1. education

HOW TO RAISE STUDENTS AND STAFF INTEREST IN EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGE PROGRAMS BETWEEN EUROPE AND RUSSIA SUPPORTED BY A
WEB-ENABLED EUROPEAN CREDIT TRANSFER SYSTEM AND STUDENT
MOBILITY SUPPORT SYSTEM
Wim De Bruyn, Geert Baekelandt, Dmitriy Borodin
University College Ghent – Hogeschool GENT, GENT BELGIUM
[email protected] , [email protected] ; [email protected]
Abstract
Moscow State Pedagogical University (MSPU), Dagestan State Pedagogical
University (DSPU), University College Ghent (UCG), Pedagogical University of
Krakow (PUK), Newman University College (Birmingham) (NUC) are working together in a TEMPUS PROJECT called Student Exchanges and credit Transfer Assisted by New information Technology (SEXTANT) TEMPUS UM_JEP_271842006 (RU ) to promote better student exchanges and related European Credit Transfers supported by web-enabled information systems.
The objectives of this SEXTANT project are:
• Introduction of new IT tools to support students exchanges and networking
at selected Russian Higher Education (HE) institutions
• Implementation of ECTS for selected study areas
• Creation of Quality Assurance (QA) mechanisms to facilitate student exchanges and improve student management services at partner institutions
The following outcomes are identified:
• A (developed) MSPU and DSPU policy on implementation of ECTS in accordance with the European guide book
• e-database on student mobility and e-Student Mobility Support System (eSMOSS)
• MSPU and DSPU administrative staff trained in management of student
mobility
• Best practices for adaptation of existing international courses and study
records towards ECTS formats and structures
• Upgrade of English language skills as foreign language for Russian academic and administrative staff
• e-ECTS catalogue of courses taught in English
During the project extra creativity, energy and confidence was needed to overcome problems like political instability in the Dagestan region, cultural differences
between Russian and other (Western) European universities, required administrative
support, differences in organization and objectives.
Finally the implementation of the web-based Student Exchange System and
ECTS catalogue was tested by exchanges of students in both directions and the development of virtual mobility by use of electronic course materials. Further educational, research and administrative staff was exchanged.
Sustainability of this initiative is assured by the set-up of an interuniversity exchange supporting unit. The last three months of this 2 year project are devoted to
dissemination of the results and a specific congress in MSPU.
Keywords: ECTS, Student Record, Student exchange with Russian Higher
Education Institutions, Bologna, e-learning, electronic ECTS catalogue, Credit Transfer, ERASMUS, Good Student Mobility Practices
1
HISTORY OF THE SEXTANT TEMPUS PROJECT
First contacts and discussions about the Sextant project ideas were started in
2005. All pages size should be A4 (21 x 29,7cm). The top, bottom, right, and left
margins should be 2,5 cm. All the text must be in one column format and Arial font,
including figures and tables, with single-spaced 10-point interline spacing. [Arial, 10
point, normal, justified alignment, upper and lower case]
1.1 The Russian educational system after Perestroika
In Soviet times the Russian system of Higher Education (HE) was recognized
throughout the world for the quality of its teaching and research. This status was reflected in the large number of international students studying at Russian Universities.
The HE system was supported by a framework of Government support led by the
Ministry of Education, and was accorded a high degree of priority by the political
system of the time. However at the beginning of the 1990s two new factors adversely
affected the Russian educational system:

the political and social upheavals involved in the transformation of the
country from a planned to a market economy;

the ‘brain drain’ of highly qualified staff concerned by instability and attracted by the opportunity to work abroad.
In these circumstances the quality of higher education deteriorated and the ability of universities to prepare students for the labour market declined. Retrieving this
situation became a priority for the Russian government and university sector.
At the same time new challenges presented themselves to European education
moves towards the creation of a joint European HE space based on the Bologna and
Lisbon declarations;

strong impact of new information and communications technologies
(ICT) on the management and delivery of education.
These challenges reflected the shift to a knowledge economy which has been
identified as a strategic direction for the EU and in which HE is destined to play a
vital role. The proposed TEMPUS project was a response to these factors and seeks
to build on the progress already made. In particular, the serious crisis in Russian education has been addressed and a gradual transformation of the system is taking place
with a view to entry into the world educational space. In order to meet the priority
demands of educational system the Russian Government has approved the Federal
Program for development of education during 2006 – 2010. The strategic objectives
of this Program are:

