Erasmus+ Charter & European Policy Statement

Erasmus+ Charter

The Erasmus Charter for Higher Education provides the general quality framework for European and international cooperation activities a higher education institution may carry out within Erasmus+. The award of an ECHE is a pre-requisite for all higher education institutions located in a Programme country and willing to participate in learning mobility of individuals and/or cooperation for innovation and good practices under Erasmus+.

To see the document click below.

1. Erasmus Policy Statement (EPS) for Dania Academy

Please reflect on the Erasmus actions you would like to take part in and explain how they will be implemented in practice at your institution. Please explain how your institution’s participation in these actions will contribute to achieving the objectives of your institutional strategy.

During the current charter period, Dania has participated in Key Actions 1 and 2 and we intend to participate in the same actions in the coming charter period. Key Action 1 plays an important role in developing crucial skills in our students, which improve their employability and global outlook. Both outgoing and incoming staff mobility contributes to our institution with new knowledge and input from research in partner universities. Strategic partnership projects allow us to share and develop important knowledge and practices with a variety of institutions and organizations. We will therefore keep focussing on student mobility for studies and training, staff mobility for teaching and training as well as on strategic partnership projects. So far, we have not been involved in international credit mobility, but we intend to implement this part of KA1 in the coming period. During the current charter period, we have initiated cooperation agreements with institutions in China, South Korea, Vietnam and Canada and are now ready to incorporate these partners in our Erasmus activities. Furthermore, we welcome the new opportunity of blended mobility, which will enable an increased number of students to take part in mobility activities, not least students from less fortunate socio-economic backgrounds. During recent years, we have developed 2-week study stays abroad, and we have experienced that students with fewer opportunities find it much easier to participate in short stays abroad as opposed to stays lasting 3 – 8 months. Therefore, the short mobilities featured in blended mobility will present even better opportunities for this group of students to benefit from participating in Erasmus activities.

Dania’s department for Counselling and Internationalization (C&I) plays a key role in the implementation of mobility activities, supporting students and staff at all 8 campuses. The main responsibility lies with the Head of International Mobility (HIM), who, in cooperation with departmental coordinators at each campus, informs students and staff of internationalization opportunities, and supports both incoming and outgoing participants before, during and after the mobility. The Head of International mobility is responsible for all administrative procedures. Since Dania is a relatively small institution, the HIM is directly involved in all mobility activities at all campuses in close partnership with the local coordinators.

Outgoing student mobility: During the first semester, the HIM will meet with all new students to inform them of international opportunities during their studies at Dania. At these meetings, special focus is given to Erasmus activities. Written information about international opportunities is available on our website and intranet. This information also contains selection criteria. All students at Dania have an equal right to participate in Erasmus mobility and so far, we had sufficient funding for all applicants. Well ahead of application deadlines for study stays and traineeships, we offer our students more specific information at meetings, presenting all the relevant details of Erasmus participation. At these meetings, students who have been or are still abroad on study stays or traineeships will participate in person or online to share their experiences with fellow students. Students who consider participation in an Erasmus activity may meet with the HIM on an individual basis but are also encouraged to consult with our departmental study and traineeship coordinators. Furthermore, we establish contact between students who are or have been abroad to make sure that our students know what to be prepared for, both culturally and regarding the individual traineeship company or host university. In preparatory meetings with the HIM, students are further informed of cultural and didactic differences. Our students normally use English during their mobility and since the level of English among young people in Denmark is generally very high, there is usually no need for language preparation. However, we encourage our students to take part in the language courses offered by the OLS system (Online Linguistic Support), including the local language of the destination.

All our study programs feature a compulsory traineeship. Therefore, we have implemented a quality-assurance system based on a CRM database. Through this system, all phases of a traineeship – domestic and international – are regulated and registered, with a strong focus on quality assurance. Departmental traineeship coordinators will make sure that both the host company and the assignments live up to our quality standards and the learning goals described in our curricula. If there are any doubts, they will contact the company for further details. The academy appoints a traineeship tutor for each student, and the company appoints a mentor and a supervisor. The CRM system features mid-way and final evaluations. In connection with the mid-way evaluation, the traineeship tutor will meet with the student and the supervisor in the company. In the case of international traineeships, these meetings are mostly online, but Dania has also set aside some of its organisational support to enable the traineeship tutors to visit the company for the mid-way evaluation. During or after the traineeship – depending on the study program – the student must write a traineeship project. During the oral examination led by the tutor, the traineeship is further evaluated. When this project has been tested and passed and the student has completed the traineeship, the stay is automatically recognized and the ECTS credits registered in our student administration system and will be a part of the student’s final diploma. Feedback through our own CRM system, through Erasmus surveys and directly communicated by the student to the traineeship tutor or the HIM is considered when assessing whether to recommend a host enterprise for future traineeships. The CRM system will automatically flag negative feedback.

