Academy of Art in Szczecin (AS) participates in action KA103 since 2012, and in action KA107 since 2017. On average, there are 24 student outgoing mobilities (KA103: 20, KA107: 4) per year, 20 student’s incoming mobilities (KA103: 15, KA107: 5). On average, AS implements 15 employee’s trips every year (KA103: 10, KA107: 5). About 10 teachers come to AS every year (KA103: 5, KA107: 5). AS intends to increase the amount of student and staff mobility in subsequent years.

 

The border location of Szczecin, proximity to Berlin (128 km as the crow flies) and Scandinavia predestines AS for cooperation with foreign universities and institutions. AS develops cooperation with Czech, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Romanian universities, as well as universities from other European countries and universities from China, Georgia, Israel, Russia, Japan, South Africa and Taiwan. In the AS strategy is written the necessity to carry out artistic and scientific exchanges of students and educators with foreign universities and institutions. Participation of AS in the European Erasmus + Program is a very important factor stimulating the improvement of the quality of education and functioning of AS.

 

 
The main purpose of AS is to increase the level of learning outcomes. One of important way to reach this goal is the participating in the European Erasmus+ Programme. Erasmus+ supports the mobilities of students and employees (first of all teachers). In this way AS gets to know the curriculum and technical equipment of European and Non-European Higher Education Institutions. The accumulated experience leads to improvement of the pedagogical processes at AS and the artistic and scientific knowledge made during the mobilities facilitate building of new teams for new projects as e.g. two project teams in frame of MSCA H2020.

 

AS is a modern-oriented university, responds to students demand, expands theirs offer to study at foreign universities. The education program meets the needs of specific fields of culture, education and the labor market requiring high and specialized artistic and professional qualifications from graduates. Therefore, the AS Statute states that AS participates in the creation of a European space for artistic higher education. Participation in the European Erasmus+ Program is an important and attractive factor in the process of recruiting candidates for studies. This is also why AS intends to continue and increase the quantitative and qualitative participation in Erasmus +.

 

AS assigns itself the following tasks:

·      formation of education programs, including mobilities, in such a way as to stimulate the procurement of knowledge, skills, competences and experience, including personal, linguistic, intercultural and social competences of young people who are supposed to feel European citizens

·      improving education programs and start up new fields of study and specializations to activate the participation of students and graduates in society and the labor market, as well as to awake European identities and cultural awareness in them,

·      formation of attitudes, skills and competences that facilitate studying, research and profession with the conviction that borders are not an obstacle,

·      development and improvement of teaching and administrative staff skills

·      constant searching for partners among European universities and institutions, as well as non-European HEI’s

·      leading various international artistic and cultural exchanges (concerts, exhibitions, open air, workshops, competitions and artistic projects),

·      systematic increase in the number of students going to universities and foreign institutions,

·      promotion of AS among potential European partners in order to attract and increase the number of incoming students and professors,

·      improving the theoretical and practical knowledge of people organizing exchanges in the Erasmus + Program, organizing trips of administrative staff, using former participants, students and employees to promote participation in the Program - supporting subsequent participants. Caring for common knowledge of the principles of the ECHE Charter

·      publishing on the website of current course catalogs with descriptions of study programs - ECTS packages containing information about the curriculum, individual educational components and information about AS,

·      improvement and practical application of the student-oriented ECTS credit transfer and accumulation system based on the principle of transparency of learning, teaching and assessment processes. Its purpose is to facilitate the planning, implementation and evaluation of study programs and student mobility by recognizing learning achievements, qualifications and learning periods,

·      continuous improvement of the recruitment process, monitoring and evaluation of student and employee trips. When establishing cooperation with foreign universities, AS will be guided by the criteria of high quality education and substantive content of courses of study

·      the use of the Polish Qualifications Framework (PRK), which allows locating the learning outcomes qualification system in relation to the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), i.e. describing the potential acquired by the student / graduate in terms of knowledge, skills and competences,

·      accepting for incoming students and issuing transcript of records to students finishing mobility in the AS, including: completed educational components, the number of ECTS credits awarded and grades obtained

 

AS has concluded inter-institutional agreements with 43 universities from program countries and 19 universities from partner countries.

The main effect of participation in the European Erasmus + program is to be to increase the international and intercultural character of AS. It is assumed that the amount of mobilities will be doubled till 2027. However, an important goal is to stimulate development by transforming Erasmus contacts into student and artistic activities as in the following cases. The implementation of mobility to and from the university in Usti nad Labem (CZ USTINAD01) resulted in cooperation within the TICASS project (MSCA Horizon 2020). However, student and teacher exchange with the Academy of Fine Arts in Kiel (D KIEL05) resulted in a joint artistic event of Polish and German students and teachers entitled "Dadaist Night", which took place in Szczecin and Kiel.

 

AS plans to organize a cyclical Biennale in Szczecin and Venice. Teachers and students from program countries and partner countries with whom AS cooperates are to participate.

Conducting many integration meetings in the AS area shows that Polish and incoming youth speak English freely. A sense of a shared Europe - a Europe without borders is clearly born. It is important that these young people promote the need for foreign languages and promote their European enthusiasm in society.

Students, and mainly AS graduates, highly value the opportunity to undergo internships. They are a good transition to an independent adult life.