Modernization of content and technology of education;

Development of the system of quality assurance of educational services;

Increase of the effectiveness of quality control in education;

Improvement of economic mechanisms in the sphere of education.
The expected outcomes of a Federal Program are as follows: an increased
number of international students in Russian HE institutions, intensification of students’ and teachers’ mobility, and an improved position of Russia according to results
of international inspection of quality of education (PISA and other).
In June 2006 in Moscow this new Federal program was discussed at the Congress of the Rectors of Russian HE institutions, with particular emphasis on ways of
achieving its objectives. The Congress set up special interest groups for each type of
University (medical, legal, technical etc) to reflect their distinctive degree structures
and relations with the labor market. The group representing pedagogical universities
and institutions was convened by MSPU. Among others issues rectors paid a lot of
attention to the problem of integrating Russian pedagogical universities with the European teacher education community, the creation of a Russo-European pedagogical
network and the enhancement of academic and student exchange. As the leader of the
Association of Russian Pedagogical Universities, MSPU was asked to look into ways
of increasing international student mobility and to launch a pilot project in this area,
with the intention of disseminating results to other institutions. This task was welcomed by MSPU as being in line with its new strategic development plan, recently
approved by its academic Council.
1.2 Pre-study of requirements
Research carried out by experts at MSPU identified several obstacles impeding
the development of international student exchanges. The most urgent areas for development are listed below.
Administration

introduction of a credit-based system for university-level courses

knowledge about ECTS and its role in student mobility

creation of web-based information systems for student support

development of expertise in managing international student mobility

formation of educational marketing strategies

use of ICT in managing educational processes

difference between pedagogical and scientific-technical universities
Academic staff

knowledge of innovative teaching technologies and materials

use of ICT in teaching and learning

access to English language courses

knowledge and skills in other European languages.
Students

adoption of the Diploma Supplement

improvement in modern foreign language skills

access to information on mobility opportunities.
As an example of where Russian students are starting from, certificates detailing the courses they have followed and the credits they have achieved are not provided because there is no ECTS or equivalent system in place. Additionally, MSPU
experts have analyzed relevant EU documentations, including the results of the Con-
ference on EU-Russian Higher Education Cooperation focusing on Mobility of Students and Academic Staff held in Helsinki (September 18-19, 2006 ). Taking into account the results of its own research and the messages emerging from EU reports, and
understanding that is not possible to solve all the problems immediately, the Rectorate of MSPU decided to start with a pilot project designed to:

improve the information infrastructure on student mobility

enhance the management of student mobility

develop systems and staff to implement ECTS in accordance with international best practice.
All these areas will be addressed through the implementation of ICT into the
university management process and the creation of international networks for student
and academic mobility.
MSPU also recognized that the above actions correspond to the TEMPUS objectives for the Russian Federation for 2006. Thus it was decided to apply for a JEP
on university management within the national priority: “Introduction of information
and communication technologies and networking in higher education institutions.”
The wider aims of the project should prepare Russian higher education institutions
for increased student exchanges through the introduction of new ICT tools and efficient networking.
1.3 Selecting the Project Partners
The following criteria for selection of consortium members were taken into account:

mutual trust and understanding based on previous co-operation

relevant expertise in key areas

experience in the development and implementation of project outcomes
Finally, seven consortium members were selected and three experts were invited to the project.
A.
Newman College (UK)
Newman College (NC) has an excellent record for the quality of courses and
one of the best graduate employment rates within UK colleges and universities.
Newman College has been involved in student mobility program for a number of
years and organized regular exchanges with a network of partners in the EU under the
Socrates-Erasmus scheme. NC operates Students in Tuition System (SITS) which
provides a complete electronic record of each student, including international and exchange students.
Previous cooperation: MSPU and Newman College have a long- term successful cooperation based on bilateral agreement and participation in various projects.
MSPU and Newman have had positive experience within the Mobility JEP 107131999 titled ”New Approach in Contemporary Language Learning” (NACOLL). The
main tasks of NC in the project are:

