Internationalisation strategy

The internationalisation strategy of the University of Opole 2022-2027

PREAMBLE

Internationalisation is one of the key challenges for higher education institutions. Actions based on a strategic approach to shaping the international policy of the university are an opportunity for continuous development and a measure of success in national, European and global dimensions. Cooperation in the international environment is a source of motivation and inspiration for students and staff on the path of personal development, and ultimately also a determinant of institutional development. The main task of this strategy is to indicate priority actions during its validity period, resulting from the diagnosis of the internationalisation of the UO, aimed at strengthening the position of the UO nationally and internationally and ensuring the conditions within the university for the free development of cooperation with the international environment. The international affairs policy, alongside the teaching, research and financial policies, is one of the four policies for the development of the University of Opole included in the Development Strategy of the University of Opole 2021-2027. This document develops and elaborates on the provisions of that strategy with regard to internationalisation. The assumptions for the implementation of projects within the Erasmus+ Programme are detailed in the Erasmus Policy Statement for 2021-2027. For the purposes of this strategy, international mobility is presented as a tool used to deepen and expand teaching and research activities and enhance the image of the UO.

It is worth emphasising here that the internationalisation of the university is not an end in itself. Nevertheless, the implementation of appropriate mechanisms for undertaken actions of an international nature leads to an increase in the level of research and the quality of education, which is the primary goal of any higher education institution. In order for this to happen, the internationalisation strategy should include all areas of the activity of the university. Hence, the document devotes a lot of attention to non-academic staff, i.e. in this case the staff supporting international activity, as well as the concept of 'internationalisation at home'.

PRIORITIES OF THE EU AND THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

The UO's Internationalisation Strategy 2022-2027 is in line with the European Union's Cohesion Policy 2021-2027 and the Integrated Skills Strategy 2030 of the Ministry of Education and Science. The latter sets out, inter alia, the following areas of impact:

·         basic, transversal and vocational skills of children, youth and adults;

·         skills development in formal education - management personnel;

·         skills development in formal education - teaching personnel.

Directions of action defined within these areas coincide with the tasks identified in this strategy. They include: strengthening inter-university cooperation at the national and international level (including learning mobility), supporting the skills of foreigners, developing the domestic and foreign offer and improving the quality of internships and traineeships for managerial and teaching staff in formal education,  popularising domestic and international mobility of managerial and teaching staff, strengthening the in-service training offer with regard to the development of foreign language skills of teaching staff, developing the skills of planning educational projects, managing national and international projects and their financial resources, disseminating national and international good practices in teaching and educational work.

The EU Cohesion Policy 2021-2027 includes 5 objectives:

·         a more competitive and smarter Europe;

·         a greener, low-carbon Europe;

·         a more connected Europe;

·         a more social and inclusive Europe;

·         Europe closer to its citizens.

This strategy takes into account the priorities of the European Commission in the area of internationalisation in the form of, inter alia, increasing the importance of research and innovation and the use of modern technologies, strengthening the potential of the UO for a modern economy, digitalisation, social inclusion, and sustainable development.

FORTHEM and FIT FORTHEM as parts of the institutional transformation of the University of Opole

Since 2019, the University of Opole has been a member of the FORTHEM alliance, a prestigious network of European Universities launched as a pilot project by the European Commission. Together with universities from Mainz, Dijon, València, Jyväskylä, Palermo and Rīga, and from 2021 onwards also Sibiu and Agder the UO co-creates a permanent, multilateral, and European cooperation environment. An extension of the work of the alliance is the ongoing research project FIT FORTHEM, funded under the Horizon 2020 programme. Joining the alliance created many opportunities, but it also made it necessary to take numerous steps towards the organisational transformation of the University of Opole as a result of internationalisation.

New opportunities for cooperation within the alliance provide a chance for more academic and non-academic staff to get involved in internationalisation. One of the initiatives of the alliance is the implementation of innovative mobilities aimed at students, research and teaching staff, and administrative personnel, which will result in the implementation of innovative academic projects, the creation of attractive international degree programmes, and the exchange of teaching and administrative practices. Furthermore, it has been planned to strengthen and systematise contacts with the university's external environment in order to create a sustainable cooperation framework with the social, economic and regional actors of all FORTHEM partner universities. This will result in the implementation of innovative civic projects and the creation of opportunities for attractive internships and traineeships in these regions.