Students going abroad for studies are supported by the HIM before, during and after the mobility. Especially before the mobility, the program coordinator also plays an important role in approving the student’s learning Agreement (LA). This is an important step towards automatic recognition after the stay. If, later, the student needs to revise his LA, the program coordinator will have to ensure that the new modules adhere to the learning objectives of the student’ study program. The HIM will help the student with all other preparatory features of the stay, not least the administrative part. For international credit mobility, there will be extra emphasis on cultural preparation. During the stay, the HIM is available if the student needs support, advice or other assistance, and the HIM will contact the students at least once for a status report. After the mobility, the student has an evaluation meeting with the HIM, during which he is encouraged to help promote international mobility to other students. In most programs, the so-called mobility window is the 3^rd semester and the traineeship takes place in the 4^th semester. Consequently, students who have been abroad during their third semester are not returning to the academy. Their last semester will consist of the traineeship and of writing their final exam project. This means that they will not need to re-integrate in their class or in the life at the academy. After the study stay, the HIM will check that the student’s transcript correlates with the learning agreement and that the student has passed all modules. The HIM issues a Final Recognition Document, which is signed by the program manager. Thus, automatic recognition is granted and will be registered in the student’ final diploma. The HIM assesses each study stay, taking into account both the student’s survey and oral feedback. If necessary, the HIM will evaluate the Interinstitutional Agreement with the Dania’s Director of C&I and decide whether to discontinue it.

Twice a year, the HIM sends an information package to all our university partners to promote incoming mobility. Our course catalogues are updated once a year, usually in the early spring. Incoming students can find information on all aspects of their stay at Dania on our website. Apart from the course catalogues, they will also find information on deadlines, contact details, accommodation, insurance, grading system and grade distribution tables, language courses, Danish culture, learning methods and more. Nominations are sent to the HIM who – after checking with relevant study managers – sends an email to the nominated students with practical information as well as information on our buddy system. All incoming exchange students are fully integrated in our full degree English-taught programmes and treated equally with full-degree students. If they join a 1^st semester class, they will receive the full introduction package together will all full-degree students. Furthermore, they have full access to the HIM for further assistance. All incoming students are invited to a welcome meeting with the HIM, together with appointed Erasmus buddies. Students joining a later semester are appointed one or two Erasmus buddies who help the incoming students get integrated in the class, at the academy, the dormitory and in Denmark. The HIM assists all incoming students in getting registered with the authorities and with accommodation. We have close contact to the dormitories at both international campuses and exchange students are guaranteed places. Incoming students are registered in our administrative systems when we have received their applications. This means that they do not have to go through a complicated administrative process of enrolling and registering. Already prior to their arrival, they can log on to our IT systems. All international classes are conducted in English. Dania does not offer Danish classes, but we have a close cooperation with local, city-run language centres which offer Danish classes. Exchange students are encouraged to join these classes. At all times before during and after the mobility, the HIM will assist incoming students. Full access to administrative staff, counsellors and tutors is guaranteed. Incoming exchange students must participate in all exams belonging to the semester and program enrolled into on equal terms with full-degree students. We will issue a transcript or records within a few days after the final exam and send it to the student and sending institution together with an explanation of the Danish grading system and link to our online grade distribution tables. At the end of the mobility, the HIM will meet with the incoming students to assess the stay

Dania receives 10 – 20 incoming staff every academic year. The HIM plays a crucial role in these visits, before, during and after the stays. He will assist the visiting staff with all necessary information for planning their mobility and liaise with the relevant program managers to put together a program. Furthermore, visiting staff will be put in contact with relevant colleagues at Dania to ensure good integration during the stay, both professionally and personally. The HIM will assist visiting staff with practical issues during the stay including necessary paperwork. For the last 4 years, Dania has arranged an international week to promote internationalization at home, and to provide our own lecturers with a great opportunity of knowledge exchange and to promote further cooperation. We intend to continue this tradition.