Provision of Russian partners with expertise on British approach towards
the development of QA mechanism for educational management;

Share experience on management of international student mobility on the
basis of “Erasmus- Socrates” Program and implementation of Diploma Supplement
due to EU standards;

Information of RU administrative staff on management skills for education, use of student and module databases and other technology-based tools in the
management of educational processes, train in QA processes in the organization of
student mobility.
B.
University College Ghent (BE)
University College Ghent (UCG) (offering a widest range of disciplines in professional HE in the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium) was selected as a representative institution from the core of the European Union, operating in a multilingual environment.
With more than 15.000 students, 1500 specialized teaching and research staff,
University College Ghent is the third largest HEI in Flanders in terms of budget, staff
and student population, and is now a member of the Ghent University Association
(about 45,000 students). UCG has a credit system based on ECTS principles and institutional ECTS coordinator, and a well developed management system to support
the student mobility with more than 200 European Erasmus partners. The faculty involved in the project (Faculty of Business Information & ICT) has qualified staff who
are specialists in the development of modern databases and web- technologies and
experience in business management and quality assurance in Information Technology
environment.
Previous cooperation: Since 1996 MSPU and UCG successfully cooperated on
the basis of bilateral agreement focusing on student exchange, involving work placements. UCG was also a partner in a previous Mobility JEP, with the RF
(MJEP_10713-1999), where the principal outcome was the creation of a network of
EU and RF universities, exchanging students in Business Studies who combined their
study period with an internship in a company.
The experience in the European Leonardo Pilot Project PP.144.342 Development of a master in IT-Validation curriculum was very useful in the project management, coaching, the assessments of risks connected with electronic ECTS records and
student mobility systems and the mitigation of the involved risks using best practices
in the development of IT systems.
In this project the main tasks of UCG are:

Grant holder functions, in view of previous experience in this capacity in
Tempus

Provision of analyzing, modeling and technical assistance and consulting
for RU partners to develop ECTS information package, student mobility information
support systems

Assistance on the development of the content for ECTS electronic catalogue (selection courses) and train Russian administrative staff on the implementation
of ECTS into educational process and management

Organization of internship for international students, and its integration
in the curricula

Assistance in the integration of ECTS and Student Mobility Information
Support Systems with e-learning systems like DOKEOS

Consulting, auditing and validation of the software development, communication and webserver infrastructure of the Russian Federation partner Universities
C.
The Pedagogical University of Krakow (PL)
Pedagogical University of Krakow (PUC) is the oldest and the largest pedagogical university in Poland. It has been educating future and in-service teachers of all
subjects within the four faculties. The University will share its experience within the
Socrates/Erasmus Program on student, academic and administrative staff exchanges.
For a few years of cooperation with numerous European Universities under the S/E
programmed the IRO has developed an exchange records. The University has also
developed the ECTS catalogue and introduced the system itself. Moreover, PUC has
a well operating electronic registration system both for domestic and international
students.
The main tasks for the Pedagogical University Krakow are:

To share the experience on the transformation of Polish education system with Russian partners;

To assist the development of new student mobility management and related ICT infrastructure;