In the field of scientific cooperation, the alliance has so far established seven FORTHEM laboratories for education, research and innovation in subjects that reflect common areas of specialisation and are of key social relevance. Outputs produced by the teams operating within the labs will include new online teaching materials for the FORTHEM Digital Academy, new intensive courses, joint scientific publications and final reports on civic engagement projects. The FIT FORTHEM project, on the other hand, will develop recommendations for the internationalisation of research at the FORTHEM alliance level, based on the research scopes in which alliance scientists have the highest research potential (strongholds). These actions will be helpful in building consortia and in applying for funding from the EU budget. They include building common platforms for pooling resources and researchers with the same research interests, as well as providing access to expert databases and a joint virtual office where researchers could consult proposals for the internationalisation of their research.

Membership in the Alliance reinforced the need for the UO to join international university associations, and the need for the UO to be positioned in international rankings, and to make efforts to obtain institutional and programme certifications and international accreditations. Simultaneously to these actions, and in response to the EU priorities, the work on the Gender Equality Plan, Open Science Policy, and Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R) has been planned in order to obtain the HR Excellence in Research Award. The institutional transformation of the UO in the area of internationalisation with the support of FORTHEM and FIT FORTHEM is planned to last the year 2030.

DIAGNOSIS OF INTERNATIONALISATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OPOLE

Introduction

The definition of the strategic goals and operational objectives of this strategy, as well as the scope of proposed actions aimed at the growth and effective use of internationalisation of the University of Opole, was preceded by a SWOT analysis, which in turn made it possible to diagnose the current level of internationalisation of the university. As a result of the information collected from institutes, faculties and administrative units serving internal and external customers in the area of internationalisation, two tables were created defining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, respectively, in the area of internationalisation of teaching and science at the University of Opole. A considerable amount of this material (particularly in the area of opportunities) has been included in the form of tasks assigned to the individual objectives in the section below.

Contact points

The overall analysis of the material collected from all units repeatedly indicates aspects that were classified as strengths by representatives of some faculties or institutes, and as weaknesses by other units. Such a regularity can be seen, inter alia, in relation to the language competence of academic teachers, researchers and non-academic staff of the UO.  There is no doubt that each faculty and institute has teaching and research staff that are substantively prepared to operate in an international environment. The required knowledge of foreign literature, the creation of publications and conference presentations means that each unit has a base group of academic teachers and researchers who are fluent in English to the extent that they could effectively conduct both teaching for foreign students and international research. At the same time, in spite of the long-standing cooperation of independent and highly qualified UO researchers with researchers of partner universities and foreign entities (including cooperation in research teams, comparative studies and projects whose results are part of the European and global scientific output), a number of opinions point to the involvement of a small number of the same people in such projects and the difficulty of recruiting new academics who are motivated and competent in this area. It is worth noting that the proper use of an extensive international network requires a partnership building strategy based on pro-quality criteria. This also applies to international scientific cooperation, which requires the development of an appropriate strategy involving the co-ordination of research directions in order, inter alia, to minimise the observed fragmentation of the ongoing research. This, in turn, requires a greater understanding on the part of the UO staff of the need to conduct research not only nationally but also internationally. Undoubtedly, a lack of tradition and culture of building international and interdisciplinary teams can be observed here.

Staff deficits also apply to the area of teaching, where there is a persistent shortage of members of staff undertaking teaching in English, which results in a high circulation of courses taught by the employees and a danger of a lack of continuity and consistency of teaching in the degree programmes At the same time, the overburdening of staff in the sphere of research and administrative and organisational activities can have a negative impact on the development of projects in the international teaching space. On the other hand, the attempt to solve this problem by assigning teaching responsibilities to research active staff is a threat to their scientific development. Attracting foreigners as part of the research and teaching staff and, first of all, recognising the international activity of the staff and a system of motivation rewarding this type of activity seems to be crucial for greater involvement of the staff in international cooperation.

