November, Brussels-In view of the forthcoming opening of the second Call of European Universities’ Initiative, EURASHE released a Statement on the participation of Universities of Applied Sciences (hereafter – UAS) within the aforementioned European Commission’s Initiative.

EURASHE’ expresses its commitment to further support the Initiative and also invites the European Commission to take into account the specificities of UAS and other PHE institutions that have emerged on the occasion of the first call, in particular:

• Take a full advantage of the diversity of European higher education
• Consider all higher education qualification levels, while taking into account the limits of national regulations for UAS and other PHE institutions in this aspect
• Take into account the difficulties the UAS may face regarding the requested students’ participation and engagement in the Alliances due to the shorter period of time students spend in UAS in comparison with traditional universities
• Clarify the doubts about the sustainability of the Alliances and the realisation of the common long-term strategies beyond the funding period
• Consider the specific profile of UAS students that could impact the desirable mobility.

Besides that, EURASHE calls on the respective national, regional and local authorities to consider providing a suitable financial and logistic support to UAS and other smaller institutions for the preparation of the Alliances’ proposals and for helping ensure their sustainability after the end of the EU funding. We also invite the competent authorities to identify and remove, within the respective national and regional regulations, existing barriers for the implementation of the European Universities initiative, in particular in relation with the mobility of students and teacher, and the completion of the European Education Area.

EURASHE organised a series events, private online consultations, information sessions for the PHE representatives on the European Universities Initiative including a practical workshop ‘European Universities Initiative and Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS): reflections for future success’ in Brussels, 29th EURASHE Annual Conference in Budapest, UAS Leadership Forum 2018 (October), EURASHE Summer cocktail 2018 and others.

Read the full Statement here.  

European Universities Initiative

EURASHE considers that the European Universities initiative will change radically the higher education system in Europe by boosting the establishment of a genuine European Education Area. The European Universities alliances will increase the mobility of students and staff, foster the quality, inclusiveness and competitiveness of our Higher Education institutions, including their research and innovation capacities. This initiative is also essential to strengthen the European identity, based on a strong commitment to the European values and principles. More information on the Initiative here.

Contact:

Ms Dovile Sandaraite
Communications and Events officer, EURASHE
Phone: +32 (0)4 986 90 140
E-mail: dovile.sandaraite@eurashe.eu