On May 16-19, 2016, NVSU held the international seminar “Building capacities of international units and departments” within the project “Bridging the cooperation gap: Nordic-Russian Network for International Relations in Higher Education”. The seminar was attended by the members of JAMK University of Applied Sciences (Jyvӓskylӓ, Finland), University College of South Denmark (Haderslev, Denmark), Yugra State University (Khanty–Mansiysk, Russia) as well as NVSU International Office staff members, teachers and students.
The first day of the seminar started with welcome remarks from Anatoly Karpov, NVSU President, and Denis Pogonyshev, Vice-Rector for accreditation and international relations. As a part of the plenary session the project coordinators introduced the overview of the project, project outcomes and objectives of the seminar. At the end of the working day, the seminar participants took part in the discussion “Project expectations: potential benefits and gains”.
The second day of the seminar was devoted to the joint programs and degrees in Nordic countries and Russia: What are they and what are they good for? The session was moderated by Nizhnevartovsk State University and Yugra State University. The session featured the following presentations: “Postgraduate education in Russia and Nordic countries: perspectives for joint programs” (Marina Stepanova, associate professor, Head of department for linguistics and translation, NVSU), “Historical background for development of joint programs between Russia and Nordic countries” (Lala Yakubova, associate professor, Head of department for documentation studies and general history, NVSU), “Obstacles in implementation of joint educational programs, double degree programs, academic exchange programs” (Oksana Gololobova, Head of international office, YSU).
Later that day the seminar participants were kindly asked to participate in the break-out sessions in their assigned group which gave an opportunity to learn about a particular topic: Group 1: “Joint degree programs: doubts and dilemmas”, Group 2: “Mobility of students within joint degree programs”, Group 3: “Delivering assistance to students participating in international joint programs”. After the break-out sessions were finished, the rapporteurs presented the main outcomes of the discussions.
The third day of the seminar was moderated by JAMK University of Applied Sciences (Finland) and focused on the International programs and abroad internships from the students perspective. The presentations were made by Matti Hirsilä, Head of department at the school of business and Pertti Ponka “International programs at JAMK: international business bachelor program”. Emily Auvinen, a JAMK student, talked about intercultural activities and events for international students at JAMK. Ulla Sow, a JAMK student, made a presentation on “Teaching and learning across cultures ethics and responsibility”. Henna Luhtala and Annukka Markkanen, JAMK students, talked about “International student in practice placement”. Gleb Vorobchuk, an NVSU student, delivered a presentation on the “Global Education Program”. Nina Bjorn, International Relations Manager, and Katja Liimatainen, International Relations Planner, introduced the participants to the aspects of “Exchange student life at JAMK”.
The final day of the seminar was moderated by the University College of South Denmark, the coordinator of the project. The topic for the discussion was “Internationalization at home”. Two parallel sessions were organized. Danish, Finish and Russian students worked in groups under the supervision of Merete Smith-Sivertsen, UC SYD lecturer to develop a “Portrait of international student”. The second session was devoted to the aspects of internationalizing at home and covered the following topics: “International projects as an internationalization tool” (Lars Breinholt, UC SYD Head of teacher education), “Tailoring curricula to meet internationalization requirements” (Jacob Buris Andersen, UC SYD, Head of Studies), “Enhancing international cooperation in higher education through European programs: Case study “Tempus IV at NVSU”” (Oksana Yakovishak, Project Manager of International Office, NVSU).
The final day of the seminar included the information workshop “Study in Europe: Denmark and Finland” devoted to European education.
The final conference on the project “Bridging the cooperation gap: Nordic-Russian Network for International Relations in Higher Education” will take place in October, 2016 at the University College of South Denmark (Haderslev, Denmark).