To train RU partners for using the electronic registration system and allocating ECTS credits to particular courses.
D.
Moscow State Pedagogical University (RF)
Moscow State Pedagogical University (MSPU) was established in 1872 and
became one of the leading pedagogical universities in Russia. It enrolls more than
20,000 students and more than 1,800 faculty staff. MSPU comprises 18 faculties and
operates 6 branches within Russia at such destinations as Snezhinsk, Chelyabinsk,
Krasnodar, Novosibirsk, Uliyanovsk and Bryansk. MSPU is the project coordinator
and provides necessary management of all activities within the realization of the
project. The outcomes of the project are disseminated as well in all MSPU branches.
E.
Dagestan State Pedagogical University (RF)
Dagestan State Pedagogical University (DSPU) was invited to the project consortium as one of the leading universities of the Caucasus region. Moscow State Pedagogical University has successfully cooperated with the Dagestan State Pedagogical University in an academic field for years. Recently, Dagestan Region on the
whole and DSPU in particular faced certain problems with information technologies
introduction and international cooperation development due to unstable security situation in the region. However, DSPU is a reliable partner and is a “focal point” in
prospective dissemination of the project results in the Caucasus Region.
F.
Association for the development of pedagogical universities and institutes (RF)
Association of the development of pedagogical universities and institutes (ADPUI) was established in 2000 by a number of nationwide universities. It currently involves more than 50 members. ADPUI activities are focused on the development of
teacher training, scientific and methodical researches conduction, creative approaches
in learning work out etc. ADPUI is enrolled in the project as a guarantor of effective
dissemination of the results of the project within the Russian Federation. Dissemination of the project outcomes and sharing with experience of the project consortium is
taking place during association member Council and other conferences which are organized a few times per year at MSPU.
G.
European Institutions in higher education (BE)
EURASHE (European Institutions in Higher Education) is the international association of Polytechnics, Colleges & University Colleges, Colleges, etc. devoted to
professional HIM, within the Bachelor Master structure, a non-profit organization
established in Brussels. (website: http://www.eurashe.eu). In the project, EURASHE
is responsible (with ADPUI) of disseminating the project results at the final stage of
the project (Outcome 4, e.g. Open Day), and after its conclusion. The fact that the
ANVUZ (Association of Non-governmental Higher Educational Establishments of
Russia, with over 300 members geographically spread over the whole RF, is the
country association affiliated to EURASHE, guarantees its execution. (website ANVUZ: ).
Additional Experts
H.
Marek Frankovich (PL)
Ph.D., D.Sc. in Chemistry. Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland. Secretary
General of the Academic Network for Central and Eastern Europe. Member of the
Polish Bologna Promoters Group. Has a great experience in ICT introduction for implementation of ECTS. Mr. Frankovich participated in more than 10 TEMPUS JEP in
Europe starting 1992.
I.
Janina Mincer-Daszkiewicz (PL)
Ph.D. in Computer Science. Ms. Mincer-Daszkievicz is the project manager
and leader nominated by MUCI - consortium of Polish higher education institutions to coordinate development of USOS (University Student-Oriented System). USOS is
a Student Management Information System used by the largest Polish universities
gathered in the consortium. She has also been nominated by the Rector of Warsaw
University as the Chief of the Coordination Team responsible for USOS deployment
at WU and Dean's plenipotentiary responsible for USOS. Ms. Mincer-Daszkiewicz
consults on e-SMOSS and networking introduction at the RF HE partners.
J.
Lucien Bollaert (BE)
(Director of Education at the University College of West-Flanders, BE) is the
official Bologna and ECTS promoter for professional HE in Flanders (BE). He
would, in this capacity and also in his capacity of specialist in Quality Assurance on
an institutional level, make a contribution in the trainings organized for the beneficiaries in the RF, and also supervise the QA management team, which will monitor the
quality of the project. L. Bollaert contributes to the European Quality Forum and
Register of QA agencies since 2003 (Bologna process), expert in the EC experts’
group on the European Qualification Framework and on Higher Education in the Lisbon process, member of steering committee of Quality Assurance Forum and of the
organizing committee of Bologna Training seminar on QA (Munich, November
2006), President of PROSE (a quality tool on education and training).
1.4 Weaknesses
As it was mentioned in the Background section of the project, there are several
obstacles that hamper the development of student exchange:
Administrative problems:

insufficient knowledge of the ECTS system and its input to the development of the European students’ mobility

absence of the ECTS information package

absence of web-support for student mobility information system

lack of information on international student mobility management

lack of educational marketing strategy

insufficient use of modern ICT in university management and in organization of educational process
Academic staff problems:

insufficient knowledge of innovative teaching technologies and a lack of
modern educational materials

weak use of modern ICT in educational process

lack of suitable courses in English language

poor knowledge of European languages
Student problems:

poor foreign language skills

lack of information about mobility opportunities

absence of diploma supplements
2
OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT
In accordance with specific objectives of the project the following three outcomes were prioritized and are achieved:

A developed internal MSPU and DSPU policy on implementation of
ECTS in accordance with the European guide book and administrative staff trained in
management of student mobility, special techniques of developing courses on ECTS
and advanced English language skills.