Outgoing staff mobility is promoted by the C&I department, through meetings with both lecturers and administrative staff. Furthermore, we publish online information about mobility opportunities, including direct mails with invitations from partner universities for international weeks. Program and administrative managers promote international mobility at annual appraisal interviews. Important motivation factors are that mobility activities are included in the annual workload and that schedules are fitted to mobility activities. Staff are invited to share their experiences with relevant colleagues, thereby further promoting international mobility. Stays are recognized in Dania’s electronic competence registration system and participants are encouraged to publish an article about their stay on our intranet.

In connection with preparing the beneficiary report, the HIM will study closely incoming student and staff surveys. If there is general criticism, procedures will be discussed with all involved staff and changed accordingly. Surveys from outgoing activities are assessed throughout the project period.

In the coming charter period, we intend to participate in further cooperation projects that support our own strategic objectives as well as national and European objectives.

• Dania has participated in 2 cooperation projects as partners and just applied for a 3^rd as coordinator during the current charter period:
• Innoguide 2.0 focused on promoting an online e-learning platform developed in an earlier project and on providing train-the-trainer workshops for trainers educating guides for the Tourism and Hospitality industry.
• Gamebiz focused on enhancing creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship, at all levels of education and training.
• EHLE (pending evaluation) focussing on Employability Through Entrepreneurship in Hybrid Learning Environments

In such projects, the main role of the department for Counselling and Internationalization is administrative support. Participation in cooperation projects are usually initiated by a specific study program or run by our department for Research and Development (R&D). R&D has three staff dedicated to such tasks and carry out KA2 activities or support other parts of the organization that want to get involved in strategic partnership projects.

As described in detail above, participation in Erasmus actions 1 and 2 supports and is an integral part of Dania’s international strategy, which in turn contributes to reaching the goals of Dania’s overall strategies in the following way:

The opportunity of international mobility makes Dania’s educations more attractive to potential students, and the opportunity of participation in cooperation projects attracts staff with an interest in development and innovation. Together, these effects of participation contribute to Dania’s strategy of business-oriented growth. The strategy of offering high-quality education is supported by both actions. Cooperation projects will contribute to development of new pedagogical approaches and curriculum development, and mobility activities of staff will help the academy in the effort to constantly improve its educations. The staff will be able to bring back new inspiration, knowledge and research results, and students will see the opportunity to gain international experience as a further quality aspect of their education because it will help prepare them for a global labour market. Finally, Dania’s strategy to increase digitalization of our educations, including the introduction of for instance blended-learning didactics, is directly supported by the Erasmus digitalization agenda. Parallel to the educational digitalization, administrative procedures are also being digitalized, including the Erasmus administration which is already without paper. With the Erasmus aim of paperless mobility, we welcome the new tools being introduced by the Commission. Dania has established a department for digital learning whose sole focus is on implementing the digitalization strategy in pedagogical approaches, developing IT-supported teaching methods and supporting our lecturers and student in the implementation. There is a strong focus on blended learning, which fits very well with the new blended mobility opportunity.

What is the envisaged impact of your participation in the Erasmus+ Programme on your institution?

Please reflect on targets, as well as qualitative and quantitative indicators in monitoring this impact (such as mobility targets for student/staff mobility, quality of the implementation, support for participants on mobility, increased involvement in cooperation projects (under the KA2 action), sustainability/long-term impact of projects etc.)  You are encouraged to offer an indicative timeline for achieving the targets related to the Erasmus+ actions.

As in the current charter period, we expect that continued participation in the Erasmus+ Program will enable our organization to maintain its focus on internationalization at all levels. Particularly the new feature of blended mobility will open new opportunities for students with fewer opportunities and students in programs with less flexibility towards long mobility stays. Through blended mobility, a combined approach to meet the objectives of increased digitalization and internationalization will be possible. Participation in the new Erasmus+ program will enable Dania to work towards supporting the EU’s agenda for developing a European Education Area, meeting our own internationalization and modernization goals and in general to involve students and staff in international activities, enhancing their global outlook and employability.