As far as non-academic staff is concerned, it should be emphasised that there are already teams operating within the structure of the UO (under the Office of Research and Project Management and the Office of Academic and Student Affairs) involved respectively in handling international mobility and foreign students undertaking full-cycle studies at the University of Opole. In the case of these units, fluency not only in English but also in other foreign languages is the norm and is highly valued when recruiting staff for these teams. Within the Office of Academic and Student Affairs, there is an information and consultation desk called the Welcome Centre for foreign students and research and teaching staff. A high level of satisfaction of Erasmus+ outgoing students with the handling of their mobility is also observed, as supported by an internal evaluation. However, in spite of increasing English proficiency among administrative staff in units other than those set up exclusively to serve foreign students and staff, the language barrier negatively affects the quality of foreign customer service, which determines remedial action in this respect. This barrier also results in limited accessibility to standardised information, documentation, rules and regulations, procedures in English relevant to both current and prospective students and employees of the university, as well as to external institutions interested in establishing cooperation of an international nature.

International students

The University of Opole ranks high among universities in Poland in terms of the number of foreign students compared to the total number of students. Foreign students account for almost 10 per cent of all the UO students. Noteworthy is also the high diversity of foreign students in terms of their countries of origin. They represent more than 50 countries situated on five continents Students from Ukraine, Nigeria, Belarus, China, Cameroon and Kazakhstan account respectively for the largest percentage. It has been noted that such a wide diversity determines the introduction of a strategic selection of international recruitment destinations.  The participation of the UO representatives in strategically selected international education fairs, as well as cooperation with recruitment agencies, may be helpful in this respect. Lecturers point out that the diversity of class groups in English-language programmes, which international exchange students join, determines an increase in activity and the levelling of language competence through group interaction. At the same time, it creates major challenges in groups with strongly varying levels of language proficiency and learning habits. The challenges of understanding the needs arising from cultural differences by both academic and non-academic staff are equally important. In terms of serving foreign candidates, such a high degree of diversity requires the implementation of a separate enrolment pathway for foreign candidates. A major challenge is the delay in obtaining visas, as well as the high proportion of candidates who do not obtain visas, which generates delays in the timely commencement of studies and creates challenges with respect to planning class groups and determining the allocation of teaching assignments.  A number of units signal that the increasing number of foreign students require adaptation to the changing reality in terms of both substantive and technical staff support and accessibility to modern infrastructure, services, IT and ICT tools in the area of education and international cooperation.

International study programmes

Currently, the University of Opole offers 9 study programmes in English, of which 3 are offered at the bachelor's level and the remaining 6 at the master's level. Particularly noteworthy is the Europa Master programme, unique in the field of European studies, which makes it possible to obtain Master's degrees from three universities: the University of Opole, the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz and the University of Burgundy in Dijon. This tripartite agreement with partner universities from Germany and France was the starting point for the creation of the Alliance of European Universities FORTHEM. Despite the significant achievements in recent years in increasing the offer of international study programmes - the educational offer in English available at the UO should still be defined as limited to selected disciplines. It also applies to the development of multi-degree and interdisciplinary study programmes with practical education, not leaving out international indications for graduate qualifications. Furthermore, the development of a third-cycle degree offer in English could be an important step in the internationalisation of the Doctoral School. By internationalising this form of education, students would have the opportunity to acquire the skills necessary to conduct research at the European/international level, and the UO might gain an opportunity for an influx of talented students from abroad. A particular challenge is the internationalisation of experimental programmes, the appeal of which is inevitably linked to continuous expenditure on the purchase of equipment, apparatus and laboratory facilities. This, in turn, is linked to the possibility of carrying out international research with partners from renowned centres. The development and popularisation of English-language study programmes are an opportunity for internationalisation also from the perspective of broadening the range of courses offered to short-term students coming to the UO mainly under the Erasmus+ programme. In recent years, there has been a continued high level of interest in carrying out exchanges under this programme among students and staff, prompting not only further work on the mobility recognition process for these two groups, but also a coordinated use of this scale for the promotion of faculties/university and the achievement of image and strategic goals. With regard to staff mobility, the potential for converting Erasmus+ mobility into further teaching and research cooperation with foreign partners still appears to be unexploited. The involvement of staff in the organisation of and participation in international scientific conferences, symposia, exhibitions and plein-air workshops has been juxtaposed with the low number of visiting foreign scientists at the UO within the framework of guest lectures and specialised training.

