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Higher education student and staff mobility project
Start date: Jun 1, 2015, End date: May 31, 2017 PROJECT  FINISHED 

The Association Higher Vocational Colleges is the legal representative of Slovene Short Cycle Higher Education and as such responsible for quality and development of its members. Internationalization is an important part the development of HVC so the Association HVC established a consortium to assist them as they are small regionally present institutions and do not have adequate human and financial capacity for development. Internationalisation has been exceptionally weak with most members. We achieved that institutions themselves started to raise awareness of the importance of internationalization for their development. The Association HVC promoted mobility and its benefits and urged members to do the same and, where necessary, assist in the efficient and effective implementation thereof by providing contacts and presentations of the members of the Erasmus Alumni Club of HVC. More mobilities were realised than approved. Mobilities for practice had a significant impact on improving students' competencies to participate in team, developing ideas and implementing them in practice, planning and organizing tasks and activities, problem-solving skills, analytical skills, using modern technology and creative expression. Students’ mobilities left impact on their ability to adapt, respond to new situations, confront new challenges, self-confidence, increase skills, facilitating decision making, critical thinking better and better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. These skills employers appreciate most. Mobilities left impact on the socio-political awareness of the importance of events in the world. For staff, the most significant impact was on the professional and personal development mainly on their professional via good practices, which also helped to improve their career and employment opportunities to the acquired expertise specific knowledge and relevant practical skills, that were passed on to staff and students, improved and expanded their international network of contacts and keep then alive by transfer of knowledge and experience, strengthening cooperation with foreign institutions through agreements for new collaborations and projects. There is a noticeable effect on confidence in communication in foreign language, which is now also constantly renewed through communication with foreign partners. Mobilities of principals and the head of quality assurance resulted in the development of organizational, management and leadership skills, which is reflected in the experimentation in the field of new educational practices and teaching methods. Most of the participants are more satisfied on basis of experience gained during mobility which resulted in improving the working environment at institutions. Participants introduced modern methods of cooperation with the labour market, which was one of the priorities of this project. Staff mobilities resulted in greater staff loyalty to institutions and better collaboration between staff at the institutional and interinstitutional level. We have a clear system of recognition, which has only confirmed over the course of the project. As our students mainly originate from disadvantaged backgrounds and that more than 20% of those are dropouts of higher levels of higher education institutions and universities we managed to animate the mobility of the priority target group of students. From the reports of the participants it is evident that a large percentage contributed to the development and improvement of competencies that employers consider to be critical and lacking in candidates for jobs. The mobility of staff was particularly significant on the introduction of new ways of teaching, motivation and reward of excellent teachers, to the inclusion of the feedback of the labor market to improve curricula and updating of lectures. Mobilities for placements and training were the best way to connect new learning practice in the sending institution with which we improved the employability of our graduates and staff. We experienced increased participants' motivation for entrepreneurship, enhanced competencies of creative and innovative thinking, transfer of seen encouraging learning environments to their own institution, cooperation with the representatives of the labour market, collaboration within the consortia partners. Two principals participated and influenced effective targeted action for development of creative and innovative environment in their institutions, encouraged, individual participants to identify personal strengths and strengths of institutions as a prerequisite for a successful launch and recovery of the knowledge triangle between the educational institution, students and the labour market. Several institutions already established permanent further cooperation in the form of conferences, exchanges of knowledge, fashion shows, new projects.

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