Over the last 4 years, our main student mobility activity – traineeships, which are compulsory for all students – has been rather stable. International traineeships have made up between 15% and 17% of all internships in this period, and Erasmus stays have made up between 68% and 62% of international traineeships, with a falling tendency. The reason for this is an increasing interest in traineeships in overseas partner countries and that we have not participated in KA107 (international credit mobility).

The majority of the traineeships have been in the field of business, but we have managed to include a slightly rising number of students in the technical, IT and health programs in mobility activities. Many students in our technical programs have vocational education backgrounds and have - prior to their education at Dania - already been in the labor market for some years. This means that they are often quite established with homes and families and therefore long-term mobilities are not an option for them. The new opportunity for blended mobilities may be able to increase this group’s participation in Erasmus activities.

Mobilities for studies have – despite strong promotion – remained at a rather low level. Typically, we have 8 – 12 outgoing students per year. Most of our study programs last only 4 semesters, 3 of which take place at the academy. Doing a study-abroad semester means doing a third of this time abroad, which may be the reason why many students find it overwhelming. For traineeships, our students must leave the academy anyway, which means that going abroad for this poses less of an obstacle. Danish institutions are required to balance the number of incoming and outgoing students for studies, and consequently, the number of outgoing students will necessarily result in a similar number of incoming students. However, we have always been able to meet the demand for both flows and keeping the balance, and we expect this to continue.

The number of mobilities for teaching and training has increased substantially over the current charter period (from 9 to 20). This is due to the fact that not only has participation in the Erasmus+ program made it financially feasible, but our many high-quality partnerships have made it attractive to our staff and managers to engage in these activities. Furthermore, we have seen a rising awareness of this opportunity among managers and staff. Our annual international week attracts between 10 and 14 guest lecturers every year, contributing substantially to our internationalization at home policy.

Targets for the coming Charter period

We aim to increase the percentage of Erasmus-supported traineeships to 75% of total international traineeships. We will maintain our focus on increased involvement of technical, IT and health students in this activity and we intend to start participating in international credit mobility to enable students going to partner countries for their traineeship to take advantage of Erasmus participation. To increase the number of students in mobility for studies, we intend to apply the concept of blended mobility to overcome the obstacles of long-term stays. However, we will keep promoting long-term mobility because we see both outgoing and incoming mobility as an enrichment of our study environment. We are aiming at an increase of app. 30% in short and long stays for studies – incoming and outgoing. In general, the short stays enabled by the introduction of blended mobility will be much less of an obstacle to many students, not least those with fewer possibilities and mature students with already established family lives.

We aim to increase the number of staff going on mobilities for training or teaching to between 25 and 30 mobilities per year. We expect a small rise in the number of incoming staff by maintaining our annual international week and by introducing a so-called annual charrette where students and lecturers within a specified subject area from partner universities will visit Dania for a short period, engaging in cooperation with Dania students and lecturers on common projects.

We expect that the planned increase in activities will be gradual over the new charter period. However, the current corona crisis has made clear that unexpected external factors may influence numbers substantially.

Dania’s Quality Department is responsible for delivering all statistical data required by the authorities, including mobility numbers. Through this work, they assist the Department for Counselling and Internationalization in monitoring the progress.

The Erasmus surveys provide us with important feedback from all mobility participants. In the case of traineeships, the Erasmus surveys are supplemented by the surveys from students and companies, which are an integral part of our CRM traineeship and quality assurance system. Special attention is given to participants’ outcome of the mobility and their assessment of the level of assistance they have received. We already have a high level of positive answers in these fields, which we aim to maintain. Furthermore, our quality indicators will be monitored through evaluation interviews with participants, which enable the HIM to adjust and improve services and support if needed. Feedback from outgoing students is especially important in our monitoring of partnerships, which may be cancelled if feedback is consistently negative.

Dania has participated in two KA2 projects and just applied for a third during the current charter period. We intend to engage in a similar number of KA2 projects in the coming period, with a focus on high-quality implementation. The Department for C&I, together with the R&D department will monitor the quality the implementation. In case such projects are run by educational departments, both departments will provide the necessary support as well as monitoring of the quality. Furthermore, our Quality Department plays an important role in registration of achieved targets and documentation. An important role in deciding whether to take part in at project, is the relevance of the project to Dania’s own, as well as national and EU strategies. A high relevance will normally result in a high level of sustainability and long-term impacts. The fact that Dania has departments and staff dedicated to these tasks is an important aspect in reaching our goals.