International science

Although the University of Opole is not one of the leading research centres in Poland, many academics are members of national and international scientific associations, which, among other things, contributes to the international recognition of the UO. The scientific achievements of many staff members are based on publications in English in journals with international reach and high impact factors (IF). The experience of some staff members in writing and reviewing grant applications in English, in leading research teams with foreign researchers, and in running English-language journals and reviewing for them makes the scientific potential of the university in the international arena significant. Formal and legal difficulties in employing foreign specialist researchers and the signalled insufficient level of research funding, especially of research in experimental sciences, are limiting factors in the scientific development of the university. More intensive efforts to obtain national and external funding for international projects (including, in particular, consortium projects as leader or partner) are an opportunity to partially address these deficits, but without internal financial support programmes, it seems impossible to meet this need. It applies both to the early stages of project development and research network building, and to ensuring continuity in the implementation of tasks in projects (including teaching ones) after their completion. In addition, there is a signalled need for measures to be taken to effectively promote the scientific achievements, the university’s research offer and potential, as well as current research results.

Other determinants

The potential of the UO for international cooperation is also revealed in the functioning of the European Centre of Palaeontology at the University of Opole and in having its own palaeontological station. The fact that the UO has the only UNESCO Chair in Law in Poland is undoubtedly a great asset. In addition, the rather small size of Opole, a compact city, is conducive to rapid acclimatisation. Both short-term and regular foreign students have repeatedly confirmed it. The efficient transport links to major urban centres in Poland and abroad are also worth noting. One of the threats defined here is high competition in attracting candidates for study from larger and more attractive academic centres in the neighbouring voivodeships. The competition from neighbouring voivodeship universities with greater reputation and international recognition also applies to the research sphere. It poses a threat in the form of an outflow of recognised researchers to other academic centres in search of more attractive research opportunities, higher salaries and better facilities. A great asset of the university is an exam centre at the Faculty of Philology, which makes it possible to take certified examinations certifying knowledge of Polish and English as foreign languages. However, the UO does not have an internal system for teaching and financing Polish language courses, which, given the high demand from both students and outsiders, could significantly enrich the university's offer.

Definition of objectives

Summing up: much of the information provided in the analyses compiled by the faculties, institutes and administrative units points to the same deficits in the areas of teaching, research and administration. This applies for example to the language barrier or staff shortages, which in each of these areas limit the university's potential for international cooperation. Such an observation calls for defining the objectives and tasks in this strategy in cross-cutting terms, focusing on two main strategic goals, which are: "Increasing the international visibility of the University of Opole" and "Developing the potential, infrastructure, communication and cooperation within the university to increase the quality of internationalisation".

Strategic goal 1: to increase international visibility of the University of Opole.

CONCLUSION

In the context of handling internationalisation, the current structure of the UO follows a decentralised approach to managing internationalisation. The Office of Research and Project Management and the Office of Academic and Student Affairs, which are directly involved in project management (including international projects) and student and staff support (including international students), are positioned in the areas of responsibility of the Vice-Rector for Research and the Vice-Rector for Academic and Student Affairs. The Vice-Rectors respectively supervise the work of the UO's research institutes - headed by Directors - and the faculties implementing teaching - headed by Deans. In view of the wide-ranging actions defined above, encompassing all faculties and institutes of the UO, as well as the majority of university-wide and administrative units, it is planned to ultimately create an operational plan detailing specific tasks and assigning units responsible for their implementation over a specific period of time. Advising on actions aimed at internationalising the university, as well as recommending strategic decisions and overseeing the implementation of this strategy require coordination at an institutional level. This prompts the need to appoint a person, and perhaps in future a separate unit, responsible for monitoring the progress of the implementation of the internationalisation strategy and for the systematic consultation of initiatives taken with the relevant legal representatives of the university.