Erasmus Policy statement (EPS): WSKSiM strategy
The development strategy the Wyższa Szkoła Kultury Społecznej i Medialnej (WSKSiM) in Toruń embraces the main goals of the Erasmus+ Programme and European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning. It systematically improves the quality of education, promotes the European dimension of education, develops multi-lateral cooperation with other educational institutions and also with businesses, takes advantage of the increase in student and academic staff mobility, and works for the sake of mutual recognition of qualifications obtained by teachers and students during an academic exchange.
The WSKSiM policy concerning the realization of the Erasmus+ program aims at preparing students to live in a multinational, multicultural, information society of the European Union and to improve qualifications of the academic staff.
Currently, our Wyższa Szkoła Kultury Społecznej i Medialnej (WSKSiM) in Toruń is in the process of finalizing another two bilateral agreements with European universities. In this moment we signed 61 agreements with European and 10 agreements with Non-European Institutions of Higher Education. In addition, we have signed 9 agreements with foreign companies to conduct internships for our students.
We pledge to exchange teaching staff and to increase the exchange of students based on bilateral agreements. Every year at least 3% of our students will take part in studying abroad or through an internship in a company. This is why we will intensify our efforts to win new partners. The number of foreign students studying at the WSKSiM should be approximately equal to that of our students studying abroad.
In the context of the experience associated with the Erasmus + program, a special fund was created to pay special scholarships for children of Poles from the former Soviet republics. Every year we have a large number of students from Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine. All foreign students have the same rights as Polish students.
We would like to increase our participation in multilateral projects related to the development of new educational programs, cooperation of academic institutions with companies, and distance-learning. Our broad experience in this domain includes, among others things, the strategic partnership with Università degli Studi della Tuscia in Viterbo, Italy; and common research with Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas in Manilla, Philiphinnes.
Qualifications of our teaching staff are systematically enhanced by participation in international conferences, training courses and seminaries. So far, the WSKSiM has organized over a few hundreds international conferences, congresses, and symposia. Also, foreign professors are regularly invited to give lectures (mainly in English, German, Spanish and Italian language).
In order to enhance the quality of the European dimension of higher education the WSKSiM seeks to reinforce transnational cooperation between universities, encourage full academic recognition of studies and qualifications throughout the EU. To achieve this WSKSiM:
– has introduced the ECTS system;
– issues diploma supplements (in two languages);
– Supports and recognizes the mobility of students and academic teachers;
– accepts non-residents for studies; currently there are 32 persons from different countries, including: Belarus, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom. These students are fully integrated into the academic environment and no cases of negative attitudes caused by their nationality or race have been reported;
– appointed an international and intercollegiate coordinator and established a organizational unit for the Erasmus+ Program;
– offers a wide range of language courses (English, German, Polish for Foreigners)
– promotes the study of foreign languages by increasing the number of hours devoted to studying languages (e.g., some fields of studies have 4 times more hours of language courses as compared to the program minimum);
– employs the latest computer and multimedia technologies. The WSKSiM has its own computer, TV and radio studios, and even a student’s radio called “SIM Radio” and onlne students TV Tilma;
– adjusts its educational offerings to European job markets;
The WSKSiM pledges that, among other things, it will continue cooperation with higher education institutions and companies; attempt to establish new cooperation agreements; start a program of studying in English within the most popular field of studies – Journalism and Social Communication, Political Science, Information Technology and an innovative stydying program in the field of media informatics. From 2019, we began education in a new field of study: nursing.
WSKSiM:
– has elaborated and implemented the program of studies adjusted to the latest educational standards, including academic mobility;
– implemented education within the ECTS system;
– provides diploma supplements (in 2 languages);
– recognizes the exchange of students and academic teachers;
– recognizes internships as integral part of studies and makes attempts to include them into the ECTS system.
– appointed an Erasmus Institutional Coordinator and a support group.
The WSKSiM declares that for visiting students and academic teachers coming within the framework of the Erasmus Program it will:
– publish annually a guide with a detailed offer of courses in foreign languages as well as place it on the WSKSiM website.
– organize courses in English in the field of Journalism and Social Communication, Political Science, Information Technology and Media Informatics
– update constantly the WSKSiM English website (courses offered, consultations, syllabi, student news, cultural events);
– offer the help of the International and Intercollegiate Coordinator in all matters concerning living and studying at the WSKSiM;
– offer accommodation in the WSKSiM dormitory and assistance in available medical services
– organize cultural and sightseeing excursions, an extended program of integration, including meetings, participation in cultural events, trips, etc.
– organize free courses in the Polish language, culture, and civilization for incoming students in order to help them to manage everyday situations;
For outgoing students the WSKSiM declares:
– to help a student to prepare a plan of courses to be taken (it will be done under the guidance of the Departmental ECTS Coordinator);
– to recognize courses completed abroad;
– to provide students with all the information and documents necessary to acquire the Erasmus scholarship as well as all the documents necessary to account for expenditures.
In order to assure the quality of student internships the WSKSiM: has developed the internship regulations that establish internship guiding principles, the program, the course of realization, supervision, and evaluation; has appointed an Internship Coordinator, who undertakes actions to acquire new internship possibilities and to monitor internships already carried out; any internship is additionally monitored by an internship mentor in a hosting institution; support financially persons who realize their internships abroad; The internship is credited (which is confirmed in a student’s record book), on the basis of the internship chart, which is confirmed by the employer.
