The Mobilization of Erasmus Staff Exchange Mobility
| 07. April 2011
Aylin Turgut (in the middle with the blue shirt) from the Press Office of METU, Turkey, visited Public Relations and Event Management of the University of Vienna for one week.
The Erasmus Staff Exchange Program is for university members who work for the administrative departments in order to increase the interaction between the officers who have similar jobs in different areas of the world. University members spend five work days in another institution to improve the quality of work and strengthen the European dimension of higher education with support of international cooperation between universities.
The Procedure
To be a part of the Erasmus Staff Exchange Program you should follow some steps. At first you need to apply to your own institution to join the program. After the announcement of the participants that are selected for the program, if you are one of them, you should find a host institution to visit. At this point you are on your own. All the correspondence with the host institution is your task. When you receive an acceptance from the host institution, a bureaucratic process will be waiting for you. There is a form consisting of the detailed educational program in the host institution, the target and possible goals of the program and the contact information. You also should send it to your host institution in order to get it signed and stamped before your visit. Following the process you can take a deep breath and wait for that actually useful mobility program.
A Staff Exchanger's Comment
Although the program lasts only one week, that week you spend in an institution within the Erasmus Staff Exchange Program may provide some incredible changes in your business life. Even though it is not used widely enough, at least as I can see, it must be told extensively. That is not only because the program connects the departments and faculties across Europe to each other but it also helps the staff members to improve their success and performance.
For instance, in my case, as far as I could experience for now, both expanded my horizon and gave inspiration for new practices at the same time. Observing structural characteristics of the equivalent office of mine in a European university, experiencing the work environment and the conditions is such a great experience. Also seeing the practicality of the technological equipment which is in use helped me to develop some ideas for my own office.
In addition, the possibility to compare the effectiveness of the related offices of the two renowned universities and through that comparison the option to make improvements in my own institution is a great opportunity.
Besides, apart from the professional expectations, seeing a new place, meeting new people from another part of the world and sharing cultural values provides a wonderful personal benefit.
As a conclusion, even the Erasmus program among students and academic members is known quiet, the Erasmus Staff Exchange program should be presented much more intensively, because the Program brings both the host and the guest institutions enormous experiences and achievements than it is expected to be.