e-database on student mobility and e-Student Mobility Support System
(e-SMOSS);

e-ECTS catalogue for the selected study-areas
2.1 MSPU and DSPU policy
This first outcome is achieved by means of the following activities: Study visits, extended SWOT analysis, involvement of Rector, Deans, international coordinators, academic and administrative staff.
These teams visited frequently the EU partners’ universities i.e. to learn about
their experience related to the project objectives. Further extended analysis of training needs of the RU partners was done on the basis of new information and experience collected during these visits and training courses structure and materials were
developed.
Within the second activity, partners draft the training materials and select supporting documents related to training courses. All materials are translated. Methodol-
ogy of trainings includes presentations with examples of successful practice, a Q & A
session.
In particular, making use of their experience in previous Tempus projects MOB
JEP, one of the project partners (UCG) has developed a concept of integrated work
placement in the regular curriculum and became aware of the specific problems related to student exchange between the EU countries and the RF, especially when the
EU students were involved with no or very little knowledge of the Russian language.
This experience has shown the benefits that can be gained by both: exchange students
and participating institutions. The following conclusions can be helpful in making a
framework for the underlying project:

for the students: a careful selection of students on the basis of social
skills and language competencies

for the institution: a well-operating international unit, including supervision of practice in WP post, and monitoring/guidance by a tutor in a host institution
(where an exchange student is posted during the exchange).
In addition, a special session was hosted by Lucien Bollaert, Marek Frankovich, Wim De Bruyn, Geert Baekelandt in order to introduce the RU partners to the
main objectives of the Bologna Declaration and to related documents. the final training materials are published for further dissemination thought partners' network
Implementation of new mechanisms and procedures was done by means of
evaluation of intermediate results of the project, upgrading the RU partners visit to
the EU, and development of the consortium network strategy and pilot student’s exchange. Three students from the RU partners’ universities and three students from the
EU partners study for 3 months on the selected subject area and get some practice in
work placement.
2.2 e-Student Mobility Support System (e-SMOSS)
Student mobility supporting systems exist in different maturity levels.
For “standard” HE administrative support systems, we can distinguish 3 types
of systems for HE institutions:

homegrown systems that started 20 -40 years ago, matured 10 – 20 years
ago. They became very complex and difficult to support. The Bachelor-Master structure and the mergers in HE augmented the problems. They are now at the end of their
lifecycle, or evolved towards or are replaced now by one of the next solutions.

best of breed systems, where the best solutions for different subjects like
class-scheduling, student records, accounting, data-exchange with national education
structures, etc… were developed and supported by different internal or external
groups. The use of Electronic Data Interchange EDI and/or web-services including
XML style sheets, and the lower investment connected with partial solution is prolonging the lifecycle of these solutions.

Standard ERP solutions are configured and eventually extended with
specific coding or modules (see also previous solution) to support the enterprise – HE
institution complexity including the management of student records. Many makers of
modules are acquired by or merged with the ERP solution vendors and follow the
merger strategy of their clients. Internal and external teams provide the services in-
cluding configuration, coding of extensions or interfaces, but also giving consulting
on HE management level.
Mores specifically for Student Mobility Support Systems 2 solutions are be
distinguished:

Development of a separate Student Mobility Support Systems based on
test processing, data-bases, web-or client-server interfaces developed or supported
internally or by specialized external companies (best of breed). More or less manual
work and workflows remain connected with these solutions.

