CAPACITY BUILDING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

ERASMUS + Capacity building in Higher Education: 573975-EPP-1-2016-1-AM-EPPKA2-CBHE-SP

Boosting Armenian Universities Internationalization Strategy & Marketing

DESCRIPTION: BOOST/Boosting Armenian Universities Internationalization Strategy & Marketing / is a three-year national project under the priority of Governance Reform. The wider objective of the Project is to foster and promote further internationalization of Armenian Higher Education through development of national and institutional policy framework and tools.
The specific objectives of the project are:
— Development of national policy framework and tools for facilitating internationalization practices in Armenian HE
— Creation of a National Platform and online tools for mapping and benchmarking internationalization processes in Higher Education
— Build capacities of ICO staff of HEIs, MoES and social partners on strategic management, marketing and cultural challenges as well as implementation of credit mobility, ensuring holistic approach to internationalization management issues
— Create or enhance ICO resources and service-oriented centers at the Armenian HEIs, including development of strategic &marketing plans and tools
The objectives will be realized through well planned activities at institutional, regional and national levels including workshops and trainings on strategic planning, management of international relations and structural improvements at partner institutions. The results of the national project will be broadly disseminated among other higher educational institutions. The European partners from Spain, Sweden, Portugal and Estonia will bring in to the project the richness of their strong traditions in strategizing, marketing and enhancing international relations.
Cordinator: ARMENIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY AFTER KHACHATUR ABOVYAN –Foundation
Kristina Tsaturyan
Head of International Cooperation Unit
kristina.tsaturyan@aspu.am

Partners from AM:

1. AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ARMENIA
2. GYUMRI STATE PEDAGOGICAL INSTITUTE AFTER M. NALBANDYAN
3. VANADZOR STATE UNIVERSITY after H.TOUMANYAN
4. YEREVAN STATE CONSERVATORY AFTER KOMITAS
5. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
6. NATIONAL INFORMATION CENTER FOR ACADEMIC RECOGNITION AND MOBILITY

EU Partners:

1. UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE CATALUNYA/ Spain
2. UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI /Spain
3. TALLINNA TEHNIKAULIKOOL / Estonia
4. KUNGLIGA TEKNISKA HOEGSKOLAN/Sweden
5. UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA / Portugal

Final conference of the Erasmus+ BOOST project/ Boosting Armenian Universities’ Internationalization Strategy & Marketing/

    The final conference of the Erasmus+ BOOST project (Boosting Armenian Universities’ Internationalization Strategy & Marketing) was held on October 12.

    The project funded by the European Union launched in 2016. The project has been coordinated by the Armenian State Pedagogical University after Khachatur Abovyan (ASPU). Armenian partners of the project are American University of Armenia, Shirak State University, Yerevan State Conservatory after Komitas and Vanadzor State University after H. Toumanyan. The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia and the National Information Center for Academic Recognition and Mobility represented Armenia at the governmental level. The European partners are the Universitat Politecnica De Catalunya (Spain), Universitat Rovira I Virgili (Spain), Tallinna Tehnikaulikool (Estonia), Kungliga Tekniska Hoegskolan (Sweden) and Instituto Superior Técnico (Portugal).

    The objective of the Project was to foster and promote further internationalization of Armenian Higher Education through the development of national and institutional policy framework and tools.

    The conference was opened by Artur Martirosyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, who spoke about the challenges in the education conditioned by the COVID-19 pandemic and the tense situation in Artsakh. He stressed that the Ministry and educational institutions are making every effort to guarantee the right of education and to ensure the continuity of education, laying special emphasis on the internationalization of higher education. The Deputy Minister added that the achievements of the Erasmus+ BOOST project are significant in terms of improving the quality of higher education and the internationalization of Armenian universities, and added that the Ministry is committed to ensure the continuity and sustainability of the project.

    It is obvious that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the internationalization of higher education, Mr. Martirosyan stressed. By changing the form of internationalization priority will be given to the “Internationalization at Home” component, rather than to the widely used mobility.

    Speeches concluding the opening remarks were delivered by Kristina Tsaturyan, the former coordinator of the project, who introduced the history of internationalization of the Armenian universities, the challenges it faced and solutions Armenians could come up with during centuries.

    Lana Karlova, Coordinator of National Erasmus+ Office in Armenia, Robert Sukiasyan, Head of the Department for Higher and Postgraduate Professional Education at the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, and Ara Yeremyan, ASPU Vice-Rector for Personnel and International Cooperation, also delivered welcome speeches. Marianna Harutyunyan, Coordinator of the Erasmus+ BOOST project, Head of the ASPU International Cooperation Unit, presented the current phase of the project implementation. Afterwards, the participants watched a video about the work carried out in the framework of the project and discussed the achievements.

    Anahit Ordyan, Assistant Vice-President at the American University of Armenia, and Tatevik Gharibyan, Chief Specialist of the Department for Higher and Postgraduate Professional Education at the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, presented the five-year strategy for the internationalization of higher education developed as a result of the project and the action plan for its implementation.

    Gohar Dokholyan, Specialist of the International Cooperation and Grants Promotion, representing Vanadzor State University, and Raisa Avetyan, the representative of the ASPU International Cooperation Unit, introduced the results of the other work packages of the project, namely the procedures of internationalization of universities, the achievements of each Armenian HEI in particular, the www.studyinarmenia.am website and the video “Study in Armenia”. The video and the website created in the framework of the project will further increase the visibility of Armenia in terms of education and will promote the flow of international students to our country. At the end of the conference the EU partners expressed their opinion about the achieved results and the impression they had while working with Armenian partners.