Virtual study visit to ISOB, Regensburg, Germany
On May 18-22, 2020, within the Erasmus+ project Moldova Higher Education Leadership and Management (MHELM) a virtual visit in the form of an online seminar was conducted on „University Strategy Building in a Regional Perspectives: Action Learning in University-Business-Society Cooperation”. This virtual training replaced the study visit to the Institute of Social Studies (ISOB) in Regensburg, Germany. But the pandemic forced a change in the format of the visit, which took place online.
The training session was organized by ISOB, one of the European partners of the MHELM project, which was attended by over 40 people, representatives of Moldovan and European partner universities. The partners from Germany invited several academic stakeholders, who presented the experience of the Bavarian region in the field of training.
As guests, there were Nikolas DJUIK, director of the Bavarian Academic Center for Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (BAYHOST) at the University of Regensburg; PhD Nicole LITZEL, specialist in the Department of Economic Development of the City Hall of Regensburg and Prof., PhD Sean Patrick SASSMANNSHAUSEN, Faculty of Business Administration and Entrepreneurship, University of Regensburg. Nikolas DJUIK made a presentation of the Bavaria region and the education system in the area, referring to the mission, activities and services offered by BAYHOST. PhD Nicole LITZEL spoke about how the creation of an innovative ecosystem was succeeded in the region through the cooperation between the Municipality, Science and Business. Prof., PhD Sean Patrick SASSMANNSHAUSEN referred to the experience of the University of Applied Sciences in creating and managing the Center for Entrepreneurship. All stakeholders reiterated the need for cooperation between academia, business and local public administration institutions to ensure regional development. These activities were moderated by PhD Alice BUZDUGAN (ISOB).
During the week, topics related to the work packages of the project were addressed, namely – the development of the HELM training program for leaders and managers of Higher Education Institutions and quality assurance within the program.
Regarding the work package „Elaboration of the HELM training program”, prof. Dr.hab. Larisa BUGAIAN, project coordinator, made a summary of the activities carried out so far within the project, presented the structure of the new HELM training program, and the representatives of the partner universities in the Republic of Moldova: PhD Angela NICULIȚĂ (SUM), PhD Irina DOROGAIA (AESM) and Daniela POJAR (TUM) presented the structure of the modules part of the new program. PhD David DAWSON, University of Gloucherstshire, Alexander KRAUSS, ISOB and PhD Liliana ROGOZEA, Transilvania University of Brasov, made some comments on the contents of the new training program in order to improve it. PhD David DAWSON, in his speech, referred to the need for mentoring and coaching in the training of managers and how they can be used as training methods. The project partner Alexander KRAUSS emphasized the principles and practices of learning based on processes and examples in the in-service training of managers, as well as the questions that, in his view, should be asked by team members developing the new HELM study program.
Regarding the “Quality Control” work package, PhD Paul SCHOBER from the Society for Social Research and Education, Germany, external expert of the MHELM project, spoke about the project quality assessment methodology and the key issues to be addressed by the project team.
PhD David DAWSON mentioned that the project also includes dissemination activities in the form of publications in scientific journals. He presented the structure of the research, mentioning its stages, as well as the fact that a first article on this topic was published and refers to the results of the survey of HEI leaders and managers in the Republic of Moldova, which formed the basis for developing the Erasmus+ project. In the next period there will be a synthesis of the activities carried out in the project, its impact, as well as the publication of the research results during the implementation of the project.
At the end of the training session, the synthesis of the week was made and the subsequent activities in the project were planned.
The training session was organized with the technical support of the Information and Communications Technology Department of TUM, using the Webex platform.
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