The European University Linking Society and Technology Alliance held its very first “EULiST Staff Week”
EULiST Staff Week was hosted by the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava from 16 to 20 October 2023. The aim of the meeting with more than fifty representatives of the ten member universities was to to agree on a common basis for the newly adopted alliance within the European University Initiative. EULiST Staff Week was held as a Blended Intensive Program funded by Erasmus+.
The EULiST Staff Week started on Monday afternoon at the rectorate of STU, where the Vice-Rector for Propagation and Foreign Affairs Ľubica Vitková welcomed the participants and introduced the university. EULiST Central coordinator Markus Auditor and local coordinator STU Natália Gurská presented the week´s program with plenary and task group meetings and provided organizational information. In the following discussion, the representatives of the EULiST member universities could get to know each other through motivated exchange and Welcome Dinner.
Tuesday started with a keynote “Outlining a compass for EULiST: The II Forum of European University Alliances in Barcelona“ which was presented by Pablo Tomás Salvadores Alonso and Juan Manuel García Camús from Rey Juan Carlos University. Additionally, Tuesday was dedicated to a “Word Café” work session where all the participants started the discussion on strategic questions regarding KPI management, common working culture and task members’ competencies.
An essential participation at the Staff Week was that of the EULiST Student Board. In several sessions delegates of six member universities had the chance to work on ideas of importance to students. Questions like “what would make EULiST a success in four years” or what marks an European students were discussed. Based upon this a roadmap was developed outlining future events and activities. The findings of were then presented in a plenum on Wednesday. Besides the productive sessions delegates had the chance to interact with personnel from member universities, consequently opening new channels. events to enhance branding, and activities to ensure mobility and safety, and secure flexibility in Education.
“After our first on site meeting in Athens we were able to set the next steps in Bratislava. Answering questions regarding the role of students in EULiST and developing new ideas to transport the ideas of EULiST and being a European Student. Presenting standing orders and a four-year roadmap are results we can be proud of,” evaluated a chair of the Student Board Gregor Fischer from Technical University of Vienna.
The majority of work package sessions with meetings focusing on Tasks implementation took place on Wednesday. The twin need for promotion of the mobility and the support of students and staff was highlighted within the T2.5 Academic Support Centre. T2.1 Digital Campus will need input from WP3 and guide WP3 across to technologies with emphasis on T3.3 AI tools. WP4 highlighted the advancement of the T4.3 Early Career Researchers Centre and the implementation of the T4.1. ERIA strategy to involve the fourth helix through Living Labs. WP5 has set the steps towards the elaboration of the T5.1 Outreach strategy and the T5.5 Communication strategy, as well as the T5.3 strategic priorities beyond Europe.
On Thursday we had the pleasure to welcome guests from ENLIGHT Alliance (Comenius University Bratislava) and talked about: “Ingredients for an effective implementation of our proposal – Learning from another EUI project” with Viktor Svetský, Silvia Hlavinková, and Kateryna Yakovenko.
EULiST Staff Week held its Closing ceremony on Friday noon where the resolutions from week´s working sessions were summarized.
The alliance members were represented by vice-rectors, managers, professors, researchers, administrative staff and students. The Staff Week was directed to establish common frameworks within the alliance and working groups. The content focused on a common and mutual understanding of the objectives and working relationships within the partner universities. This was linked to a common understanding of roles, responsibilities and governance structure. By the end of the week, alliance representatives had pinpointed tangible goals and a plan to achieve the milestones and deliverables that are set for the first year of the EULiST project phase.