That chart specifies, among other things, the scope of functions and opinion about the student’s work. The host organization prepares a document called “Internship program” which gives a precise description of the beneficiary’s duties as well as information about the internship’s duration, the beginning and ending dates of the internship, the company’s scope of activity, and information about the person responsible for that internship in the company.
The beneficiary will receive a program about the internship before it starts; All provisions concerning the course of internship are written in a contract made within the framework of the Erasmus+ Program.
Provisions agreed among the parties concern internship duration, obligations of all parties involved, internship financing, monitoring, evaluation and controlling.
The monitoring of the internship program will be realized through sending to the beneficiary an evaluative questionnaire during internships, and after an internship is completed, sending a trainee assessment form to the person responsible for the beneficiary in a receiving company.
The Beneficiary receives from a host institution references in the form of a Company Certificate. The WSKSIM student receives a credit for any internship completed abroad from the Internship Coordinator and Dean.
The strategic approach to the development of the WSKSiM is a results from the assumptions of the Long-term Strategy for the development of higher education in Poland until 2020 (SSW2020) and the Human Capital Development Strategy (SRKL), which is a supplement to the Long-Term National Development Strategy in the perspective up to 2030. The development strategy of WSKSiM takes into account the main goals of the Lifelong Learning Programme which promotes the European dimension of education, develops multilateral cooperation between educational institutions and enterprises, puts emphasizes the increase of student and academic teacher mobility, works for mutual recognition of qualifications obtained during exchange of students and teachers. Strategy and impact of Erasmus+ Programme is not a static document, it is subject to adaptation to dynamically changing external and internal conditions.
Erasmus+ Programme is part of the strategic objectives of WSKSiM:
- A well-managed university and cooperating with the external environment
- The university present on the European education market
- A modern university
The Erasmus + program will have an impact on WSKSiM in the following areas:
-Increasing presence on the European market WSKSiM educational and scientific research through active participation in European exchange programs of students and staff and the desire to increase its „recognition”
– Increasing staff and student mobility
– Actions for mutual recognition of qualifications obtained during the exchange of students and teachers, adapting the educational offer to European learning trends by exchanging experience and knowledge with foreign partners
– Increased attractiveness of the education offer in foreign languages in particular fields of study
– Systematic extension of the student placement offer in foreign institutions
– Acquiring new foreign partners for cooperation in the field of didactics and scientific research as well as preparing joint conferences and scientific congresses
The goals set by the University in the context of the ERASMUS + Program are as follows:
– Increase in the number of students going to study abroad and internships – at least 20 trips per year in each category;
– Activation of students with disabilities and in a difficult financial situation through financial supplements to mobility grants (PO WER – Operational Program Knowledge, Education and Development)
– Intensified cooperation with foreign partners, leading to offering joint programs, conducting scientific research and mobility of students and staff;
– Expanding and establishing cooperation with renowned European universities teaching fields of study consistent with WSKSiM education profiles: journalism, political science, media informatics and computer science.
WSKSiM in Toruń intends to systematically expand the group of international students, favoring the improvement of multicultural communication and learning to better understand the behavior of representatives of different cultures and environments. On average, WSKSiM educates 20 foreign students as part of the Erasmus + program – per one academic year. Ultimately, we want to double the number.
In addition, WSKSiM is open to internships for students from abroad as part of the ERASMUS + program, offering internships on TV Trwam, Radio Maryja and student Radio SIM and online students TV Tilma. Every year, several foreign students use this offer. Ultimately, we want to double the number.
One of the pillars of the ERASMUS + program is the exchange of academic staff in which teachers can make trips to foreign partner universities to conduct classes or for training purposes, taking part in workshops, exchanging experience, improving teaching methods, etc. The administrative staff also has the option of traveling under the ERASMUS + program – to improve skills and qualifications or to participate in training.
Every year, “Wyższa Szkoła Kultury Społecznej i Medialnej w Toruniu” hosts numerous representatives of the academic staff and high-class specialists of foreign partner institutions from 5 continents. Lectures by foreign guests are very popular among students who have the opportunity to broaden their knowledge and the chance of live contact with a foreign language.
In the future, it is planned to intensify activities related to the mobility of academic staff. Teachers and administrative staff will be encouraged to gain experience in conducting classes outside Poland, as well as to improve skills and professional qualifications. Besides, they will be able to take part in preparatory visits aimed at attracting new partners: universities or institutions to cooperate in the area of mobility.
Guest lectures by academic teachers and representatives of other WSKSiM partner institutions will be an important aspect of the University’s international cooperation. Ultimately, it is planned to organize 20 trips per year under Staff Mobility (STA and STT). We also want to encourage more specialists to come to Poland.
We believe that in the years 2021-2028 we will be able to increase the current indexes by at least 100%.
The impact of the Erasmus + program on recognition, internationalization strategy, foreign contacts, etc. was enormous. Thank you very much for that.
This year, thanks to the Erasmus + program, we have been invited to a very prestigious strategic partnership program under the KA2 project. It was possible thanks to previous cooperation within KA103 – thanks to the exchange of lecturers we met wonderful people from Italy and Spain.
We hope that thanks to the program the university will continue to develop wonderfully.
