Impact of the Tempus Programme

Ukraine joined Tempus in 1993. The projects carried out in Ukraine at that time focused on improvement of university governance and management, upgrading of old curricula and development of new courses and programmes and professional development of teachers, especially in disciplines such as economics, foreign languages, social science, European studies and law. Ukrainian HEIs carried out projects such as: Establishing Social Work and Social Policy as Higher Education Disciplines in

the Ukraine (1994); 'AGFED' Agricultural & Food Economics Development in Ukraine (1997); Training of Marine Lawyers in European Law (1998); Establishment of a National Innovation Centre (1999); Development of a New Framework for M.Sc. Thesis Work (1999).

During the third phase of the TEMPUS Programme in 2000-2006 there was a shift to new national priorities for Ukraine and a focus on new disciplines. Ukraine’s participation in the Tempus III programme coincided with its wish to join the European Higher Education Area in line with Bologna Process, which was reflected in the projects undertaken. The list of priority disciplines for that period included, in addition to economics and business management, agrarian science, ICT and environment, as reflected in accepted projects such as: Education development in environmentally safe energy (2000); Restructuring the B.Sc. in economics and management (2001); Electronic Media Resource Centre, Ukraine (2002); Master of Business Administration & Information Technology (2002); Agricultural Policy and Administration in Ukraine towards European Integration (2003).

As from 2000, participation in the Tempus projects broadened beyond the scope of HEIs and was opened to companies, nongovernmental and non-profit organisations and authorities. Accordingly, participants in Tempus projects in Ukraine included the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Ministries of Education and Science, of Environmental Protection and of Agricultural Policy, regional state administrations, municipalities, entrepreneurs’ associations and students’ unions, agricultural companies, seaports and research institutes. As a consequence of Tempus projects, new courses and curricula were developed that meet the current requirements of the Ukrainia labour market. University teachers confirm that cooperation with European colleagues within the Tempus project enabled them to obtain new knowledge and Master new teaching skills and evaluation techniques which resulted in greater competitiveness of their universities and improved their status and standing. Many projects focused on use of ICT and involved purchase of equipment and software and implementation of courses in E-learning format. They contributed to the universities' capacity building as well as to the establishment of a distance education culture in Ukraine. Such projects included: Elearning - The virtual law library and Law Consultancy Centre (2002); Accreditation and standardisation of distance education (2005); Adaptive Information and Communication Technologies for Education and Visually Impaired Students in Ukraine (2005); Practicum to Improve Ukrainian eLearning System (2006); ICT, media, libraries, elearnin (2008).

Since 1994 more than 120 Ukrainian universities have participated in Tempus. On the whole, the Tempus programme facilitated the internationalization of Ukrainian universities, helped to establish long-term partnerships between them and their European counterparts and contributed to the initiation of new research projects or exchange programmes. On many occasions, Tempus

projects helped to set up a dialogue between HEIs and the Ministry of Education and Science or its regional branches; between faculty and administration and between employers, teachers and students.

Not all Ukrainian universities have implemented the Bologna principles and transferred to a three-cycle education system. But those universities where changes have taken place and whose curricula fully meet the Bologna requirements link their progress and success to Tempus projects participation.

Projects dealing with implementation of Bologna principles: ECTS-implementation at Ukrainian universities (2004); Workshops for the Introduction of Practical Approaches in Transforming Higher Education in Ukraine

(2005); All-Ukrainian Network of ECTS regional consultants points (2005); Quality Assurance in Ukraine (2006); Accreditation and licensing in the Ukraine (2006); Training for the Implementation of the European Higher Education Area Third Cycle in Ukraine (2006); Development of strategy of UA students international mobility using the ECTS opportunities (2006); Training courses in Ukraine on Bologna process (2006).

A network of University ECTS Regional Consultation Centres was created thanks to Tempus project "All-Ukrainian Network of ECTS regional consultants points" (2005). Recognizing the important role of the centers, the mentioned experience has been studied by and disseminated to other Universities in Ukraine.

Tempus projects have helped to strengthen the cooperation between universities and enterprises, e.g. by establishing career development centres for students. Examples of such projects: University-Industry Centres: Model for Cooperation (2004); Establishing Mechanisms of cooperation and interaction between universities and employers (2006); Bridging the gap between University and Business (2004); Promoting Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurial Activities in Ukrainian Universities (2006); Career & Employability Centre: new service for graduates (2006); Establishment of mechanism of cooperation and interaction between universities and industry at the regional level as an element of development strategy of universities (2006).

Tempus project "Career and Employability Centre: New Service for Graduates" (2006) provided students with an opportunity to take part in study visits to European universities and training sessions focused on career support and job search techniques, thus enhancing their employability.

In the framework of the project Crisis Analysis and Decision-Making in Ukraine (2005), an EUUAintegrated Master course in crisis analysisand decision-making was developed andsimultaneously introduced in four Ukrainianuniversities of various types. The course isbased on advanced information technologies

and existing European experience.

In the new Tempus IV (2007-2013) calls for proposals, Ukraine’s national priorities have placed a strong emphasis on implementing the Bologna Principles.

Projects selected within four calls for proposals with participation of Ukrainian partners cover topics such as: the three-cycle system in social work education, a new Master curriculum for intellectual property law, curricular reform in space technology, engineering, automation/mechatronics, E-commerce, geographic information technology, tourism, railway transport, intellectual transport systems, education measurement, educational management, environmental management, industrial ecology, renewable energy and environmental technology, foodstuff expertise and quality control, medical education, social psychology, land governance etc.The project Master "Interoperabilite / Securite/ Certification" dans le domaine du Transport International Ferroviaire (2008) actively involved employers and created new solid Master programme on railway transport that incorporated latest development in the sphere of railway and helped to prepare specialists of international level.

The study "Knowledge triangle educationknowledge- innovation" undertaken within the project "Towards research and entrepreneurial university models" (2008), outlined the ways to effectively apply European experience in property rights protection. The project created departments of innovation in partneruniversities and contributed to reforms in the area of technology transfer. While improving the image of Ukraine as a space power, the Tempus project "Curricula Reform in Space Technology" (2008) had extended the network of space ground stations from Brussels to Krasnoyarsk. It also established university labs of micro-satellites and regional coordination and technological bureaus that serve as a linkage between university and labour market in aerospace sphere. The project "Quality Assurance tools for the Management of Internationalization" (2008) helped Ukrainian universities to reform the governance system by employing internationalization strategy.

Building upon developments in internationalization of higher education, another Tempus project "E-internationalization for Collaborative Learning" (2009) launched Eplatform "International Clearing House" that enables knowledge sharing among professors from Ukraine and Europe, gives an opportunity to create joint international courses and enhance skills in international teambuilding.

In order to effectively market scientific inventions of universities, the project "Innovation cross-universities network for development of partnership with enterprises" (2009) trained representatives of partner universities to turn scientific products into business models.

Besides the ones mentioned, 38 projects of Tempus IV pursued with participation of Ukrainian higher education institutions, have generated variety of sustainable outcomes that led to creation of education centre network on modern technologies of local government, establishment of a West-East teacher education network, implementation of research and entrepreneurial university models in higher education, development of quality assurance system and others.

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