of the staff mobilities we see reasons of relatively low satisfaction with the level of acceptance of their mobility results in an imperfect system of the participants assessment by the higher education institution. The information on the possibility of participation in mobility has been shared on a regular basis via web page of the institution, its Facebook profile, notice boards in the corridors of the institution premises, during sessions of the rector´s college, teaching staff or departmental sessions, or sessions of the centre of expertise. We organize a motivational and instructional seminar for those interested in mobilities of the Erasmus+ project twice a year, where they can listen to the information, get advice and took part in a discussion with those who participated in a mobility in the past, both students and staff. During their study at VŠMP ISM Slovakia in Prešov, students get, as a standard, preparation in three foreign languages – English, German, Russian. There was no special language preparation provided to students and that is why they welcomed the opportunity to attend language courses via OLS. The coming students had a possibility to request courses of Slovak language. With regard to the fact that all the coming students were from Poland, they did not show any interest in Slovak lessons at all. They made use of a possibility of communication in one of the foreign languages. The catalogue of subjects is updated once per year in AIS, the catalogue of subjects available in English language can be accessed via the web page of the institution. The long-term contribution of the participation in the Erasmus+ project mobilities dwells in the fact that students, after having returned from their mobilities, travel abroad to study another degree of their higher education, or they go to work abroad, or they assert themselves in the area of their traineeship. The mobility contributes to their feeling of getting self-confidence, self-assurance, skills and competences, and they see the largest contribution, as they state it in their final reports, in acquiring soft skills dominated by creativity, team work and improvement of analytic thinking. The long-term contribution of the participation in the staff mobilities is seen in the conclusion of not only inter-institutional, but also bilateral agreements, and agreements on mutual cooperation at various levels, and in deepening the cooperation in research, projects and other activities.

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