Integration, intensive coupling, acquisition or coding of the Student Mobility Support features into the standard student management systems and/or ERP.
These systems provide strong connectivity with the outside world including mobility
student queries, reporting and data-exchange towards the Ministries of education, international HE institutions and co-operations and EEC structures for education.
More and more standardized solutions are in favor because of the complexity
and the dependency of HE institutions of national and European subventions based
on reporting and student record data interchanges. (This situation is comparable with
the national health insurance and health services like hospitals).
This situation started in the Western European countries. Due to the (under
Thatcher) privatization (1985-1995) actions of state-owned companies, including governmental and educational services, the UK was an early adaptor of this strategy.
The countries of continental Western Europe followed during the last 2 decades. Our
new (Eastern) European colleagues joined later in the last decade, but adapt faster
and are even frontrunners because they could make use of the experience, existing
know-how and code already developed and the absence of valuable IT legacysystems.
DSPU and MSPU are learning and adapting very fast the experiences of the
UK, Belgian, Polish partners. Also a reasonable upgrades of some IT and communication infrastructure was included in the SEXTANT project. They have build both
their own system based on the training and experiences provided and are moving
forward in using them. Further evolution in educational management and removing
further borders and political instabilities could make them very attractive and popular
in international exchanges of students with Europe and other continents. Adapting
ECTS and Bologna could make courses interchangeable. There is no lack in scientific and education quality for HE, the problem is in political sustainability and financial capability. Considering the availability of a big end-user market, the minerals,
water, oil/gas supply and not to forget the available brains and strong education in
Russia, the EEC is investing actively in educational projects to enhance relationships
and interactions with the Russian Federation.
2.3 e-ECTS catalogue
Electronic ECTS catalogue of courses and the database for exchange students
& electronic student mobility support system (e-SMOSS) are, correspondingly, the
second and the third outcomes of the project. The majority of activities are done by
IT units of the consortium partners but also with the involvement of academic staff.
The academic staff worked on the content for ECTS catalogue and select subject
areas and courses which might be interesting for students from the EU partners’ uni-
versities, for instance: Russian Language, History, Cultural studies, Mathematics,
Physics and etc. The outcomes of the activities are planned in accordance with necessary tasks and procedures of creation of new software and web-based information
system.
In order to meet these outcomes, equipment will be purchased in accordance
with needs of the RU partners. For Dagestan State Pedagogical University it was necessary to upgrade Internet access support–infrastructure and purchase computers for
International Office, Faculties administration and for the Office of Educational Management. For MSPU, it was crucial to upgrade its present network infrastructure on
the basis of modern software and hardware and install computers at the Student Information Service Centre.
The e-ECTS-catalogue can be seen as the “sales catalogue” for internationally
offered educational courses (a subset of the “local” offered courses). Functionality of
international and local course is comparable, although other payment and/or subvention conditions may apply.
Primary target groups of the project are: university administration, academic
teachers and students whom are directly involved in the exchange program.
Long-term benefits include

Strengthening of strategic management capacities, internationalization of
strategy of Russian partner universities, strengthening of quality assurance mechanism including benchmarking and student mobility maturity measurement.

Use of databases in everyday practice, e-mobility support information
system for better management of educational process, increase number of incoming
and outgoing students, improving internal quality of university management on the
basis of new ICT solutions.

Use of the new network support infrastructure, modernization of soft &
hardware infrastructure, strengthening of communication services.

Development of new curricula on the basis of ECTS scheme, use of eECTS catalogue, e-student database and new technologies in teaching/learning
process.

Use of e-student database, e-information service, strengthen mobility.

As an indirect result, regular students not taking part in exchange programs and academic teachers in general will benefit from improved information management, better organization of administrative work and upgraded ICT capacities.
3
QUALITY ASSURANCE
Project activities improve the QA systems in the RU consortium partners in accordance with the European standards:

development of institutional policy in the field of implementation of
ECTS influencing the general policy and procedure for QA in the future.

development of e-catalogue of ECTS courses influences the further approval, monitoring and periodic review of programmers and study certificates.

e-SMOSS assists in student assessment.

e-student database influences positively the development of learning recourses and the students' support.

e-catalogue and e-database and e-SMOSS improve information systems
for effective management of educational process and student mobility.

dissemination of the results of the project, created web-recourses improves improvement of public information.
New opportunities for student mobility will strengthen networks of the partners
and intensify student and academic exchange.
Quality control and quality assurance are integrated parts of implementation of
ECTS in the institutions. Although academic staff is held responsible for the quality it
produces there are proper internal Quality control regulations in place which are helpful in the development of new materials (courses, trainings). These principles are crucial for involvement of stakeholders and accountability and will involve not only
academics but also professionals in particular fields such as prospective employers.
Stakeholders may involve students themselves as the target groups of the learning
process and in the end everyone involved should feel accountable.
Further objectives of quality assurance mechanisms are:

to ensure the recognition of study period spent abroad including the internship part;

to integrate internship in the regular curriculum with proper arrangements in place to regulate cooperation between tutors in institutions and supervisors
in internship organizations;

