New trends in university internationalisation in post-COVID reality - NAWA

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How should academic mobility be organised during and after the pandemic? What is the best way to communicate with foreign students so as to keep in touch with them and offer them support when they need it?

These and more topics were discussed with universities during consultation workshops held by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange and International Relations Offices Forum.

The coronavirus pandemic changed the way in which universities function. A greater part of the life of the entire academic community moved online. The new situation brought new challenges, especially in the area of internationalisation of higher education. How can we face them? This was the subject of debate during workshops for HEI representatives titled ‘Challenges and Good Practices in the Area of Internationalisation of Higher Education.’ The online event spanned several days. It was organised by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) and International Relations Offices Forum (IROs Forum). It was attended by universities associated in IROs Forum.

‘The workshops were an opportunity to meet and talk with representatives of international relation offices at various universities. The discussions centred around the benefits and challenges related to academic exchange and the means of dealing with those challenges, e.g. with regard to hosting foreign students and scholars, establishing international partnerships, implementing joint curricula, or introducing virtual teaching methods,’ says NAWA Director Dr. Grażyna Żebrowska. ‘This was the first meeting in which we discussed the forms of support that universities need in various issues related to internationalisation. The conclusions drawn in the course of the workshops will help NAWA develop and design its programme offer so that the assistance it offers meets the universities’ current needs as precisely as possible. When we are aware of the problems encountered by HEIs, we can also – as a representative of the system of higher education and science – help the academic community ask state authorities to enact changes that would facilitate the operation of this system,’ NAWA Director Dr. Grażyna Żebrowska adds.

The topics discussed during the meeting included the internationalisation of scientific institutions, scientists, and education of foreign students.

‘The time of the pandemic is a period when each university is forced to review its internationalisation strategies and particularly ensure a high quality of its education offer, including the offer of online classes, the quality of foreign student and staff services, and the means of ensuring their safety during the mobility. The universities are right to shift the focus of their activities from external to internal internationalisation, the so called internationalisation at home,’ says Dorota Maciejowska, IROs Forum president in the period 2019–2020, now member of the International Relations Office of the Jagiellonian University and expert on Una Europa and university networks. ‘Suitable activities taken up on an ongoing basis as well as steps taken in advance to prepare for implementing international cooperation after COVID-19 are necessary to maintain the current level of internationalisation in Polish higher education. It is time to think about internationalisation as the university’s comprehensive involvement in collaboration in almost every area and at every level. This is exactly the period when Polish universities and institutions should exchange know-how and good practices, share their experiences, and support each other in this transformation. NAWA and IROs Forum’s consultation workshops were a great example of such activities. They made it possible to better understand the role of international relations offices during the pandemic and to streamline the tasks they were charged with in this exceptional time, which will most probably have a permanent impact on university practices, such as e.g. including “virtual exchange” in the mobility offer,’ Dorota Maciejowska emphasises. 

What are the most important conclusions from the consultation?

 

Building international partnerships starting with online contacts

Establishing strategic partnerships with foreign institutions remains a crucial element of universities’ international activity. A good way to start such a partnership as well as to strengthen it is to run joint programmes and to offer double degrees. In post-COVID reality, this form of cooperation will work best thanks to the development of new forms of education based on so called blended learning, that is combining traditional teaching methods with online classes using modern information and communication technologies. In terms of mobility of scientists, on the other hand, online collaboration can be a good starting point to encourage a world renown researcher to visit a Polish university.

Moreover, HEI representatives indicated the prospective directions of strategic partnership development. They recommended that cooperation with centres in Africa and Latin America be developed. As a result, Polish universities will build a stronger position in those geographical regions and find it easier to present their offer to foreign students.

 

Virtual mobility – more than just an online course

The pandemic brought a new type of academic mobility to the foreground – virtual mobility. Polish HEIs had to implement it swiftly in order to carry out international exchange and continue educating students. They had not had any major experiences with this form of mobility before. Each university took its own steps to enable students to carry on with their studies as part of exchange despite the restrictions resulting from the pandemic. Yet virtual mobility is more than just education online. It entails various forms of student engagement in intercultural collaboration and online interaction with partners from various cultural contexts or geographical regions. Three European trends in implementing virtual mobility were discerned during the workshops:

  • Pre-mobility – the period when the students interact with the host university prior to physical mobility;
  • Blended mobility – periods of online cooperation between classes prior to physical mobility in order to carry out some sort of a project at the partner university;
  • Course integration – online collaboration of students that complements real courses.

How can virtual mobility, which appears to be a must in the area of internationalisation in the nearest future, be successfully introduced? According to university representatives, three fundamental conditions need to be met: virtual mobility cannot compete with physical mobility, it can only complement it; academic teachers should undergo special trainings; and, most centrally, this type of mobility has to become a part of the curriculum.

 

Good practices in communication with foreign students during the pandemic

A considerable challenge for the universities, especially in the first months of the pandemic, was to keep in constant touch with foreign students and to develop good communication practices so as to give those students a sense of security and the feeling that they are not left alone in this difficult situation, plus to develop the already mentioned virtual mobility. Representatives of university international relations offices faced a great challenge that consisted in monitoring the students’ physical and mental health. What practices worked best?

The universities used various means of online communication, which replaced the considerably limited direct contact. It has developed in social media and special communicator groups established for that purpose, by means of individual and collective mailing and websites as well as by phone. As it turned out, foreign students needed to receive practical instructions about the availability of medical or psychological help in English as well as current information about the procedures introduced in Poland in connection with COVID-19.

The universities found it was a good practice to create English-language pages on university websites with information about the current pandemic-related situation in Poland including restrictions as well as information about the principles of attending classes, IT assistance for students, and contact to psychologists or medical centres where English is spoken. One of the institutions took up cooperation with a business that runs a telephone helpline concerning the pandemic-related situation and medical aid. In addition, HEI representatives emphasised that it was good practice to hold webinars dedicated to students. A cycle of such online meetings, including with a psychologist, was held by NAWA.

Another challenge faced by universities was to introduce an efficient system of administrative services for foreign students and an electronic queue management system to deal with incoming matters. A good practice in this area is to use systems in which students can make appointments in specific time slots and indicate the topic on which they need assistance.

One of the results of the consultation workshops held by NAWA and IROs Forum is going to be a publication presenting good practices and recommendations.

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