to have well-organized management of the project itself with procedures
for regular reporting and flow of communication and information.
The corresponding instruments used for these purposes are:

accreditation and validation of the content of courses followed at partner
university in the exchange programme;

work out internship contract and regulations to conduct all parties (students, supervisors, tutors);

set up of management team that will monitor the development of the
project at the various stages with coordinators on both the EU and the RF sides who
will liaise with each other and their own side.
External experts were involved to give an independent view and assessment of
the project results.
4
STRATEGIC PROJECT MANAGEMENT
We used in this project the Project Management Book of Knowledge
(PMBOK) as methodology for the project management. All partners have been
trained in project management including Software Development Lifecycle Management and modern software development strategies. The project management Team is
responsible for planning, control and validation of the projects results. Instruments
used are our objectives & results, the work plan, progress indicators, evaluation tools,
planned activities and corresponding budgets. Project Reports have been made every
year. Interim meetings were organized using videoconferencing, chats and emails.
5
SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability of the project outcomes is provided by means of approval of the
results by the University Senate, the use of the new information tools in every day
management, the setup of a European international office in Moscow and Dagestan
and development of a new strategic management plan for attracting European students.
In the framework of the project, the RU HE institutions are introduced to the
main features of Bologna process on concrete examples and will contribute to creation of new information culture of university management at the Russian HEIs. Thus,
the results of the project serves as seeds for new transformation system and will provide further development of RU partner Universities.

The project fits into the overall strategy of the Russian HE on a longer
term, and therefore has a high potential of sustainability. The provision of a system
with a technologically sound support (database & e-support system) embedded into
the general policy of the universities can at least relieve the constraints in the participating institutions and further through the proper dissemination channels serve as an
example for other universities of the RF.

The planned (pilot) exchange is only meant to test out the strengths and
weaknesses of the exchange programme and its support is set in place in the second
year of the project. After this 'try-out' the funding for this very limited exchange will
dry up, so alternative sources of funding like ERASMUS mundus can be found. Also
through existing or future bilateral agreements between EU and RF partners reduce
the cost of student-exchanges. However, for a sustainable student exchange on a larger scale between the EU and the RF a European mobility programme that is run and
financed on the same basis as the Socrates programme is needed.

Provision of the necessary equipment for the database and e-SMOSS
will secure the logistical continuation of the project. These instruments will remain in
place after the lifetime of the project and when properly updated at least relieves the
administrative constraints.

The planned ECTS catalogue is a general tool for harmonizing education
on the institutional level as it will also make the faculty in general reflect on their
teaching and provide a basis for planning a balanced curriculum for the (reciprocal)
student exchange both for home institution (the RF) and for the partner institution in
the EU (see also policy level).

SEXTANT interuniversity unit that ensures the output will be widened
to include other universities in the RF.
The necessary legislation is in place in the RF to implement the Bologna
Process that is based on recognition of study periods spent abroad linked to ECTS.
The reform movement can only be successful if more efforts are made on government
level to put the policy and the regulations into practice.
6
CONCLUSIONS
The European Credit Transfer Systems enables and multiplies student and staff
exchanges between Russian and EEC Universities. Web-enabled tools like the eECTS catalogue and e-Student Mobility Support System (e-SMOSS) facilitate the
administration and the exchange of student and course record data. Using common
standards for course and curriculum design are the keys for efficient and intensified
internationalization of courses and diplomas. Seen the growing importance of the
Russian Federation in the European educational and economical landscape, this
project enhances strongly the attractiveness of the Russian educational system for
international students and provides “a Borsch soup.with Russian ingredients and flavor, but structured and described following the European Bologna and Lisbon standards”.
7
FUTURE, FEEDBACK, FURTHER PROJECTS
The internationalization and research group of the faculty of Business Information & ICT of the University College Ghent is supporting further project in this educational domain and is also looking for cooperation on the level of e-learning, distance learning, full integration of functional restricted students using or developing
common IT-standards and IT-tools like XML-stylesheets, ontologies, semantic-web,
etc. The authors welcome your feedback and remarks.
References
[1] Original Project Proposal of the project consortium 2006-2007.
[2] Internal Meeting notes and training material of the project consortium
during 2008-2010.